The Denver Broncos are bitterly disappointed following their last-second loss 16-14 Kansas City Chiefs. But the Broncos have plenty to be excited about thanks to the emergence of several young players.

The Broncos played very well in Kansas City. That and the defense did enough to deliver a huge road win, but the third down and the practice ultimately betrayed the Broncos.

Still, the Broncos will carry their heads high heading into Week 11. And one reason is rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who is earning rave reviews from his fellow veterans in the locker room.

“I’m not really surprised by anything that kid does anymore.” Broncos tight end Adam Trautman said of Nix, via the team’s Aric DiLalla website. “He shows extreme poise… You can’t say enough good things about him… We believe in him and he’s been impressive.”

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Nix completed 73.3 percent of his passes en route to a 215-yard, two-touchdown performance. His behavior in the clutch, in particular, was very impressive as he led a clock-killing drive to put the Broncos in field goal range and prevent Patrick Mahomes from getting back down the field.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton was duly impressed, especially with how Nix helped the team jump out to an early lead with a pair of touchdown passes in the first half. Unfortunately, the Chiefs battled back in the third quarter as the Broncos offense fell into a mini-slump.

“Early on, I felt like, especially in the first and second quarters, (we had) two touchdown drives. The third quarter, we got stuck,” Payton said Monday. “I felt like the third down was going to be important in that game if all things were equal. What I mean by that is let’s say there were no turnovers — and that was the case yesterday — then when you look at the third-place numbers, we’ve been good in that area.”

It’s hard to beat a team as balanced and well-coached across the board as the Chiefs. With Mahomes on one side, a top-five defense on the other, and a highly effective special team in between, opponents must play nearly perfectly to pull off a win. Close, but no cigar in Denver’s case.

“We played that team better than we have in the past offensively with what they do,” Payton said. “We definitely had some scoring opportunities late in the half that we didn’t capitalize on well enough.”

The Week 10 loss was as disappointing as any in recent memory, but Broncos Country should also keep its chin up. The Broncos are 5-5, yes, but they’re trending in the right direction with a young, dynamic quarterback making their mark.

And the schedule from here on gets a lot easier.

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