Excitement became embarrassment.
Hope became humiliation.
With a chance to make a statement, the Broncos made a mess, leaving an unnerving question lingering in the cold December air: Can they handle prosperity?
Outscoring the Broncos by 14 points in the second half, the Jaguars embraced the underdog role, turning Denver into its own personal chew toy before a stunned sellout crowd. Jacksonville detonated the Broncos’ 11-game win streak, and their rookie coach let Sean Payton know about it.
Broncos’ 11-game winning streak snapped by Jaguars, AFC playoff race tightens
“Just thankful a small-market team like us can come into Denver and get it done,” Liam Coen said, twisting a compliment by Payton about the Jaguars overcoming obstacles into disrespect.
As bulletin board material, this is was not worth two thumb tacks. But that is the thing when no one believes in your legitimacy — you can pretzel any words into motivation.
Can we be honest? The Broncos have been doing this all season. Sunday, the hunters became the hunted, and it was awkward, odd and awful.
It was also only one game.
But the flaws exposed Sunday will prevent the Broncos from playing in the season’s final game — if not corrected.
The Broncos don’t deserve the AFC’s No. 1 seed if they play like this. Too careless with the football. Too undisciplined. Too porous defensively.
The 2025 Broncos suffered their first loss in exactly three months, a 34-20 face-palm defeat. One team looked ready to make a run to Santa Clara in February, and it wasn’t the one dressed like traffic cones.
For three months, the Broncos have labored, winning ugly, Payton dismissing criticism about style points and practically imploring everyone to ignore everything but the final results. That is his job, and he has been brilliant about rallying the Broncos around every slight, real, perceived or otherwise.
Now comes the hard part. Winning when it is expected. When a 12-3 record, a massive accomplishment, unfairly rings hollow.
“Part of this process is not fooling yourself,” Payton said. “They beat us and beat us good, And that starts with me.”
This game exposed everything wrong with the Broncos, but cost them nothing. The Broncos can still secure the AFC West crown and home-field advantage in the postseason by winning their final two games. And in case you were wondering, they are a 11.5-point favorite at Kansas City at Christmas Day with Bill Kenney or Steve DeBerg likely to start at quarterback.
That both those goals could remain at stake in the season finale against the Chargers is delicious for writers, but a frightening proposition for players. Sunday provided a reminder of why the Broncos should avoid this. Do you really want it to come down to Payton snapping a three-game losing skid to Jim Harbaugh since he became the coach of the Chargers?
This season deserves better than all-or-nothing. Losing to the Jaguars was a disappointment. But the Broncos cannot let it lead to unfulfillment for a team, when clicking, is worthy of a march toward a championship.
“Losing sucks. It was a big game, but Jacksonville played better than us in all phases,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “You have to take lessons from every game, and we are going to do that. We have a high football character team. The only thing to do when losing like this is to work harder and find ways to improve.”
The Broncos did this last year after suffering a heart-in-a-blender loss to the Chiefs on a blocked field goal, qualifying for the playoffs. The stakes are higher now.
The Broncos showed that an erratic Bo Nix cannot bail out a defense that allowed four red zone touchdowns. They made it clear that home-field advantage cannot make up for dropped passes and missed tackles against a Jaguars team that is oven-mitts required hot.
The schedule and math provide a path to reach their goals. But our eyes and brains leave us feeling queasy. The Jaguars did not just snap the Broncos’ 12-game home winning streak. They broke it with a metal chair over the Broncos’ back.
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The Broncos lost because the Jaguars were everything Denver has been for three months.
They lost because Trevor Lawrence was better in the biggest moments, helping Jacksonville convert 8-of-15 third downs.
They did not lose because the refs stunk, even though the officiating was very bad for the league’s two most penalized teams.
“It is on us. We have to get off the field,” said safety P.J. Locke.
So, the longest win streak in more than a decade for the Broncos is over.
This is a good thing because, again if we are keeping it real, they were never finishing on a 17-game win streak as Super Bowl 60 champions.
The Broncos are good, not great. And that’s OK. Because this will be the season that the team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy will be akin to “Crash” winning Best Picture in 2005.
Sunday should not make you think a title is impossible. It must, though, make you understand why the Broncos are vulnerable.
The defense has allowed 25.8 points per game over the last month. The Broncos can give up big plays, but only if they maintain elasticity inside the 20-yard line.
The offense teeters on becoming too reliant on the pass. And Payton deserves blame for this. Bo Nix completed 28 of 47 attempts for 352 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Again, be honest, these numbers felt more like Kyle Orton than Peyton Manning.
On this day, Lawrence was the better quarterback. There is no crime in that. The Broncos have been living dangerously. They were due for the clock to strike midnight and the valet to bring back a pumpkin.
“We just can’t let this game beat us twice,” Nix said.
So now the race, one we thought was probably over, is back on. For the AFC West. For the top seed.
The Broncos will no longer sneak up on anyone. They can still take the checkered flag. But they found out Sunday, it is not easy to do from the pole position.
“We are going to get everyone’s best shot,” Nix said. “We did not fire on all cylinders, and we got caught. We have to respond well, and how we do will show a lot about our team.”
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