LONDON — Jet lag should have resulted in a Jets loss.
The Broncos are charming in how they compete, stick up for each other, refuse to point fingers. But even with a defense this nasty, they will not continue to win this ugly.
If the offense cannot be trusted to put the Jets away in the fourth quarter, then when? Against whom? The Jets are winless and hapless, making passing the football look harder than passing a kidney stone. Otherwise, the Broncos might have formed a rugby team and stayed abroad.
Is this team a contender, destined to be in the mix, as coach Sean Payton insisted afterward? Or does it suffer from imposter syndrome?
First, we must remember how this game ended. The Broncos won, 13-11. And they need not apologize for any road victory since 2015.
But in a season so full of promise, they seem so full of you know what when trying to explain how this offense and these special teams are worthy of an AFC West championship.
That is the goal in all of this, right? A division title. A home playoff game. Another step forward. All of those goals appeared as far away as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from Empower Field on Sunday afternoon.
“It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing,” Payton scolded after the Broncos’ third straight victory.
Remember how the Colts and Chargers games ended? The Broncos were about to relive it.
They took possession with 3:30 remaining. A first down was required. Perhaps two. Bo Nix and crew went backward, delivering minus-5 yards on three plays. Payton called the series frustrating.
All-Pro left guard Quinn Meinerz was more blunt when asked to describe the offense.
“Abysmal,” he said.
The Broncos avoided a third walk-off loss this season because their defenders were “Werewolves of London.” Justin Fields finished with nine completions and nine sacks. Zach Allen sheepishly conceded that it was a race to the quarterback.
Jonathon Cooper corralled Fields, his former college teammate, on the final fourth down. Safety Brandon Jones joined him. And Alex Singleton was in pursuit, ready to gobble up any crumbs.
Watching the Jets comes with a question on loop: What are they doing? They let the clock run out at midfield in the first half and passed on third down of their final possession. They have not quit. But the Jets stink. The Broncos held them to 82 yards.
If the Eagles’ game was a signature win, consider Sunday scribbles of doubt. At least in the minds of Broncos Country.
How else can we expect fans to feel when the Broncos managed 9 yards on six plays in the third quarter?
This marks the third consecutive week the Broncos have failed to score in the first 15 minutes after halftime. They punted six straight times at Philadelphia in the second half. They shaved that number to five against the Jets, but only because a safety was sandwiched between two punts.
There is ugly. And there is, “Look away, I am hideous.”
“We have to fix a lot of issues,” admitted left tackle Garett Bolles, who vowed to provide more help for thrice-flagged left guard Matt Peart. “It’s about looking at the film, digesting it and finding out exactly what’s going on.”
No reason to examine documents like tourists at the Churchill War Rooms to understand the problem.
The Broncos are a tease, still without an offensive identity. Nix looked like Tom Brady in the fourth and first quarter of the past two games — 20-for-23 passing for 227 yards, two touchdowns — and Brady Quinn the other six quarters. He completed 4 of 10 passes for 49 yards in the second half.
“We weren’t in a very good rhythm at all,” Nix said. “And our defense, it’s almost impossible what they did.”
Speaking of which, it is impossible to see Broncos’ victories in four of the next five weeks — as the schedule demands — without the offense becoming consistent.
If only those players were the lone guilty party.
Wasn’t Darren Rizzi hired to improve the special teams? Why is he giving off Brock Olivo vibes?
The Broncos have allowed two 70-yard-plus kick returns, committed an indefensible leverage infraction on a 60-yard field goal, fumbled a punt and clanked a field goal. Who knew rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw would be the least of the concerns?
“I think Darren is as disappointed with his units as I would be relative to our offense (Sunday),” Payton said.
For a Broncos team aiming for its first playoff win since Peyton Manning, this stuff brings back bad memories. Even worse, it isn’t isolated to a rogue player, a rookie in a wrong spot or a novice coordinator trying to learn his craft.
And about those penalties.
The Broncos show so much potential, but cannot stop the flurry of flags. They average eight for 75 yards per game.
Broncos QB Bo Nix bemoans offense’s ‘complete lack of rhythm’ in second half against Jets
The coaches can watch the film and be comfortable with the fight. But the mental mistakes will make them want to throw hands in the air.
“Shoot, they are hurting us,” receiver Courtland Sutton said. “We have to get those fixed. It keeps popping up, and it’s killing drives.”
What made Sunday so disappointing was the way the script set up. The Broncos sequestered like a jury in the countryside, left to focus on football. They enjoyed a partisan crowd as a visiting team. And they faced a homecoming opponent.
Yet they almost did not mind the gap, their season sitting on the precipice of a massive nose dive, if not for a Talanoa Hufanga pass break-up and a final smush of Fields.
The Broncos have two losses this season, and one bad win.
Don’t worry. They are, without a doubt, returning to the playoffs. But as they mulled their thoughts on a nine-hour flight home, they can forget about winning the AFC West if they play like this again.
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