The Jacksonville Jaguars will leave Denver wondering how they managed to let this one slip.
For three quarters, Liam Coen’s team had done plenty right. The Jaguars led 10-3 at halftime, extended that advantage to 13-6 in the third quarter and had Denver’s offense struggling to find any sort of rhythm.
Then everything changed.
The Broncos scored twice in the fourth quarter, turning a seven-point deficit into a 20-13 victory and leaving Jacksonville with a second-half collapse that will sting considerably
more than the final score suggests.
Here are three reasons why the Jaguars came away from Mile High empty-handed.
Second-half capitulation
This one is impossible to avoid.
The Jaguars were 13-6 up with 15 minutes remaining. They had controlled the scoreboard, forced Bo Nix into an interception in the second quarter and, despite some struggles of their own, looked to be in command of the contest.
Then they simply couldn’t finish it.
Denver put together a 64-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 13-13, with Nix finding Nate Adkins for a seven-yard score with 11:47 remaining. Just over four minutes later, the Broncos struck again, driving 56 yards in five plays before Jonah Coleman powered into the end zone from three yards.
Suddenly, it was 20-13. And the Jaguars never found an answer.
That is the brutal reality of this defeat. Jacksonville didn’t lose a game in which it was comprehensively outplayed from the opening snap. It lost one in which it held a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter and was outscored 14-0 in the final 15 minutes.
For a team with ambitions of competing deep into the season, that inability to close out a game it had largely controlled will be the biggest frustration of all.
Mile High eventually became a factor
There is a reason playing in Denver is different. The altitude is one thing, the atmosphere is another.
The Jaguars spent much of the afternoon doing a good job of silencing the crowd, but as the Broncos started to build momentum in the fourth quarter, Empower Field at Mile High became exactly the sort of environment Jacksonville knew it would be facing.
Communication becomes more difficult when the crowd is at full volume, and that matters when an offense is trying to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Denver’s home environment has long been one of the more challenging in the NFL, and there was a noticeable shift once the Broncos got themselves back into the game.
The Jaguars had already done the hard part by building a 13-6 advantage. But once Denver tied the game, the pressure changed.
Every Broncos defensive stop became louder. Every Jacksonville mistake was amplified. And with Denver suddenly believing it could win, the home crowd became another problem for a Jaguars team trying to regain control.
The noise didn’t lose this game by itself. But when the momentum swung, it certainly didn’t help Jacksonville stop it.
The Jaguars didn’t put the game away
This is perhaps the most frustrating part. Jacksonville had enough opportunities to make Denver’s comeback considerably more difficult.
The Jaguars moved the ball well enough at times, but they couldn’t turn their control of the game into the kind of scoreboard advantage that would have forced Denver into desperation mode.
Instead, the Broncos remained within one possession. That meant one good drive could completely change the complexion of the game; and that’s exactly what happened.
Jacksonville’s offense also became increasingly difficult to sustain once Denver’s defense found its footing. The Broncos eventually generated the pressure and disruption needed to stop the Jaguars from putting together the sort of response required after Denver tied the game. Trevor Lawrence, so assured in the first half, started misfiring, throwing a regrettable interception and was lucky not to be picked off twice more.
The Jaguars controlled this game for a large chunk of the sixty minutes. But they didn’t put it away. And when Denver finally found a way to seize the momentum, Jacksonville had no answer.
The verdict
There will be plenty for Liam Coen and his staff to digest from this one.
The Jaguars showed enough during the opening three quarters to suggest they were capable of leaving Denver with a victory. They defended well, controlled the scoreboard and spent long stretches making life difficult for the Broncos. But NFL games aren’t won over three quarters.
Being outscored, outschemed and outplayed for the final fifteen minutes essentially turned a win into a loss. The Jaguars competed, and when all is said and done this may not be a bad defeat within the context of a 17 game schedule. Jacksonville are a team that can now be considered amongst the best in the AFC, but Liam Coen will know this is one they should have had.
We’re on to New England.
