Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos survived a signature “play down to your opponent’s level” moment in London this week.
This game was both bizarre and frustrating to watch. I want my lost sleep back after having to watch our offense flail around like a fish out of water.
What got lost for me until the end of the game was just how dominant the defense was (or maybe how bad the New York Jets are on offense…could be both). They put on an absolute clinic for the London fans on how to play smothering defense.
I’m ready any time for Sean Payton to get these types of game plans out of his system. It sure did seem like more than 80% of the plays were designed to throw within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage or just hand the ball off.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel like sometimes you need to stick with the run game. That being said, when I was looking at the Jets last week, run defense was the only thing I saw that they were doing well as a team.
It was absolutely nonsensical for the Broncos to keep running the ball when it wasn’t working all game long. The Jets can’t cover, and before this game, they were giving teams buckets of points each week.
I can easily put on a tin-foil cap for a moment and say that it sure looked like the NFL wanted the Broncos to make sure to keep the game close for the “home team in London.” I’ve seen a few years of Payton, and he has a harder time sticking to the run game each week than he does abandoning it.
Bo Nix played the game he had to in order to get the win. He looked like Tom Brady in his prime compared to the quarterbacking we saw from the opponents this week. There were some plays left out there on the field to be sure, though. For example, he had Engram open in front of him for a 5-7 yard gain on a crossing route and just ignored it until the corner had a chance to catch up.
He did some pretty good work with his legs in this game, though. Some of the play designs only had 2-3 receivers out in routes and were very easy for the Jets to cover. When that happened, it was good to see that Nix recognized it and very quickly took the running yards the defense was giving him.
Let me share with you all that Matt Peart is not it at left guard. He was slow to react, weak to hold his blocks, and gave up multiple holding penalties. For a veteran player, he looked woefully unprepared to play the game of NFL football. I’m honestly surprised that he got the nod, as I thought both Throckmorton and Palczewski (who has guard experience) looked better in the preseason.
I honestly need to stop...
