In the aftermath of Sunday’s stunning loss to the Chiefs on a blocked field goal, Broncos center Alex Forsyth emerged as the primary culprit for allowing the jailbreak that gave Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal the chance to make the play.

On Wednesday, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix — who played with Forsyth at Oregon in 2022 — addressed the situation at length, providing a strong defense of Forsyth.

“I think it’s very unfortunate, very unfair that ultimately a play comes down to one moment,” Nix told reporters. “People can say that it falls under one person. Nobody prepares like Alex Forsyth prepares. Nobody goes through the moments throughout the week and gets every set, and every look that he possibly can [to] go out there and put his team in the best possible spot. Unfortunately it’s the game we play, and all of our mistakes are on national TV and everyone sees them.

“There is a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up, but I think it should be known how valuable he is to our team, how much he is respected throughout our locker room. It really ticks me off that people can say those things about him and not even see how he works, or how he responds or how he plays. I have no doubt that Alex Forsyth’s going to respond probably better than anybody in that situation. He cares more than anybody would in that situation, and I know that every single one of our team, every single guy in our locker room believes in him to move on and respond.

“What happened to him sucks. It really does. It’s happened to many of us, and you just have to unfortunately get over it. You have to find ways to move past it. He’s mentally tough. He’s been through tougher life moments than probably any of us. So he knows how to handle adversity. I’m excited to see him grow and respond through this. I can’t imagine as much as he works throughout a week, how much more he’s going to put on himself. I respect him greatly. I hate that he’s having to go through all this, but sometimes it’s part of the game, and it is what we signed up for. I’m happy to be on his team. I’m proud to call him a teammate, and I know he’s going to respond really well.”

Also on Wednesday, coach Sean Payton emphasized that the blocked field goal is on the coaches, not any of the players.

“I felt sick watching it,” Payton said. “I felt like, ‘Hey that’s on us.’ In other words, technique and then also, ‘Are we asking the right players to do the right things?’ [Offensive line coach] Zach Strief played forever in that position and he’s someone after watching it—every one of us felt as coaches that we let the players down and we needed to see that and correct that. That’s difficult when that happens. You as a coach . . . that’s how we felt.”

It can quickly become a chicken/egg exercise. Did Forsyth fail because the coaching staff shouldn’t have put him in that spot, or should the coaching staff have not put him in that spot because he failed?

Regardless, every game comes down to a handful of moments. Sometimes it’s one specific moment that provides the clearest, brightest line between winning and losing. That’s what happened on Sunday for the Broncos, who aren’t blaming Forsyth but supporting him.

Nix doing it so clearly and thoroughly sends a powerful message, both inside and outside the building. It also shows that Nix is quickly becoming the kind of leader the Broncos need him to be.