Mile High Sports

Stock Up/Stock Down: Denver Broncos get the trolley back on the tracks in London vs. Jags

Zach Segars
Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (10) leaps into the end zone for a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second quarter during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium.

Oct 30, 2022; London, United Kingdom, Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (10) leaps into the end zone for a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second quarter during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

After having to witness a garish, gruesome, and gory trainwreck unfold directly in front of their eyes for over a month, it appears the Denver Broncos might finally have the locomotive back on the tracks, after a thrilling win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Members of the defense stood out with starring performances, as per usual, but what made this showing so special was the fact that the offense also contributed to the victory, and Russell Wilson looked as good as, if not better than, he ever has for the Broncos.

With so much going right this week, in what has been a long, cold, dark season, let’s indulge in the positive, with a supersized edition of Stock Up! No need to fret though, fans of slop and misery, we’ll still have plenty to critique in the ‘Stock Down’ section.

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the Denver Broncos that starred in London

Stock Up for the Denver Broncos

Oct 30, 2022; London, United Kingdom, Denver Broncos cornerback KWaun Williams (21) intercepted the ball from Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) (not pictured) in the fourth quarter during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

K’Waun Williams

After turning in his best performance of the season, all with a cast wrapped around his entire forearm, K’Waun Wiliams is sure to get a much-deserved heap of love from Broncos Country for the first time.

That said, don’t sleep on the fact that he’s been a valuable contributor all season long,

Williams has been a sticky enough coverage man, that the loss of Bryce Callahan — probably the Denver Broncos’ most impactful cornerback since 2019 — has gone completely unnoticed.

Not only that but he’s also brought a physicality and downhill aggression that Callahan never possessed.

Today, the splash plays came by way of two pivotal pass breakups that demonstrated his coverage skills, a run-stuff — which was ultimately erased by a penalty on Williams, but it’s difficult to criticize a player for such a remarkable effort — and the game-sealing interception.

For the first month of the season, this columnist was demanding for you to not sleep on Ronald Darby. Now with Darby gone for the year, it is K’Waun Williams who is the most underrated member of the secondary, and Broncos Country should remedy that fact ASAP.

Jerry Jeudy

Maybe all the Denver Broncos needed to do to unlock Jerry Jeudy, was mention him in trade rumors. Since the rumors surfaced, Jeudy has turned in two of the best showings of his young career and has made it much harder for the Broncos to move off what suddenly looks the part of a promising young weapon.

Jeudy was the most impactful offensive player of the first half, totaling 58 yards from scrimmage and scoring a crucial touchdown on a touch pass that was awfully reminiscent of all the fake handoffs he received under the Pat Shurmur regime.

His route-running was consistently creating miles of separation and throwing windows large enough that even this late-stage version of Russell Wilson managed to see them.

Jeudy only made one reception after the half, finishing the game with 63 yards and a score off six catches, but he’s starting to push for the title of ‘best wide receiver on the Denver Broncos.’

Justin Simmons

Overall, it wasn’t that remarkable a performance from Justin Simmons, and it honestly started pretty shakily. Simmons was penalized twice on Jacksonville’s third drive, gifting the Jaguars 17 yards and two first downs (including a 1st-and-goal), on what had the feeling of a demoralizing possession.

However, the Broncos’ defensive captain quickly rebounded and might’ve made the play of the season, warranting his placement here.

Simmons made a remarkable, leaping interception, on a Trevor Lawrence sniper shot to the endzone, that was fired at close range, turning the tide of the game, and perhaps the season.

At that point in the game, it felt like the Denver Broncos were spiritually beaten and battered past the point of competitiveness. The Jaguars’ stroll down the field to expand on their 7-0 lead felt more like a death march for Broncos Country, as every positive play was nullified by a penalty that felt like a punch to the gut. The wheels were starting to fall off of the defense, the one thing Denver has been able to rely on during this dreadful season.

Then, with one miraculous interception, Simmons seemed to turn the ship around.

Russell Wilson

All that said, Simmons’s game-changing play would have all been for not, if it wasn’t for Russell Wilson momentarily breaking out of the month-long stupor, that has helped plunge the Denver Broncos to this demoralizing win-loss record.

After starting 2-for-5 for 19 yards an interception, and another would-be interception that was dropped by the defender, Nathaniel Hackett threw the training wheels on the offense, and Wilson suddenly came to life, producing the best stretch of quarterbacking Denver has seen from him so far this season.

