Broncos QB Bo Nix Could Tie Historic Kyler Murray Record vs. Cowboys
The Denver Broncos sit in first place in the AFC West entering Week 8. At 5-2, the Broncos are one game ahead of the 4-3 Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers.
It's the Broncos' best start since 2016. However, that Gary Kubiak-led squad started off strong, only to lose five of its last last nine, finishing 9-7 and missing the playoffs.
Kubiak resigned at season's end, ushering in the arguably the worst eight-year stretch in team history. The 2025 Broncos can avoid the fate of Kubiak's 2016 counterparts, but they'll have to vanquish the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Mile High.
Entering Week 8, several individual Broncos are approaching career milestones or are on the brink of records. Let's take a look at the milestones on the table for the Broncos, with a couple of key team marks within reach.
8-Game Winning Streak at Stake
The Broncos have won seven straight games vs. the Cowboys, with an all-time head-to-head record of 9-4. A win on Sunday would give the Broncos eight straight over 'America's Team.'
Bo Nix Looking to Keep the TD Streak Rolling
Nix needs one passing score to become the third player with an active passing touchdown streak of at least 16 games. On top of that, he needs three total touchdowns to tie Kyler Murray for the fifth-most touchdowns by a player in his first 25 career games.
Nix has a great opportunity to do just that. The Cowboys have one of the NFL's worst defenses, though their offense is one of the best. This game could be a shootout, which would favor Nix hitting these milestones.
Courtland Sutton Poised to Eclipse an Amigo
Sutton needs three receptions for tie wide receiver Vance Johnson for the sixth-most catches in team history. Sutton has been steadily rising up the Broncos' all-time record books this season.
Health willing, his climb will continue.
Garett Bolles to Earn Third-Most Tackle Starts Ever
Bolles will start on Sunday, which will tie tackle Dave Studdard for the third-most regular-season starts by a tackle in team history. Bolles has spent his entire career with the Broncos after being selected in the first round back in 2017.
Nik Bonitto Trying to Keep Pace With Doom
Bonitto needs 2.5 sacks to tie defensive end Elvis Dumervil for the second-most sacks by a Bronco through eight games of a season. Bonitto was shut out in the sack department last week by Andrew Thomas, but he'll face an injured Tyler Guyton on Sunday, a left tackle who
Jonathon Cooper Aiming for Seventh-Round History
Cooper needs 1.5 sacks to become the first seventh-round draft pick since 1996 to record multiple sacks in three straight games. He was a force last week vs. the New York Giants, and enters this game with six sacks.
Thanks, but no thanks: Tennessee Titans should reject Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian has a job (for now) at one of the top college football programs in the country at the University of Texas. It is a destination job. The type of job coaches will leave a job for when it opens up.
Despite that lofty position, Sarkisian's representatives have reportedly let it be known to NFL teams that he would be willing to make the jump to the NFL, including with the Tennessee Titans.
That report comes via The Athletic's Dianna Russini on Saturday, though his representatives have denied it.
Maybe he wants a new challenge.
Maybe he knows a disappointing year at Texas is putting him on the hot seat and is trying to get out in front of it.
Whatever the case may be, NFL teams — including the Tennessee Titans — should politely tell his representatives, thanks, but no thanks.
NFL teams should avoid going on the college coach path
It is not so much about Sarkisian himself that should make NFL teams stay away. It is more about how the recent history of college coaches trying to make the jump to the NFL has gone.
And it's gone poorly.
Other than Jim Harbaugh, when he made the leap from Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers in the early 2010s, most of the college coaches that have attempted to take over NFL teams have badly flopped. Even the successful college coaches.
Back in 2023, Ben Solak noted at The Ringer that only two coaches since 2000 that made the jump from the NCAA to the NFL posted winning records in the pros. The only two who had succeeded were Harbaugh and Bill O'Brien, who had a .509 winning percentage with the Houston Texans.
Every other coach on the list had a losing record in the pros and in some cases, a brutal losing record.
That list included the likes of Kliff Kingsbury, Chip Kelly, Nick Saban, Doug Marrone, Butch Davis, Steve Spurrier, Greg Schiano, Matt Rhule and the two most regrettable hires of them all, Bobby Petrino and Urban Meyer.
All of those coaches were highly successful in the NCAA. In the cases of Saban and Spurrier, they are all-time greats.
They all failed in the NFL.
It's not that they're bad coaches. It's that they are used to coaching a different type of game. Managing college athletes and a college program is a very, very different experience than managing professional athletes. It is also a situation where X's and O's, playcalling and strategy means more. In college, you can be a master recruiter, assemble a powerhouse roster, schedule soft nonconference games and just out-talent everybody.
That doesn't work in the pros. Everybody is good, and the gap between the good teams and the bad teams is razor thin.
The other issue that relates specifically to Sarkisian, is that he really has not had consistently dominant success in the NCAA ranks. He's been good at times — but never really great. His best run has come at Texas where he put together back-to-back 12-win seasons in 2023 and 2024. But they have been followed up with a wildly disappointing 2025 season that saw Texas open as the No. 1 team in the country and then completely underwhelm through the first eight games. All while prized quarterback Arch Manning has shown no progress in his development.
Is that what you want if you are the Titans with a young quarterback in Cam Ward?
Is that what you want if you are any NFL team in need of a new direction?
Learn from recent history. Avoid the college coaches in the NFL.
