DENVER — After Bo Nix admitted Wednesday that his ankle was slowing his return to form, he wasn’t about to put his foot in his mouth.

Nix has been slumping all season. Not badly enough to get benched— a reflection of his backups more than anything else — but enough that he became unrecognizable. He hasn’t been himself since his right ankle was surgically repaired in January and cleaned of bone chips in April.

But nothing was keeping him out of the end zone when a Red Sea of Arizona Cardinals parted in the second quarter of Denver’s entertaining 30-16 victory.

“Do you believe me now?” Nix said with a smile about his willingness to run. “The O-line gave me a nice crease. I was fortunate there was nobody there until the goal line and, yeah, I just had to score.”

With his gallivanting, the 5-2 Broncos remain in position to fulfill the largest of expectations in the most unconventional of ways after seven games.

They face Kansas City on Sunday in a must-win game if they want any realistic shot at repeating as AFC West champions.

They can beat the Chiefs. Did you watch them Sunday?

The Broncos won’t be favored. But the matchup no longer seems pointless or hopeless.

Not with GoBoGo back. Not with “Behind the Sticks” Nix a distant memory.

“This guy did this all last year. You all saw it. You have ups and downs in this league. You have to learn to be composed, and step up when needed. He has done that again,” left tackle Garett Bolles said. “Making big time plays with his feet. Throwing dimes. It speaks volumes of who he is as a player and as the leader of our team.”

A matchup with the Chiefs that once looked lopsided based on the season-opening barbecue and weekly flirtations with a new offensive abyss will now be delicious.

Somewhat incredibly, the Broncos can live up to the expectations surrounding this season because Bo is Him again.

Not in a top-15 quarterback-in-the-league kind of way. But in the form the Broncos require. Smart, confident, athletic, mobile and bold. The player, frankly, teammates have claimed they have seen for months in meeting rooms and on the practice field.

“That’s 10,” defensive lineman Malcolm Roach said. “That’s who he is.”

Or was. Over the final 13 games of his rookie year. And all last season. The 2026 version of Bo was more like New Coke, updated only to create outrage.

Last week, Nix finally said what our eyes were telling us. His climb back from the ankle operations was a work in progress.

He looked like he did not want to get hit. Or hurt. He became so paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake that it affected him mentally.

When the Broncos wandered into State Farm Stadium on Sunday, feeling the warm embrace of a partisan crowd of roughly 70% Denver fans, the stats told a sobering truth.

The Broncos were one good game away from having their first good offensive game.

They followed the dog-eared script for the first 26 minutes, siphoning the air out of terrific field position with two field goals.

Then it finally happened.

On second-and-8 from the 38-yard line, Nix released the emergency brake, his feet unable to resist the temptation his brain was processing. For a month-and-a-half, on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, he had devolved into George Michael’s 1984 hit, “Careless Whisper” — his guilty feet had no rhythm.

He had 37 rushing yards for the season.

Trusting his eyes, Nix took off. Fast. He reached 19 miles per hour. It looked liberating, football’s version of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper riding customized choppers down the highway.

Nix did everything but feel the wind in his crew cut. All those days of running sprints with the high school track team in Alabama paid off.

“My dad (Patrick) made me do it to stay in shape. I did a little bit of everything. They tell you not to start off as fast you can go,” Nix said of his pace on the memorable jaunt. “It was (a little like the 400 meters). Yeah, I ran that because no one else wanted to.”

As Nix climbed the pocket, there was no one in the middle of the field. Not Larry Wilson. Not E.J. Junior. Not a single Cardinals defender.

“I felt like I was running with him. I almost cramped up watching it,” Roach said. “That’s Bo. That’s what he do.”

The Nix dash finished with a splash as he plunged into the end zone. The 62-yard run was the longest ever by a Broncos quarterback, breaking Tim Tebow’s record of 40 set in 2010. It was the longest of any kind by a quarterback, toppling a Jake Plummer scramble of 40 as well.

“That could be,” Plummer said Sunday after watching the Broncos’ win, “exactly what he needs.”

Not since C.J. Anderson took a pass over the middle in 2014 and zig-zagged 51 yards over 11 seconds at Oakland Alameda Coliseum has a jaunt been as exciting, unexpected and jarring.

“I wish I could have run straight,” Anderson said. “But that was a good run by Bo. He played better.”

Nix entered the game needing a little bit of everything. Not only had his mobility disappeared, but he was not pushing the ball down the field. It fired up talk radio hosts calling for Nix to sit.

“The confidence inside the building relative to his abilities hadn’t changed at all,” Payton insisted Sunday. “I appreciate that you are asking the questions. But there wasn’t one time … He is our guy.”

One more play cemented the notion, drove home Nix’s return to the living as a functional NFL quarterback.

The Broncos held a 20-13 advantage late in the third quarter. The Cardinals did not seem capable, but they were lingering, a strategy that paid off in last week’s upset of the Rams.

Nix needed to throw another punch, not bring back memories of the Seattle Sloth offense. The Cardinals ran cover two. The cornerback stayed with tight end Evan Engram on an out route. Marvin Mims Jr. raced down the right sideline, and Nix let it rip.

Remember when he used to do this? Against the Browns, the Bengals, and most notably, the Bills last postseason.

The Broncos hadn’t practiced this pass. It was Mims doing his thing — “It is a reminder that you have to be ready at all times,” he said — and Nix relying on his instincts.

That is when he is at his best.

“We hadn’t made that throw all week. It was just a reaction. It was one of those fun throws,” Nix said. “In my opinion, it lets me know I am seeing the field really well.”

Was it a reminder of who you are and can be?

“I’d say that’s a great way to put it. I think it’s that rhythm, getting into the flow of the game,” Nix said, “it was definitely something to build from.”

What we were all doubting, we know now. Nix is back.

Sunday against the Chiefs is his chance to make sure we never forget.

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