NEW YORK vs DENVER 

BRONCOS WIN 13 – 11

• Story of the Game – Despite the Jets defense and special teams finally having a good week but their offense was abysmal  

Despite the box score reading as 9 sacks the Jets OL actually played quite well against a really strong Broncos pass rush. Aside from a few snaps where Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper flew off the ball and created quick pressure the Jets giving up 9 sacks was much more on Justin Fields holding the ball far too long and this receiving core being unable to create consistent separation. Fields failed to get rid of the ball at the back of his drop snap after snap and proceeded to drop his eyes and try to dance around the pocket to extend plays which ultimately just led to the athletic Broncos pass rush to swarm and get to Fields. This was debilitating to Jets passing game and ultimately ended in them ending the game with -10 passing yards when you factor in the yards they lost to sacks, absolutely horrific showing from Fields. While the passing game was an ugly watch the mismanagement of the game from HC Aaron Glenn may have been just as frustrating to Jets fans as they watched their team throw away a drive before the end of the first half and yet again make questionable decisions with their timeouts and decision making in short downs and distances. This team needs to find a way to play some level of consistent football in all three phases as their offense has had some success and decent showings throughout this year but their special teams and defensive units have been struggling. This game on the other was a complete flip of that script as their special teams and defensive units had success and put their offense in positions to win but the offense fell flat on their face and was unable to capitalize on the other units playing well. It looks be another ugly season for the Jets and while no one viewed them as a potential power house coming into this year an 0 – 6 start has to be heartbreaking, especially when you consider the ways in which they’ve lost a handful of these games.

As for the Broncos the defense had a great showing as they took advantage of an abysmal showing from the Jets offense by sacking Fields 9 times and holding Breece Hall to a 2.7 YPC on the day. The offense on the other hand routinely beat themselves as they were up and down all day in all aspects. Once again they struggled to push the ball downfield despite playing a Jets defense that has had some really rough secondary play and they were forced to inch their way downfield with quick pass plays off of motion and using multiple different positions and players(7 guys got carries) in their run game to try and open up the field. Ultimately it did end up helping as they targeted the middle of the field as they stressed the Jets LBs by constantly throwing motion at them but the lack of winning on the outside and inconsistently from Nix has to frustrating. Despite the poor play and them doing their best to lose themselves this game they scraped out an ugly win in London and are heading back to Denver 4-2. 

• Key Notes for the Broncos 

This passing game continues to feel and look a bit off as they struggle to separate downfield and when they do break open it’s a toss up if Nix will connect with his receiver. I thought Sean Payton called a great game considering what they were able to do on the field. Payton was putting constant pressure on the edges of this Jets defense as he was using motion and handoffs to his WRs which opened up the middle of the field for Nix to take advantage of along with creating easy quick targets for Nix to dump the ball off to to pick up free yardage. Despite the great play calling from Payton and Nix doing a good job of taking what the Jets defense was giving him every time they crossed midfield it seemed they’d commit a penalty or stall out as the field closed in on them. 

The Broncos secondary did a great job of playing top down coverage and taking away Fields’ first read and their DL swarmed to Fields as he held onto the ball. Really nothing too noteworthy as they took away everything from the Jets offense and forced them to play “left handed”, which the Jets couldn’t seem to do.

• Key Notes for the Jets 

While I won’t belabor the point as I’ve mentioned it a number of times throughout this write up so far the inability to operate in the passing game from Fields was very disappointing. The Jets OL gave him plenty of time to operate and he even had lanes to run but he seemingly wanted to stay in the pocket and maintain a passer more than scramble for yards with his legs but when he did so he dropped his eyes and really didn’t give himself a chance to make a play in any way. It was the complete opposite of what we saw in Week 1 from him against Pittsburgh where he managed the pocket beautifully without dropping his eyes and was a willing runner when plays did break down. He looked like he did in Chicago where he struggled to progress past his first read and because of that even when the Jets WRs separated he gave himself no chance at even seeing them let alone connecting down field.

The Jets special teams with Kene Nwangwu coming back from injury looked like a completely different unit as they finally managed to put together a couple nice returns on kick off and even pinned the Broncos deep on a punt. Along with their special teams units stepping up the defense finally came away with a turnover as they forced a fumble on Troy Franklin early in the game and aside from an inconsistent pass rush and rough day defending the middle of the field was largely impressive. They kept a lid on the Broncos offense and did a great job at holding up in the run game by winning the LOS and their LBs sorting through the mess to hold Dobbins to minimal gains.

• The additions they’ve made through trade (Jarvis Brownlee Jr, Jowon Briggs, and Harrison Phillips) have been great additions to this team and have made huge impacts for minimal assets traded away.
• Jamien Sherwood had an up and down game as he struggled in coverage at times but also made some keys plays in both run defense and coverage. Once again he wasn’t playing at the level he did last year but it was his best game so far this season.

Coaching decisions continue to be questionable for this team and while I’m going to advocate for this to be a one and done coaching staff these decisions have to be better moving forward. Whether it’s time management or questionable decisions to punt on short downs and distances there’s 3-5 times a game where I question what this staff is doing. DC Steve Wilks finally put together a solid game (may have been Aaron Glenn influenced based on the way they were calling the game) but overall has looked like a questionable hire, especially considering his last few stops. OC Tanner Engstrand has had some really promising moments as he’s put together some beautifully called drives every game but occasionally seems to lose touch with who and what this teams strengths are which leaves you overall positive but frustrated at times with play calls. Finally HC Aaron Glenn seems to have this team in order and has managed the locker room well but his inability to communicate with press after games leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially after losses where he makes questionable decisions and is unwilling to admit it wasn’t right or that he needs to reassess things moving forward. Overall there’s some optimism around this group and  I think they’ve been handed a tough situation that they’re trying to manage as best they can but staring at 0 – 6 next to this team and seeing some of the ways they’ve managed to lose games is incredibly frustrating and you need to see growth moving forward with some of these mistakes they continue to make game to game.

• Standout Performers 

DEN

Bo Nix – 19/30  174  1/0 – 5/24 rush

• Inconsistent but made enough plays to keep Denver ahead in the game

Evan Engram – 5/42 – 1/7 rush 

Nik Bonitto – 6 Tackles (3 Solo)  1 Sack 

Jonathan Cooper – 5 Tackles (2 Solo)  2 Sacks  1 TFL  

Pat Surtain II – 1 Tackle  2 PBUs

NYJ

Garrett Wilson – 3/13 

• Not a good day statistically and wasn’t perfect but opened up the field for other despite them not getting the ball and continues to be the one constant on this offense 

Jarvis Brownlee Jr – 6 Tackles (5 Solo)  1 TFL  1 FF 

Jermaine Johnson II – 5 Tackles (4 Solo)  1 Sack  1 TFL 

• Instant impact after coming back from injury 

Sauce Gardner – 2 Tackles  1 PBU

• Wasn’t perfect but one of his better weeks this year

Kiko Mauigoa – 8 Tackles (2 Solo) 

• Added a much needed punch to a Jets LB core that’s looked flat all year 

Kene Nwangwu – 3/113 on kick returns – Helped downed punt inside 5