The Denver Broncos defeated the New York Jets 13-11 on a day in which the defense sacked Jets quarterback Justin Fields nine times while allowing just 82 yards of offense.
New York had a chance to try a 62-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining in the game. However, Gang Green instead decided to attempt a fourth-down conversion, which was blocked to give the Broncos their fourth win of the season.
The Jets got off to an excellent start when they forced their first turnover of the season defensively. Gang Green recovered a loose fumble by wide receiver Troy Franklin that was picked off by safety Andre Cisco to give New York the football in enemy territory. As usual, though, the Jets shot themselves in the foot by committing a false start and taking a sack on consecutive plays, so they settled for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Coming into this, New York had the worst turnover differential in the league (-8).
Denver responded well. They put together a seven-play, 28-yard drive that ended with a 57-yard field goal by Will Lutz to tie things up at 3-3. This was Lutz’s longest field goal of the campaign.
New York returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to Denver’s 24-yard line. However, the Broncos’ defense forced a three-and-out and held the Jets to another field goal, bringing the score to 6-3.
Denver had no problem responding. While facing fourth-and-5 at the Jets 47, quarterback Bo Nix completed a pass to tight end Evan Engram for a first down at New York’s 36. This fourth down conversion proved to be very important as it set up a 16-yard touchdown reception by tight end Nate Adkins to put the Broncos back on top 10-6 to start the second quarter. Adkins, who had two sacks the season prior to this game, recorded two receptions on Denver’s first three drives.
Although they had two field goals to show for their efforts, the Jets’ offense looked terrible. New York opened the game with four straight scores and threes while recording one yard of offense. In Gang Green’s first four series, quarterback Justin Fields was two for four in passes with one yard and three sacks taken.
The offensive fireworks faded in the second quarter. After four straight rounds that ended in points, these teams combined for four straight balls.
Gang Green finally converted their first third down attempt of the game with 2:32 remaining in the second quarter. Despite being stopped on the next third down, the Jets faked a penalty and picked up a new set of downs with a minute to go in the first half. Given the clock, the Jets could have tried to say hello to you before halftime. However, they failed to get out of the game before time ran out in the second quarter, despite the offense lining up with nearly ten seconds left on the clock, bringing the first half to a close. New York’s 32 total yards of offense in the first half were the fewest by any team this season.
The Jets’ first possession of the third quarter went well. They picked up three first downs before stopping the series at 20 in Denver. From there, New York was able to kick a 38-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 10-9 in favor of the Broncos. On that drive, the Jets surpassed their total offensive yardage from the first half.
After a quick three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back on their own 42 with a chance to regain the lead. Justin Fields executed a perfect quarterback sneak on third and short to get the ball to Denver’s side of the field. Unfortunately for Jets fans, the drive stalled on Gang Green’s next down attempt, resulting in a penalty kick on the Broncos’ three-yard line.
New York took the lead on the next play. Denver offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz was flagged for an offensive penalty in the Broncos’ end zone. Per the rule, that gave the Jets a two-point safety to put them ahead 11-10. To make matters worse, the Broncos had to punt the ball to Gang Green, but they failed to do anything with that extra possession, so Denver got the ball back in the 18th minute.
On New York’s next series, they nearly made a blunder when wide receiver Garrett Wilson was stripped of the football, and Denver picked up the loose fumble. However, a review of the replay helped the officials determine that the play was simply an incompletion and not just a fumble, which resulted in the score being reversed. However, the drive was derailed after Denver recorded its sixth sack of the day to close the third quarter.
Despite being completely outmatched in the first half, New York looked much better in the third quarter. They were able to hold the Broncos to just nine yards on offense, while Bo Nix failed to complete a pass during that 15-minute period.
After a Jets punt, Denver got the ball back with 10:16 left in the game. Bo Nix broke loose by hitting Evan Engram for a 12-yard gain, his first completion of the second half. A few plays later, wide receiver Marvin Mims took a short pass to New York’s 34-yard line on third-and-8. The drive may have stalled at nine, but Denver nailed a short field goal to restore the lead 13-11 with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
New York will not be able to formulate a meaningful response. Justin Fields got his seventh sack of the day on 3rd-and-10 to force a Gang Green punt with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. With this removal, Nick Bonito moved into first place as the league leader with eight sacks on the season.
The Jets got the ball back with another chance to win this game after a quick triple by Denver. They began the possession on the 44-yard line with 2:23 remaining in the game. A bad snap was taken by running back Breece Hall getting the ball to midfield on the two-minute warning. Gang Green got to the Broncos 44, where they decided to go down for a first down on fourth-and-8 instead of attempting a 62-yard field goal. Unfortunately for New York, Justin Fields was brought down in the backfield to give Denver the win.
With this win, the Broncos took first place in the AFC West, ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers, who will play later today.
*Author’s Note: All information and statistics are tracked in real time and are provided by the game broadcaster, NFL.com, and ESPN.com*
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