By Nick Kosmider, Zack Rosenblatt, Cale Clinton
A sloppy afternoon in East Rutherford, N.J., ended in misery for New York Jets fans who weathered the rain to watch Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein miss what would have been a game-winning 50-yard field goal. The Denver Broncos walk away with a 10-9 victory over New York, their second straight win of the season.
For rookie Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, the afternoon started just about as poorly as it could have. Nix’s minus-7 passing yards on 15 attempts in the first half were the fewest passing yards in a half by a Denver quarterback since 2000.
The second half, however, saw a resilient Nix come out of the locker room and erase that deficit with a 23-yard connection to Courtland Sutton. The next series, Nix found Sutton again for the rookie’s first passing touchdown as a professional.
Nix finished with 60 passing yards. That marks the fewest total passing yards for a winning quarterback (min. 20 pass attempts) since 2007, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
For the Jets, the addition of Aaron Rodgers didn’t help this loss from looking like more of the same New York formula. An extremely impressive defensive effort by a Jets defense that held their opponent to under 200 yards was thwarted by offensive short-comings, a poor offensive line performance and excessive penalties.
Breece Hall mustered a career-low four rushing yards on 10 attempts. Rodgers was sacked five times and hit 14 times. New York was penalized 13 times for a total of 90 yards.
Nix overcomes nightmare first half
Nix turned in a historically poor first half Sunday, but one big throw helped swing the game. The Broncos trailed 6-0 and faced a third-and-11 at their own 24-yard line. Nix hung in the pocket as Sutton came open deep over the middle and hit the veteran receiver for a 29-yard gain.
It was the first sign of life for Denver, and it scored five plays later when Nix hit Sutton for an 8-yard touchdown.
Nix was stunningly ineffective during the first half. Coming off his best game of the season, Nix took two giant steps backward. In the first half, he attempted 15 passes. All seven of his completions came on throws behind the line of scrimmage, totaling minus-7 yards. Still, the Broncos’ defense played well enough to keep itself in the game.
And after a nightmare first half, Nix made the throw he had to make to jumpstart his team. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos writer
Better run balance in the second half
Sean Payton didn’t exactly do his rookie quarterbacks a lot of favors in the first half. Nix dropped back 15 times and Denver ran the ball only 10 times despite being within three points throughout the opening half. It was a different story in the second half.
Running back Javonte Williams put together his best stretch of the season, pounding his way into the second level while finishing with 77 yards on 16 carries. The Broncos had 17 runs against nine pass attempts in the second half before their final drive.
Payton needs to find a way to strike that balance throughout the game as his rookie quarterback continues to develop. — Kosmider
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Broncos’ defensive masterpiece gets rewarded
With team captain and leading tackler Alex Singleton moved to the injured reserve list this week with a torn ACL, veteran Justin Strnad made his first start since 2021. On the first play of the game, Strnad darted inside on a blitz and took down Rodgers for his first career sack.
It was a sign of things to come for a Denver defense that sacked Rodgers five times. John Franklin-Myers got a sack in his first game against his former team and fellow defensive end Zach Allen was consistently in the backfield, throwing off the veteran quarterback’s timing.
The Broncos appeared to seal the game as P.J. Locke came screaming off the edge on an all-out blitz on fourth-and-10 and dropped Rodgers for a turnover on downs. Denver took over with 1:48 left, needing one first down to seal the game. Instead, they settled for a 50-yard field-goal attempt by Wil Lutz, who missed for the first time this season.
That gave the Jets the ball on their own 40-yard line with 1:27 left, enough to get Zuerlein in range for his own 50-yard attempt. That, too, went wide and the defense unleashed a worthy celebration. — Kosmider
Jets’ defense, on the other hand, does not
New York lost a game in which it held the opposing quarterback to negative passing yards in the first half.
That just about sums up how the afternoon went for the Jets — where the defense mostly did its part and the offense fell apart. It felt more like Zach Wilson-era New York than the version the Jets were supposed to be with Rodgers, the version they showed over the last two games against the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots.
Rodgers showed some flashes but remained out of sync with star wide receiver Garrett Wilson, failing to complete passes to him on two straight attempts on a crucial drive in the fourth quarter. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets senior writer
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The biggest culprits on offense from Sunday’s stinker: Hall and the offensive line. Rodgers was sacked five times, including once on fourth down on a drive late in the fourth quarter where New York needed to score. Rodgers finished 24-of-42 passing for 225 yards and no touchdowns. — Rosenblatt
Penalties bury Jets
Another major issue — something that has been a problem dating back to last season — was discipline. The Jets are among the most penalized teams in the NFL, ranking fourth after Sunday’s early games. — Rosenblatt
Required reading
(Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
