Winners and Losers from the Broncos 34-20 loss to the Jaguars

Well, that sucked.

The Broncos have their 11-game win streak snapped, and they lost their first home game since week 6 of last season. For the first time this season, the Broncos were outplayed and beaten easily. The Jaguars came into this game with a chip on their shoulder and proved they are the real deal in the AFC. Meanwhile, the Broncos played one of their worst games of the season. Sloppy play, penalties, drops, turnovers, and just poor play throughout led to this 14-point loss.

Despite this loss, the Broncos remain the one seed and lead the AFC West, but things are getting tighter. With all that said, here are the winners and losers from the Broncos’ 34-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

LOSER – Broncos defense

What the hell was that?

The Jags sliced and diced the Broncos’ defense all game. They scored 17 first-half points and followed that up with another 17 second-half points. A big reason for this was piss poor tackling throughout the game and their top-ranked red zone defense giving up 4 total touchdowns.

Riley Moss, whom I have defended this year, struggled to tackle Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington on two plays, which led to big gains and eventual touchdowns. It was frustrating to watch and is concerning to see.

We have seen Vance Joseph’s unit take a step back in recent weeks, and is coming off a season where we saw them struggle late in the year on defense. Hopefully, that trend will not continue moving forward.

If the Broncos want to be Super Bowl contenders, they need this defense to play MUCH better moving forward.

LOSER – Offensive mistakes

The Broncos’ offense looked good at times throughout the game, but they had multiple errors throughout the game that led to this loss. Quarterback Bo Nix fumbled a handoff, which the Jaguars recovered, and would later throw an interception on 4th down, where he threw right into tight coverage and allowed the Jags defender to make the easy INT. He had running back Tyler Badie wide open as the check-down but he simply missed him.

Nix wasn’t bad in this game, but he wasn’t nearly as good as he was vs. the Packers. We need better from Nix moving forward against playoff teams if the Broncos want to win in the playoffs.

What didn’t help was the big drops throughout this game. Courtland Sutton dropped a deep throw that would have put the Broncos inside the 5-yard line while the Broncos were down 7. Rookie Pat Bryant dropped a big 3rd down pass, which was thrown behind him, but also a pass he needed to catch. Sutton also dropped another potential touchdown late in the game.

The Broncos have dealt with drops all season, and they came up big once again tonight.

WINNER – RJ Harvey

The rookie running back was the lone bright spot for the Broncos’ offense today. He had 7 carries for 50 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as 4 receptions for 71 yards. That is 11 touches for 121 yards and 1 touchdown. His touchdown now gives him 11 scores on the year, which is impressive for the Broncos’ rookie runner.

Not bad.

Unfortunately, it came in a losing effort.

With JK Dobbins sidelined, the Broncos will need efforts like this from Harvey if they want to make noise in the playoffs.

LOSER – Vance Joseph

The Broncos’ defensive coordinator was outcoached by Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen throughout this game as a disturbing trend continues.

Last season, the Broncos’ defense took a step back in December and ultimately were blown out in Buffalo by Josh Allen and the Bills. We saw signs of that throughout the month of December this season, and now getting blown out by the Jaguars at home is a concerning red flag.

If the Broncos are going to contend, they need this defense to play like the elite unit it was early in the season. If not, we could see them have another quick exit in the postseason. Vance and this Broncos defense needs to step up.

LOSER – QB Bo Nix

Nix had his good moments throughout the game, but two costly turnovers in the second half landed him on the losers’ list.

A fumbled handoff and an ugly INT in the second half derailed any hopes of another second-half comeback. We saw flashes of the quarterback we saw vs. the Packers, but also flashes of bad Bo Nix, where he looked flustered, had happy feet, and made some poor decisions/bad throws.

He was off target on a handful of passes, was outplayed by Trevor Lawrence, and couldn’t lead a 4th quarter comeback this time.

Nix wasn’t awful, but his mistakes and play were a reason for this loss.

LOSER – AFC West and One seed lead

While the Broncos remain at the top of the AFC West and still are the 1 seed in the AFC, this loss brings the competition closer to them with two games to go.

The Chargers are now just one game back in the division, hold the tiebreaker over the Broncos, and will still play them in the season finale. Meanwhile, the Patriots have a chance to gain a game back tonight with a win vs. the Ravens, and suddenly, the Chargers and Jaguars are contending for the one seed as well.

The Broncos control their own destiny still and will play a beat-up Chiefs team down to their third-string quarterback on Christmas Night, but they will likely need to win out if they want to win the AFC West and get the one seed.

Other notable winners and losers

• LOSER – Refs: While the Broncos deserved to lose, the refs did not help them throughout this game. Some iffy penalties on the Broncos, while the Jags were allowed to run the play clock down to zero and then some without a flag being thrown. This has been a trend throughout the year, and 3 of the 4 Jaguars’ touchdown drives had big penalties on the Broncos.
• LOSER – CB Riley Moss: He had his good moments in this game, but was absolutely worked by Parker Washington on multiple plays that led to big gains. Poor tackling. Need to be better when all eyes are on you.
• WINNER – John Franklin-Myers: Had 2 sacks and played well
• WINNER – RB Jaleel McLaughlin: Had a couple of nice runs and nearly broke a long touchdown run early in the game
• LOSER – Broncos 3rd down offense: They went 5 of 14 on 3rd downs tonight. Can’t have that.
• LOSER – Penalties: Broncos had 6 penalties called on them for 61 yards, while the Jags had 2 for 20 yards
• LOSER – K Wil Lutz: He has been automatic, but he doinked one off the pole early in the game
• LOSER – Red Zone/3rd down defense: Jags scored 4 touchdowns in the red zone and had no issues against the Broncos’ top red zone defense. The Jags also converted 8 of 15 third downs in this game.