Bo Nix believed that playing 61 college football games would give him an edge at the next level. It did.

Nix now prepares to play his first career postseason game, after adding 17 regular-season NFL games to his experience at the college and pro level.

By the time rookies get to the playoffs, they’re not really rookies anymore. Nix has never seemed like one.

Will he seem like one today? From time to time, we see quarterbacks who can’t rise to the occasion. We also see quarterbacks who do. Patience. Calm. Poise. A sense that the moment, that no moment, is too big for them.

Nix played very well for a rookie. He threw for 3,775 yards. He had 29 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. His passer rating was 93.3. He more than doubled the franchise record for wins by a rookie quarterback. (John Elway and Drew Lock had four each.)

It won’t be easy today in Buffalo. If he were inclined to tense up or freak out, it would be even harder.

He still could. We don’t know how any NFL quarterback will perform in the playoffs until they do. We know the ones who have a history of turtling. And we know the ones who embrace the moment and shine — Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, to name a few.

Nix gets his first chance to make a first playoff impression soon. Win or lose, how he plays will be the first chapter in his own postseason narrative.