SEATTLE — It wasn’t the debut effort Broncos quarterback Bo Nix envisioned or wanted on Sunday, but Denver coach Sean Payton says Nix didn’t get nearly enough help from his teammates or coaches to make it better.

Nix, who was the 12th pick in April’s draft by the Broncos, finished the 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field by completing 26 of 42 passes for 138 yards and throwing two interceptions. He also was sacked twice and had at least two other potential picks passed up by Seattle defenders.

But Payton said the Broncos had plenty of blame to answer for.

“He gave us a chance,” Payton said. “I mean, our protection was average, at best. … At one point in the game I was talking to the receivers, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ I don’t know how many drops we had, but man, let’s help this guy.”

Payton, who had said throughout the preseason that a young quarterback’s best “allies” were a good run game and a good defense, had a particularly tough time with the Broncos’ run game on Sunday. On paper, the 25 carries for 99 yards weren’t all that bad. But if you take away Nix’s 35 yards rushing on scrambles (including a 4-yard run for Denver’s only offensive touchdown of the game), the Broncos ran the ball 20 times for 64 yards on the other carries.

The Broncos’ top two running backs — Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin — had eight carries for 23 yards and 10 carries for 27 yards, respectively. And rookie back Audric Estime fumbled on one of his two carries, and the Broncos recovered.

“For every quarterback that plays, we’ve got to be more effective at running the ball,” Payton said. “Not nearly good enough … We as coaches, we’ve got to evaluate the run game plan and why it wasn’t as effective as we’d like it to be … It’s going to be tough to play quarterback, period, if that’s the best we can do running the ball.”

The result was that Nix’s 42 pass attempts were more than Payton said he wanted the rookie to have in the game. Overall, the Broncos finished with 231 net yards on offense and were 5 of 18 on third down.

Payton even threw himself on the pile: “I have to get better.”

“It was a challenge. It was a tough day. They definitely didn’t make it easy for us,” Nix said. “It’s tough. You have to give them credit, but we fought, we fought.”

When asked if he was nervous about making his first NFL start, Nix paused and said, “Um, no.”

It all happened on a day when the Broncos defense saw an interception by linebacker Alex Singleton on Seattle’s second play from scrimmage, forced two safeties in the first half and recovered a special teams fumble deep in Seahawks territory.

However, the Broncos’ offense turned the two turnovers into just two field goals, despite having the ball on the Seahawks’ 20-yard line and the 9-yard line to start those drives. The Broncos still led 10-9 at halftime.

Seattle rushed for 90 yards in the second half and the Seahawks scored two touchdown drives, good for a 26-13 lead deep into the fourth quarter.

The Broncos cut the gap to 26-20 with 2 minutes, 9 seconds left in the game thanks to Nix’s 4-yard scramble, but they never got the ball back.

Payton, who named Nix the starting pitcher on Aug. 21, said he was confident Nix was ready and that the Broncos’ final drive was proof that despite all the struggles, the rookie was still motivated at the end of the game.

“He seemed calm, level-headed. I felt like he was very comfortable and ready,” Payton said. “We’ve got to do a better job with him. We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.”

Nix gave his perspective.

“As bad as we did, I think we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end,” he said. “Our defense and special teams played unbelievable. They really kept us in the game. They gave us hope, they fought. … The balls are on the ground; you have to evaluate how you can change it. … You’re not going to hit them all.”

Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds said he was impressed with Nix’s performance.

“I think that’s awesome,” he said. “A quarterback who kept fighting.”

Nix is ​​the first rookie captain for the Broncos since Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little in 1967. And Nix was the first rookie quarterback to start in the season opener for Denver since John Elway in 1983.

His task won’t get much easier in Week 2, as the Broncos host the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday, after they tackled Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​twice and made a pair of interceptions in their first win.