This season may continue to hold many uncertainties and disappointments… but at the very least, the Broncos can still beat the Jets.
Both teams went into Week 4 with a record of 0-3, and neither team thought they would lose on Thursday night. The Jets, a notoriously weak franchise, had a strategy. With eleven players on Denver’s team benched, Adam Gase planned to use this to his advantage.
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New York came out strong. Scary strong. The Jets were up 7-0 before Vic Fangio had a chance to blink. Denver was only able to come back with a field goal after taking twice as much time off the clock. By halftime, they were only up by four points.
The second half of the game was much, much uglier. Backup quarterback Brett Rypien threw a pick-six followed by another interception on Denver’s next drive. Denver currently sits in third place for the greatest number of interceptions this season, averaging 1.5 interceptions per game.
So, what held the Broncos together? Let’s just say the old adage “defense wins games” proved true for Denver. The defensive line sacked Jets’ quarterback Sam Darnold six times for a combined loss of 54 yards. Additionally, New York was only able to convert on 3rd down 50% of the time.
Penalties were also a huge part of this game. Sloppiness cost the Jets 118 yards across 11 penalties and ultimately allowed the Broncos to continue drives that could have easily been ended. On the flip side, Denver gave up 94 yards over the course of 8 penalties. Both teams gave each other unnecessary opportunities to continue offensive drives.
The play that truly ended the game came with the Jets 4th & 3. Bradley Chubb sacked Darnold for -7 yards, sealing a win for Denver. This play gave the team a small adrenaline rush, which resulted in another touchdown from Melvin Gordon. With a final score of 37-28, Denver procured its first win of the 2020 season while saving its franchise from its second straight 0-4 starting record.
This season is unlike anything Broncos fans expected. Although injuries have plagued this team yet again, the only thing to do is keep moving forward. Thursday night’s victory was huge, regardless of the details. With a new record of 1-3, Denver moves on to New England in Week 5.
Caitlyn Allen is the Editor for the Broncos page of Full Press Coverage. She covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @caitlyyyn_allen Follow @FPCBroncos and Facebook.
