Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos hosted the roaring Jacksonville Jaguars in their Week 16 matchup. A gridiron battle of two division leaders, this one was expected to be a close and hard-fought matchup. It turned out to be the opposite, with the Jaguars throttling the Broncos 34-20 and ending their 11-game winning streak. Here are some instant reactions and key takeaways from today’s game.
Penalties, drops, and miscues plague Broncos’ offensive effort
Last week against the Green Bay Packers, Bo Nix and the offense had one of their most complete games of the season. In order to defeat the Jaguars, they needed to replicate some of that success. Sadly, that was far from the case with only several good drives through sixty minutes of play.
After struggling in the first quarter, they were able muster a quality scoring drive early on in the second quarter. A 15-yard fade to Courtland Sutton tied the game up. A few drives later, Wil Lutz was able to connect on a 54-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 10-7 lead—but that was short-lived with Denver being down 17-10 at halftime.
Denver’s first drive of the second half couldn’t have gone any better. Rookie running back RJ Harvey broke a few tackles and dove for the pylon to cap off a 38-yard touchdown scamper that tied the game up at 17. It was an absolutely marvelous play by the second-round pick. After that? There wasn’t much to write home about.
Three-and-outs and stalled drives were a theme for the Broncos thereafter. A failed handoff exchange between Nix and Jaleel McLaughlin late in the third quarter was the straw that broke the camel’s back with Denver already down 31-17. In the fourth quarter down 34-20, Nix threw an interception on fourth down that officially ended any hopes of a miracle comeback.
Penalties, drops, turnovers, and miscues all played a culprit in the Broncos’ regression on offense against the Jaguars. Ther only bright spot on offense was Harvey’s performance. It was in a losing effort, but over 120 all-purpose yards and a touchdown is praiseworthy. The team will continue to need him to play at a high level in the final weeks of the season to help secure the division title and top seed in the AFC.
Defense fails to show up in worst performance of the season
The Jaguars entered today’s contest averaging well over 30 points a game since their bye week. Both Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne were on hot streaks. It was a big task for the Broncos to slow them down. Unfortunately, they struggled all game long and had their worst performance of the year. It was ugly throughout four quarters.
One area of concern I had was how safety P.J. Locke would hold up in coverage. He surrendered a touchdown reception to tight end Brenton Strange in the second quarter—aided by a clear push off by Strange. However, he was also targeted often on the Jaguars’ scoring drive right before halftime and...
