The noise around Bo Nix reached a fever pitch entering the Denver Broncos' Week 7 road game against the Arizona Cardinals.

On the heels of a concerningly slow start to the season, Nix passed for just 107 yards against the Seattle Seahawks on primetime, and critics came out of the woodwork to pile on the third-year quarterback. We heard from network pundits like Ryan Fitzpatrick that Nix's performance was "almost disrespectful to the quarterback position," while former teammates joined in the pile-on .

Then the calls for Denver to bench Nix began. From the local airwaves and blogs to a vocal segment of Broncos Country, people genuinely wanted Sean Payton to take action at quarterback.

The din has quieted after Nix's historic performance on the road against the Cardinals. He threw for just 222 yards, but he had four explosive passing plays , including a 52-yard screen that RJ Harvey took to the house.

What seemed to open the floodgates for Nix was his 62-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.…