The Denver Broncos came out and laid a giant dud on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Though they’ll get to turn the page quickly with a road game on Christmas night against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Offensively, they just couldn’t get the job done on third downs. The run game was lacking and Bo Nix was off his game after a fairly good start. That combined with a defensive game plan that fell apart in the second half led to the Broncos having their 11-game win streak ended.
Not all is lost, though. They are still in control of their own destiny and just have to get back to their winning ways on Thursday.
It’s a short week, so I don’t have too many interesting things to share. Here’s what I’ve tracked down for Week 17:
Defense might be a problem
We’re going to start with the very bad and the headline issue for Week 17 and beyond: the Denver Broncos defense.
They have not been playing well for long stretches in each game. Even the vaunted pass rush seems to disappear for large parts of the game, then is there for like every play for a stretch. It’s very strange. Nick Kendall on X dropped a pretty damning post on Denver’s defense since the Bye week.
Not good. Not good at all.
A feed post from this week also pointed out some of Joseph’s failing late in the regular season over each of the last three seasons.
VJ defenses have faded late in recent seasons.
2023- 22.2 ppg Dec/Jan.
2024-28 ppg Dec/Jan.
2025-25.8 ppg Dec/Jan.I think VJ only has so many tricks up his sleeve and as the season goes on teams see more film and make adjustments, but he has no answers.
If the pass rush doesn’t get home DBs are out of position and poorly prepared for what the opposition is bringing.
His ceiling as DC is where we are right now. Just like Buffalo game last year.
This is another issue that will need to be monitored, especially if the defensive woes continue…
Is it good to lose sometimes?
Leave it to Mike Klis of 9News to find the silver lining to the brutal two touchdown beatdown the Broncos suffered at home on Sunday.
My only concern here is the back-to-back losses. I think I’d prefer the Broncos only lose this last game and then go ahead and win out. I do agree with Klis, though, that losing a game late could be a great opportunity for this young team to refocus. The longer a win streak goes the heavier the weight it adds to a team. Now that that is done with, they can focus on getting ready for a championship run.
Pro Bowl 2026
The Broncos had six players selected to the Pro Bowl this year, which is the most since 2016 and the most starters since 2014. That is a testament to their turnaround last season and their number one seed status by the time the voting was over. With fans, the Broncos were even more popular having received the second-most votes in the entire NFL.
Another big piece of news was Pat Surtain II getting his fourth Pro Bowl nod in his first five seasons. Only two other Broncos’ drafted players have ever achieved that mark — both on the defensive side of the ball, of course.
If you had to make a Mt. Rushmore of drafted Broncos all-time defenders, I would say those three would be on it along with Randy Gradishar.
F the Refs
I argued in the comments over officiating in the NFL this week and it was due to me complaining about some bad calls and bad no calls from the Broncos’ loss. My goal was to point out that it isn’t just because my team lost. It’s because officiating in the NFL is atrocious everywhere and in every game.
The NFL needs to fix that or the damage to their sport could be long-lasting.
Fix it, Roger.
Bo Nix vs. big-time throws
Despite some inconsistencies in his sophomore season (is this his sophomore slump perhaps?), Bo Nix is still among the league leaders in big-time throws.
No one is in the same stratosphere as Matthew Stafford right now, but Nix is right there in the middle of a bunch of dudes fighting for second place in this metric.
That’s all I could find on a short week. If you have any interesting tweets or posts you’ve seen this week about the Broncos, share in the comments section below!
