The Broncos finally got their first win of the season, and it came against the Jets on Thursday night football. Let’s take a look at the players that impressed with their primetime performance, and a couple that fell short of expectations.
Stock Up
Brett Rypien
There will be no debate this week about whether or not starting Brett Rypien in front of Jeff Driskel and Blake Bortles was the right decision.
Rypien looked comfortable, confident and in command from the very first snap. He progressed through his reads and threw some downright gorgeous deep balls. On his first six attempts, Rypien completed all six passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, thanks to a big play from Jerry Jeudy.
Rypien halfway through the 3rd quarter: 76% comp 10 YPA
That’s impressive for a first start on a short week
— Zach Segars (@Zach_Segars) October 2, 2020
The two late interceptions were ugly, especially considering they came over the course of three attempts but he bounced back and led a gutsy fourth-quarter drive that setup the go-ahead field goal with three minutes left. If he keeps playing like he showed tonight, save for the interceptions, he might just be able to keep the Broncos afloat while Lock is away.
Jerry Jeudy & Tim Patrick
Welcome to the NFL, Jerry Jeudy.
The Broncos’ first-round draft pick has had an impressive start to his career marred by a few ugly drops, and on Thursday night he got his first touchdown, and it was an incredible catch too.
JERRY JEUDY.
48 yards for his first career TD! #BroncosCountry @jerryjeudy
📺: #DENvsNYJ on @NFLNetwork
📱: NFL App // Yahoo Sports App: https://t.co/jQ6nvOCVqi pic.twitter.com/vSiY5E4VCf— NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2020
To get your first NFL touchdown in that fashion must be incredible. The catch where he Moss’d Pierre Desir, the staredown, the dance. Everything about it was perfect.
Meanwhile, Tim Patrick has had a coming-out party over the last two weeks, going for a combined total of 10 receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns across the two games.
He flashed his high-end ability ever since his first season with the Broncos, but the broken hand he suffered a season ago delayed his breakout for a year.
Bradley Chubb
Coming back from a torn ACL, Bradley Chubb had a slow start to the season, but he bounced back in a major way in primetime against the Jets. Chubb was constantly pressuring and harassing Sam Darnold, and tallied 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hits in the process, including one on fourth down that sealed the Broncos victory late.
The Broncos have been desperately searching for any semblance of a pass rush to no avail through the first three weeks, but they finally found one in Week 4 thanks in large part to Chubb.
On the whole, the defense generated six sacks and 10 quarterback hits, after totaling three sacks and nine hits over the past two weeks.
Michael Ojemudia & De’Vante Bausby
Michael Ojemudia has been targeted by every team the Broncos have faced so far this season and, as a result, has made some bad mistakes despite playing good coverage for the most part. He played much better against the Jets. He broke up a pass and the only blemish on his record tonight was a pass interference penalty that should not have been called.
De’Vante Bausby was one of the more surprising cuts made by the Broncos as they shrunk their roster to 53, but the team managed to keep him around on their practice squad. Thank goodness they were able to, as he played terrifically in his comeback game against the Jets, breaking up three passes and nearly made an interception that would’ve sealed the game and could’ve gone for a touchdown.
Stock Down
Essang Bassey
Ojemudia and Bausby had great games, but Essang Bassey did not. In fact, it was his early struggles and subsequent benching that led to Bausby entering the game for the Broncos.
Bassey was constantly picked on by the Jets and Sam Darnold, as they caught him trailing his receiver on several drag routes that kept drives alive and moved New York’s offense down the field.
For undrafted rookie cornerback starting in the year of Coronavirus, Bassey has done an incredible job overall, but tonight was definitely not his night.
Nick Vannett
A lot of the Broncos off-season additions are panning out, like Jeudy, Ojemudia, and Melvin Gordon, but the signing of Nick Vannett certainly isn’t.
He was signed to be a blocker, but he has even been disappointing in that respect. One clear example was him being blown up on the goal line on Gordon’s first touchdown run. He also has been a negative as a receiver, and one of Rypien’s interceptions came with Vannett as the target.
The Broncos are incredibly fortunate that Noah Fant’s ankle injury was minor.