Given the freedom to choose any NFL quarterback since 1950 to win your favorite team a close game, you might think of names like Joe Montana, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes.

What if the best option was technically a divisive, third-year quarterback?

Week 9 for the Denver Broncos followed what has by now become a familiar pattern. During the first three quarters, Denver trailed and neither the Broncos nor Nix looked quite comfortable. Then the fourth quarter began, and he made all the right moves — yet again.

The 26-21 Broncos victory was their 17th consecutive win with Nix as the starter in games decided by one score or less — breaking a record held by Kansas City with Mahomes during the 2023-24 seasons that was the longest streak since 1950, including playoffs, per NBC Sports research.

“Part of it pisses me off,” Broncos coach Sean Payton told reporters when asked about the streak, “because there’s a few of them that you would say shouldn’t have been one-score games.”

Payton added that “we still have some work to do.”

True to form, Nix didn’t produce all highlights against the Carolina Panthers. In the first quarter, facing third-and-goal from Carolina’s 8-yard line, Nix dropped back to pass ... and kept dropping back to elude blitzers ... then kept running backward until he reached the 33-yard line before at last throwing the ball away.

After three quarters, Carolina led 14-13. Nix threw an interception and committed a fumble, though it didn’t lead to a turnover.

Yet in fourth quarters Nix, 26, transforms into an unbelievably effective quarterback at producing plays when they matter most. On Sunday that included leading two fourth-quarter scoring drives, including throwing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Pat Bryant with 5:41 left that put Denver ahead for good. It marked his 13th career fourth-quarter comeback — as many as Hall of Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Steve Young had in their careers.

Nix finished with 237 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 6 of his 7 passes on third down for 72 yards and a touchdown. Denver’s five fourth-quarter comebacks are the most in the NFL.

“It seems like it’s always the same feeling,” Nix said. “There’s always a look in the huddle like, ‘Hey, guys, we don’t have a choice right here and we gotta go make something out of it.’ Today, those second-half touchdowns were really, really important.”

Nix entered this season under high expectations after leading five fourth-quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives last season while helping Denver reach the AFC championship, a game he couldn’t play in due to an ankle injury.

In Week 1, however, the Broncos lost by double-digits to Kansas City and by mid-October, Amazon analyst and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ripped Nix after a “Thursday Night Football” game for his meek play during — naturally — a narrow Broncos win over Seattle in overtime.

“It was really frustrating to watch,” Fitzpatrick said after Nix threw for 107 yards and averaged four yards per attempt, the lowest mark of the season to that point. “Part of it for me is Bo Nix is not playing competitively. It’s almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he’s playing football right now.”

Nix said at the time he didn’t try to play conservatively. “I try to be extremely aggressive when I get the opportunities,” Nix said. His coach, Sean Payton, said he never considered benching Nix.

The move has paid off. Nix didn’t throw an interception for five straight games until Sunday. Even with that pick, the Broncos won their fifth straight game and improved it to 7-2. But whether Denver is ready for legitimate Super Bowl contention remains, like any evaluation of Nix, in the eye of the beholder.

“At 7-2, we feel really confident,” Nix said. “But at the same time there’s a lot of things we can get better at.”

Despite their strong record, the Broncos’ offense has been inconsistent all season, leading Payton to take back play-calling responsibilities last month. That inability to find a rhythm outside of fourth quarters factored into why Denver had been outgained by 658 yards this season entering Sunday — third-worst in the league. (The Panthers then outgained Denver by 41 more yards.)

Denver has been able to wriggle out of those holes all year. Will it work in the playoffs is another question. But in 16 consecutive close games with Nix as the starter, Denver has found a formula that is as ugly as it is consistent.