GLENDALE, Ariz. — Ace Parker did it first.
In early October 1938, Parker threw a 54-yard touchdown pass and dialed up a 77-yard touchdown run to pace his Brooklyn Dodgers to a 17-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.
More than 70 years would pass before a quarterback threw a touchdown pass of at least 50 yards and ran for a touchdown of at least 50 yards in the same game.
In Sunday's 30-16 win over the Cardinals, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix became the fifth player to accomplish the feat.
"He does whatever he can to win the game, he makes plays," tackle Garett Bolles said. "He's done so much. … He just stuck with it and had a breakout game. That's what we needed."
Nix reached the end zone on the ground first, recording a 62-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to give the Broncos the lead for good. With the score knotted at 6-6, Nix identified the coverage down the field, stepped up in the pocket and took off.
According to Next Gen Stats, no player got within four yards of Nix until he was inside the Arizona 5-yard line. And at that point, he wasn't going to be denied as he launched himself into the end zone for Denver's first touchdown of the game.
"We see it in practice, how athletic he is," defensive lineman Zach Allen said. "Bo's Bo. We're really glad that he's our guy, and when he's making plays, he gets the whole team juiced up."
Nix's run was the longest by a quarterback in Broncos history, and it was the longest running play by any quarterback since Justin Fields in 2022. Nix recorded an 80-yard rushing touchdown while at Oregon, but it was easily his longest rush as a pro.
Prompted postgame by a reporter about the health of his ankle, Nix flashed a smile.
"You believe me now?" Nix said.
On Denver's first drive of the third quarter, the Broncos struck with another chunk play. On first-and-10 from the Denver 48, Nix connected with RJ Harvey on a screen pass — and the second-year running back weaved his way for a 52-yard score of his own.
The play marked the first time since 2002 — and just the third time since at least 1977 — that the Broncos recorded a 50-plus yard rushing score and a 50-plus yard passing touchdown in the same game.
"The confidence inside the building, relative to his abilities, hasn't changed at all," Head Coach Sean Payton said after the game. "… He's our guy. It was good to see him play well and it was good to see us block well and make some plays down the field."
Nix finished the game 15-of-29 for 222 yards and a touchdown, in addition to seven rushes for 73 yards and a score. Denver scored in all four quarters for the first time this season and posted its second highest yardage output of the year.
In Sunday's win, the Broncos posted five plays of at least 20 yards — including a 47-yard pass to Marvin Mims Jr. that set up another touchdown. The five plays of at least 20 yards matched Denver's highest output of the season.
"We hadn't made that throw all week, it was just sort of a reaction," Nix said. "That was one of those fun throws where, in my opinion, I know I'm seeing the game really well when I do stuff like that."
Yet, after a game in which Denver matched its highest scoring output of the season, Nix was looking for more.
"I thought we played a good game offensively," Nix said. "Still several things that we would like to get better at. Several penalties that we didn't love, some of the four-minute [offense] there at the end, we didn't look very smooth and clean at."
The Broncos were 3-of-11 on third down and settled for field goals on a pair of first-half drives, which left Nix focused on how the team can improve.
"We are in a position to be coached tough, and I think we have the team to do it," Nix said. "I hope we are coached tough. I hope they make it really important this week to find those details. There's several things in the game that we can grow from. It's an important week, and we know that. We have to be really sharp and disciplined. We can carry the coaching from this game on into this week."
