Bo Nix earned the respect of Ravens coach John Harbaugh despite a blowout loss in Baltimore.

The Broncos fell 41-10 on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium but Nix kept Denver close up until 58 seconds left in the first half. He orchestrated two scoring drives to trail 17-10. Nix caught a touchdown pass from wide receiver Courtland Sutton and Will Lutz kicked a 37-yard field goal.

“He’s a really dangerous quarterback, as you all saw,” Harbaugh said regarding Nix in his postgame news conference with reporters in Baltimore. “He’s really hard to get down in the pocket.”

Of course, things fell apart just before halftime, when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson hit wide receiver Zay Flowers on a 53-yard touchdown strike. The Broncos never recovered momentum in a blowout loss.

Nix threw for 223 yards on 19 of 33 completions (57%) with no touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed 36 yards on six carries while being sacked twice. Nix had a 9-yard touchdown run called back due to Garret Bolles’ holding penalty. The offense also failed to convert a pair of critical fourth-down chances.

Coach Sean Payton, when asked to evaluate Nix, said: “We’ll see when I watch the tape. I think it’s too raw right after the game.”

The 24-year-old Oregon product reacted to the loss with introspection.

“As a younger team, with not as much experience, you (must) take it like it is, and learn from it and grow from it,” Nix said. “Because you don’t want to be back in this situation. So, you kind of accept the pain and accept the reality that we didn’t get it done today. And as a young team, we’ve got to find ways to not let this happen again.”

Sutton-to-Nix magic happened in the red zone during the second quarter.

Nix handed the football to running back Javonte Williams on a sweep left and he tossed it back to Sutton moving to the right. Nix snuck into the flat and scored on a two-yard touchdown reception despite a near stop at the goal line by Ravens safety Marcus Williams.

“It’s hard to explain. They play a zero-funnel coverage, and it can become complicated. Then we have a series of zero-funnel beaters. But the guy that’s not getting covered, technically in man (coverage), is the QB,” Payton said. “We got the right look. I wouldn’t have called it if I knew it would have been that close. They did a good job. Courtland made a good throw. So, it was a tight red scoring play.”

Sutton also threw a 28-yard pass to fullback Michael Burton in a Week 8 home victory over the Panthers.

“Courtland looked pretty good again on that play,” Nix said.

The Broncos (5-4) endured significant growing pains against a likely Super Bowl contender in the Ravens (6-3). Baltimore outside linebacker Tavius Robinson still gave Nix props for a performance that flashed some promise for the future.

“I think they’re a great team, and that quarterback is good and will only get better,” Robinson told reporters in Baltimore. “He did come out and scramble a little bit, and it’s not that we weren’t expecting it, but for the most part we were able to handle it.”