The Good, Bad & Ugly From Broncos' 34-20 Loss to Jaguars

The Denver Broncos’ 11-game win streak has been abruptly snapped by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville crushed the Broncos 34-20 on Sunday.

It would be easy to point the finger at a single underperforming unit, but the Broncos failed to deliver across all three phases of the game, resulting in a multitude of miscues. Before getting to the bad and ugly, I must highlight the lone bright spot in the Broncos' third loss of the season. 

The Good: Homerun Harvey

RJ Harvey had one of his best showings of the season, totaling 121 yards ( 50 rushing and 71 receiving) and a breakaway 38-yard rushing touchdown. Despite only getting seven carries, he averaged 7.1 YPC and made the best rushing defense look silly at times.

Going forward, the Broncos will need to rush the ball more than 12 times between their running backs, but Harvey’s big-play ability on minimal touches is encouraging for the future. 

The Bad: Early Offensive Woes Come Back to Life

Since Week 11, Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense have been a much more efficient and dangerous unit, but unfortunately, they fell back into old bad habits vs. the Jaguars. While not overly terrible, Nix was more skittish in the pocket, whether under pressure or not, than in previous weeks, leading to poor decision-making and ultimately an untimely interception.

Another blunder occurred during an RPO handoff to running back Jaleel McLaughlin, when he and Nix both let go of the ball, resulting in a fumble, which Jacksonville recovered. Drops reared their ugly head as several Broncos’ receivers couldn’t wrangle the ball, namely Courtland Sutton, who has had drop problems in the past.

To top off the game, the Broncos were still trying to push the ball down the field, down two scores with under two minutes left, and Nix threw up a "hospital ball" to rookie receiver Pat Bryant, who took a big shot, knocking him out of the game and into an ambulance.

Thankfully, Bryant was quickly discharged from the hospital with a concussion and nothing worse. This Broncos’ offense is starting to slip at the wrong time and must find its footing with the first playoff seed on the line over these final two weeks. 

The Ugly: Dangerously Bad Defense