Friday Faceoff: Can Bo Nix and Sean Payton survive a long-term football marriage? Chris Schmaedeke, digital sports editor Answer: Yes The football marriage of Broncos coach Sean Payton and quarterback Bo Nix can survive, but it’s going to take some work. They need some space and some c ounseling. After Payton’s news conference Tuesday and Nix’s meeting with media Wednesday, Nix’s ankle was a hot topic. The coach said Nix had a “predisposed” ankle condition. Nix came back and said that was not true. Nix didn’t have to talk on Wednesday, but I imagine he chose to clear the air because he doesn’t want to seem injury-prone or like his ankles are in trouble. After a no-show by the offense in an AFC Championship Game that ended the Broncos’ season with Nix on the sideline, it seems like everybody needs a break. Space is needed. Time can heal any wounds between Payton and the quarterback he hand-picked to be in Denver. Another way to calm down this tension? Keep quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and make him the offensive coordinator. Webb should get the chance to call plays, but it would be shocking if Payton gives up that privilege. Webb has been the coach who is the perfect in-between for Payton and Nix. During a couple of sideline spats between Payton and Nix, Webb has inserted himself in the middle and calmed the situation. He is a sounding board for Nix. It’s hardly time to give up on the Nix-Payton partnership as the Broncos earned the No. 1 seed and came within one win from Super Bowl LX. But over the long-term there needs to be work done. That starts with a little space. And making sure Mr. Webb is in the building when they came back. *** Tyler King, college sports reporter Answer: No Bo Nix shouldn’t have to hold his own press conference to correct what his coach says. But only two years into the partnership that had Broncos Country thinking it was the next Mike Shanahan and John Elway, there are signs of cracks between Nix and Sean Payton. Granted, it’s Payton’s show for now at Dove Valley. But that is quickly going to change once Nix signs on the dotted line on a $50 million-plus annual contract that ownership puts in front of him as soon as it’s allowed. If the Nix-Payton relationship gets to a point where Denver is forced to choose between the two, the quarterback wins. Because the quarterback almost always wins power struggles like this. While Payton is one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, his salary soon will dwarf Nix’s. In football, money always talks. That’s not foreign to Payton, as he worked with a highly paid quarterback in Drew Brees for years in New Orleans. But this feels like a different era of Payton’s career — where he’s in charge and everyone else falls in line. But that may change if the Broncos continue coming up short in the playoffs with this version of the roster. Some folks already believe this season was Denver’s best chance to get to a Super Bowl with the Nix-Payton partnership. Multiple years of playoff disappointment doesn’t often bode well for high-profile coach-quarterback duos, either. Look at Buffalo, where the Bills chose Josh Allen over Sean McDermott after another heartbreaking January loss. It’s not hard to envision the Broncos being in a similar spot in three or four years. With Nix’s salary likely in the $50 million range by that time, the Broncos would surely choose him over Payton. ...read more read less