Fans will be quick to ream Hackett for not making that adjustment (which, to be clear, is treating Wilson the same way Rich Scangarello treated a raw, Day 2 rookie quarterback, with well-documented field-scanning issues, who had missed multiple months of practice) sooner, but he also deserves a lot of credit for finally finding some semblance of a solution.

Wilson went on a 15-for-18 run, that saw him tally 186 yards, throw a touchdown, and set the Broncos up for another.

Wilson’s had great quarters here and there, but oftentimes, those have been fueled by grand lapses in coverage and defensive mistakes. This time, he was creating big plays and making the right reads, all on his own. It was real quarterbacking, even if it was in a simplified offense, and he was doing it at a high level. It was a glimpse that maybe this Wilson situation might not be as disastrous as it looked a couple of weeks ago.

And then, Wilson went 0-for-5, couldn’t see obviously open receivers, held the ball way too long, and took unnecessary sacks. It was like he re-forgot how to play quarterback, and it opened the door for the Jaguars to charge back and take a late 17-14 lead.

Weirdly, the moment Jacksonville pulled ahead on the scoreboard, Wilson snapped back out of his funk, and led Denver on a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that featured a gorgeous 47-yard bomb to K.J. Hamler, and a crucial 10-yard Wilson scramble, despite the hamstring injury.

This Denver Broncos season has been so especially depressing because the future of the franchise has been wagered so heavily on Wilson, and that wager was looking like the type of hopeless bust that leads a gambler to fake their death and run south towards Guatemala.

This week, Broncos Country got some hope back, and that’s invaluable.

Greg Dulcich

Delay-of-game is a five-yard penalty. A touchdown is worth six points. The play begins with the center snapping the ball to the quarterback. Rookie tight ends don’t produce.

These have been maxims that have governed the world of football for as long as any can remember. Few have challenged them. The Denver Broncos’ third-round selection is currently spitting in the face of the football gods right now.

Making that fact more impressive is how much practice time Dulcich missed through the offseason and the early portion of this season with a hamstring injury.

Through just three weeks, Dulcich has made 12 receptions for 182 yards and a touchdown. If you extrapolate that production over the course of an entire 17-game season, you’ll approximate 68 catches for 1,031 yards and six touchdowns.

Kyle Pitts, one of the only players since Mike Ditka to spit in the face of the aforementioned commandment, totaled 68 catches for 1,026 yards and one touchdown last season.

To narrow our scope back down to just this week, Dulcich had the best game of his career.

He showed improved ability as a blocker, clearing the way for the Broncos’ first complete pass of the game (a screen to Jerry Jeudy) and their first touchdown (a touch pass to Jerry Jeudy).

It was also his most productive game as a receiver, as he reeled in four passes for 87 yards.

Most of that production came on just one drive though, as he and Russell Wilson connected three times, for 78 of the Broncos’ 98 yards on the drive. By dominating that drive, Dulcich helped get Denver their first third-quarter touchdown of the season.

Latavius Murray

With his bruising running style, ability to pick up extra yardage and reliability, Latavius Murray has made a strong case that he’s the best running back in this version of the Denver Broncos backfield.

Since joining the active roster, in Week 6, Murray has toted the ball 37 times, gaining 136 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Over that same span, Melvin Gordon has carried the ball 23 times and has garnered just 70 yards and one touchdown — half as much offensive production across the board, except for the number of touches.

It’s not just box score scouting either. The eye test supports it.

Gordon doesn’t seem to be the same back he was in 2020 and 2021. Some of that is the offensive line, but Murray is playing with the same line Gordon is and looks sharper.

After the bye, Murray should be the lead back.

Jonas Griffith

For the most part, Jonas Griffith’s 2021 season has been disappointing, resulting in him losing the starting spot to Alex Singleton this week.

However, Griffith still saw a healthy deal of playing time, and in that time, made a sizable contribution to Denver’s victory.

On the Jaguars’ first drive of the game, he got pressure on Lawrence that flushed the second-year quarterback out of the pocket for a small gain, and Jacksonville would ultimately punt on that set of downs.

Later, on the final Jacksonville drive of the first half, Griffith again created pressure deep in the backfield, forcing Trevor Lawrence to take an intentional grounding on third down, ending the possession and ruining any chance the Jaguars had of scoring.

Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Griffith delivered a crumpling blow to Lawrence, who was in the process of scrambling to try and convert a third-down scenario. Once again, Griffith forced the punt team out onto the field.

K.J. Hamler

K.J. Hamler has not been given a large enough snap count this season, and frankly, it isn’t even close, and that’s becoming one of the larger critiques of the coaching staff at this point.

