Ryan Fitzpatrick's blunt critique of Bo Nix after last Thursday's Denver Broncos win drew a sharp response from Aqib Talib, who went after the Prime Video analyst's own playing career.
Now Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter has weighed in on the "Fully Loaded Podcast," and he is squarely in Fitzpatrick's corner.
On Prime Video's postgame show after Denver's 17-14 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks, Fitzpatrick called Nix's performance "frustrating to watch" and "almost disrespectful to the quarterback position," then got specific.
"First of all, the guy doesn't want to throw the ball," he said. "That's fine. He's throwing to the flats, he's throwing behind, but he has no trust from his coach. He calls a screen play on third-and-8. Just run up and let the clock keep going. What does he do? He throws it away. Seattle gets the ball, they have a timeout.
"In overtime, he's got two chances to be competitive," he added. "The last one being a designed run for him to run, make somebody miss, and get a first down for your football team… He's not playing competitive football right now."
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Talib fired back on the "Gridiron" podcast, calling Fitzpatrick himself "disrespectful" to the quarterback position over a journeyman career spanning nine franchises and 17 years, "169 interceptions and the fact that he never appeared in a playoff game."
In response, Fitzpatrick kept it light with some self-deprecating humor and a sarcastic reply to Talib on Sunday morning, posting a video with the caption: "Just got off the phone with Aqib Talib… happy we were able to work through our differences."
Carter sees Fitzpatrick's résumé very differently. "First of all, people are coming down on Ryan Fitzpatrick because he was a journeyman. Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn't have been better coming from Harvard to the NFL than he was," Carter said .
"You don't have to be a Hall of Famer to be out here talking about quarterback play. Let's put some respect on his name. And guess what? It was all facts. It was all truth about Bo Nix. He wasn't doing anything malicious. The critique was very, very good," Carter said.
Carter then turned to other young quarterbacks around the league, and to Nix's head coach. "Jayden Daniels struggled. Weren't they drafted the same year? Caleb Williams struggled… These guys are all young quarterbacks. Let's give them time. He also has Sean Payton, so they're going to get this fixed."
When asked if he believes in Nix's quarterback play, Carter responded by saying, "Absolutely. Because Sean Peyton believes in him."
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So what does Nix's start look like on paper? Nix went 17-of-27 for 107 yards and ran four times for 2 yards Thursday, and Denver won despite finishing with 168 total yards and converting 3 of 14 third downs.
Its defense forced three takeaways, including Ja'Quan McMillian's overtime interception that set up Wil Lutz's 53-yard game-winning field goal.
Through Week 6, Nix has completed 114 of 189 passes (60.3%) for 1,049 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. His 79.4 passer rating also ranks 26th of 33 qualified quarterbacks.
According to Next Gen Stats, his 5.8 average intended air yards are tied for the shallowest of 33 qualified quarterbacks. His 9.5% rate of throws into tight windows is the fourth-lowest of 33. Nix is ranked 29th in PFN's NFL QB Impact Score with a 66.6 grade through Week 6, while his Impact Grade for the full 2025 season was 75.1.
Denver's record has held up anyway. The Broncos are 4-2 and second in the AFC West, and Nix's next chance to prove Carter right comes on Sunday, October 25, when Denver visits the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
