The Denver Broncos found a way to outlast the Jacksonville Jaguars, picking up their eighth win of the 2016 NFL season.
It wasn’t the prettiest victory, but you don’t get extra points for style in this league. And the Broncos were able to put away the struggling Jags, 20-10, on the road, placing themselves firmly back in the playoff hunt.
With the Miami Dolphins losing to the Baltimore Ravens, Denver inched up to the sixth and final seed in the AFC.
The Broncos had to get the win without starting quarterback Trevor Siemian, as he was sidelined with a foot injury. Rookie backup Paxton Lynch took the reins and got his first win as a starter.
Denver managed just 206 total yards, but the defense carried them to an important December win.
There’s still a lot of important football to play as we come down the stretch, but here are the MVPs and LVPs of the Broncos victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars:
MVPs:
The “No Fly Zone”
The Broncos defense may not be what it was a season ago, but the defensive backfield is playing as well as ever. The defensive backfield has currently produced 12 interceptions, and they have now returned three of those picks for touchdowns.
On Sunday, Chris Harris got the day started with a second quarter interception, but the Broncos offense did nothing with the possession.
In the third quarter, however, the “No Fly Zone” wouldn’t leave anything to chance.
Leading 10-3, Bradley Roby grabbed a pass from Blake Bortles and returned it 51 yards for the score.
The defensive end tandem combined for 10 tackles, a defended pass and two quarterback hits against Jacksonville.
The Broncos got reacquainted with former defensive lineman Malik Jackson, as he signed a free agent contract in the offseason with the Jags, but Jackson managed just two tackles and a quarterback hit.
If the Broncos are going to truly get back to being a contender, they need production from their defensive front. Crick and Wolfe are a physical combination, solid in both the Broncos’ run defense and pass rush.
Kayvon Webster and Kalif Raymond
Just a week after the Broncos special teams suffered one of their worst performances of the season, they rebounded with one of their best.
Kalif Raymond was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad last week and made the most of his opportunity. Raymond returned four punts for 40 yards and breathed a little life into an offense that struggled all day.
And cornerback Kayvon Webster downed two punts inside the Jaguars 5-yard line, forcing a struggling Jacksonville offense to go the length of the field, to earn any points.
On Sunday, the special teams units were a valuable asset in the Broncos win.
It wasn’t the all-world performance that he turned in last week, but Von made the big plays when the Broncos needed them.
First, he pressured Blake Bortles into a forced throw that resulted in the Roby pick-six. Then he stripped Bortles late in the fourth quarter; the Broncos’ recover all but ended the game.
Miller is still the most dangerous defensive player in the NFL, and on Sunday he showed why.
LVPs:
The offensive line
Playing against the 24th-ranked Jacksonville run defense, that was giving up nearly 117 yards per game, the Denver offensive front managed to ground out a whopping 104 yards.
In addition to not providing any running lanes, they also allowed rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch to be hit five times and sacked twice.
On the season, the Broncos are rushing for 99.8 yards per game and have allowed 31 quarterback sacks.
Once again, the offensive line proved to be a weak link for this team.
The injuries
It doesn’t sound like they are serious, but the Broncos lost a number of players on Sunday, due to injury.
Kapri Bibbs had shown some flashes of finding some holes in the running game, but left with an ankle injury. Linebacker Brandon Marshall suffered a hamstring injury that could bother him for the next few weeks. Devontae Booker had to leave the game for a few plays to be evaluated for a concussion. And defensive lineman Billy Winn left the game late with a neck injury.
Injuries are a part of the game, but you never like to see anyone go down, let alone multiple players.
The run defense
The Broncos defense never allowed the Jaguars to be much of a threat on Sunday, but they did allow too many yards on the ground.
Jacksonville ground out 154 yards rushing, with a 4.1-yard average, and allowed the Jags to convert six third downs over the course of the game.
This was against a Jaguars team that averages just 96 yards per game, 24th in the league.
The Orange Crush dominated the game, and only allowed Jacksonville to cross the 50 five times all day, but 154 rushing yards to this team was far too many.
Paxton Lynch
You can’t blame all of the offensive woes on the rookie quarterback, but in his second NFL start, Lynch looked every bit a rookie.
He didn’t get much help from his offensive line or his running game, but Lynch struggled to get any sort of continuity on Sunday.
His short passes were overthrown, his deep ball hung short and his feet were erratic in the pocket.
Lynch finished the game 12 of 24 for 104 yards with no touchdowns, but at least he had no interceptions, either. You do see flashes of greatness, as he can throw a slant pattern with Elway-like velocity, but he has a long way to go before anyone can consider him a bonafide NFL starter.
Still, the Broncos got the win with a rookie quarterback that had a subpar day.
It could have been a lot worse.