Every time he’s on the field, he’s creating deep separation with his rare speed, and creating big plays.

His 47-yard catch from Wilson spurred Denver’s game-winning touchdown drive, and it wasn’t an easy play to make. The cornerback did most everything right from a technical standpoint, but Hamler had the jets to simply run away from him.

Later on that same drive, he used those jets again to turn a four-yard loss into a nine-yard gain, beating multiple Jaguar defenders to the edge before quickly bending the scamper upfield.

His day could’ve been even more productive if Wilson managed to connect with him downfield on Hamler’s first deep target of the game, or if Wilson saw him the other times he was streaking through the defensive backfield with no one covering him.

Graham Glasgow

Despite fans crying for it loudly since the 2020 offseason, the Denver Broncos have refused to give Graham Glasgow much of a look at center. That changed when Cushenberry was forced out of the lineup due to injury, and Glasgow instantly improved the line’s performance.

Although there were a few miscues (one false start penalty, and one debatable false start, which might’ve been missed by the officials) that resulted from Glasgow’s snap cadence being different from Cushenberry’s, but, otherwise, it felt like the veteran presence on the line was much appreciated.

If Cushenberry is ready to go next week, the Denver Broncos coaching staff will be facing a tough decision. If Cushenberry misses time, and Glasgow continues to play like this, that decision could be an easy one, in favor of Glasgow.

Nik Bonitto

It’s crazy that Nik Bonitto’s performance feels like a footnote and, as a result, was nearly excluded from this exercise, but anytime you get your first career sack and first career forced fumble, you deserve a mention.

Unfortunately, the fumble was recovered by Jacksonville, continuing a painful season-long trend for the Broncos of nearly recording a takeaway. Nonetheless, the Jaguars’ drive went from promising to finito, thanks to Bonitto.

https://twitter.com/codyroarknfl/status/1586739044519550976?s=46&t=j0OWOWUpKve2H87_mwgQtA

Stock Down for the Denver Broncos

Oct 30, 2022; London, United Kingdom, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) breaks a tackle from Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (42) in the fourth quarter during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Courtland Sutton

Through the first five games of this season, Courtland Sutton was performing like a superstar wide receiver.

He was near the top of the NFL in receiving yards and seemed to be the only part of this offense that Russell Wilson could rely on.

Over the last three weeks, that’s gone entirely missing.

On 16 targets during that span, Courtland Sutton has totaled just 60 yards. Over the last two weeks, he’s been targeted 13 times, and gained 36 yards, making him one of the NFL’s least efficient passing game weapons for that stretch.

This week, it was more of the same, as he gained just 13 yards on the four passes thrown his way. He was set up well by Wilson to score the game-winning touchdown, but instead, made a crushing drop.

If Sutton can return to early-season form, it would give Denver a dynamic duo at receiver, with how well Jeudy is playing right now.

Denver Broncos Run Defense

The Achilles Heel, of what has otherwise been a steam-rolling defense, continues to be their ability to defend the run.

With his exceptional speed, burst, and cutting ability, Travis Etienne managed to slash and gash the Denver defense to ribbons. By the game’s end, Etienne totaled 156 yards and did so on just 21 carries.

His 49-yard jolt down the sidelines helped net Jacksonville their only first-half points that weren’t the result of a Russell Wilson, and he nearly salted the game away with his touchdown run on Jacksonville’s second-to-last possession.

Denver Broncos Special Teams

Special teams had another disappointing week for the Denver Broncos.

They suffered delay-of-game penalties on both a kickoff and a punt, and the return game was entirely ineffective.

On the opening kickoff, there was a weird miscommunication between Eric Saubert and Montrell Washington that left both players attempting to return the kick. On the four punt returns Washington had, he totaled just 22 punt return yards, with 12 of those coming on just one.

Denver Broncos Interior Offensive Line

The interior of the offensive line has been a season-long problem for the Denver Broncos, and it was no different through much of today’s game.

Dalton Risner was whooped multiple times for ugly sacks and pressures, though he did also notch a pretty sweet block in open space.

Quinn Meinerz had an uncharacteristically poor performance, as he was embarrassed at times by Dawuane Smoot.

Lloyd Cushenberry also found himself penalized, missing blocks, and eventually left the game due to injury.

Weirdly, that’s when the offensive line began to turn their performance around. If that trend continues, the offensive line’s inclusion here could look silly in short time, but the game started so badly that they deserve mention.

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