The Denver Broncos secured a 17-14 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, improving to 4-2. However, criticism of quarterback Bo Nix has become increasingly common due to his recent struggles.
Former NFL quarterback and Amazon analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick was one of the latest football figures to heavily slam Nix for his performance on Thursday. However, Fitzpatrick himself got roasted by former Broncos cornerback and Super Bowl champion Aqib Talib for his Nix rant.
Fitzpatrick described Nix's performance against Seattle as frustrating and questioned whether the Broncos QB was displaying the level of competitiveness expected from someone playing the position.
"It's almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he's playing quarterback right now," Fitzpatrick said during Prime Video's postgame show.
Fitzpatrick also criticized Nix for looking reluctant to throw the ball, especially when discussing the Broncos' failed offensive drive late in the fourth quarter. That sequence allowed Seattle to tie the game and force overtime.
Nix indeed struggled to make an impact in Thursday's game, completing 17 of 27 pass attempts for just 107 yards while recording four carries for only 2 yards.
Nix was unable to consistently stretch the field, averaging fewer than four yards per pass attempt. He currently ranks No. 29 in Pro Football Network's QB Impact rankings with a season grade of 66.5.
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However, Talib disagreed with Fitzpatrick's assessment and came to Nix's defense.
"In the fourth quarter, he didn't throw it away," Talib said on the "Gridiron" podcast. "He tried to throw it to the running back dude. Broke it up. If you were to hit the running back, he had a blocker in front. He might have went and got a first down. So you wrong there. You are terribly wrong there.
"And then in overtime, he did run the ball. He tried to cut and go get a first down. The dude made a good open-field tackle. So what the [expletive] is this dude talking about?"
However, Talib did not limit his response to defending Nix's decision-making, as he also took aim at Fitzpatrick's NFL career.
"We are talking about a guy who played for nine different teams in 17 years," Talib added. "He did because ain't nobody want his [expletive]… He never touched the playoffs ever. That's disrespectful to the quarterback position… We talking about a guy who got 169 interceptions, more interceptions than he has starts.
"You need to do it to check down a little bit more. How can a quarterback of this caliber talk about what is disrespectful to the quarterback position? I know Amazon is begging for you to be more entertaining because you suck, and you just gotta just black rock some [expletive], man. So nobody's worried about what Fitzpatrick said."
Fitzpatrick's longest stint with a single NFL franchise came with the Buffalo Bills, where he spent four seasons.
He also holds the distinction of recording the most career passing yards and passing touchdowns among NFL quarterbacks who never reached the playoffs.
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Nix and the Broncos will try to get the offense back on track when they visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 25.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
