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In a game pitting two of the top teams in the AFC, the Jacksonville Jaguars pushed their winning streak to six games with a 34-20 victory on the road against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The victory kept the Jaguars (11-4) in the driver’s seat to win the AFC South and earn a home playoff game, while the loss snapped Denver’s NFL season-high 11-game winning streak. At 12-3, the Broncos are now just a game ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers (11-4) in the battle for the AFC West title.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence burns dominant Denver defense
After a six-touchdown performance in a 28-point win over the lowly New York Jets in Week 15, Lawrence continued his torrid streak, proving he can play at a high level against one of the best defenses in the league.
The Broncos entered Sunday’s contest allowing just 18.6 points a game, No. 2 in the NFL. However, Lawrence shredded Denver’s defense for 279 passing yards and three touchdown passes, with no interceptions for a 115.4 passer rating.
The Jaguars finished 8-of-15 on third down and 4-of-5 in the red zone. Lawrence has 10 total touchdowns in his past two games and no turnovers in the past four games.
2. Broncos saddled with first home loss of the season
Denver entered Sunday 7-0 at home and was seeking the team’s seventh perfect home record all time (1981, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2014). Denver also sought to become the first team in NFL history to go 9-0 at home in any season.
Those ambitions ended with the team’s first home loss of the season. The Broncos still hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC by a half-game over the New England Patriots (11-3), who play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. Denver still has work ahead to earn that No. 1 seed.
3. Bo Nix surprisingly falls short in the clutch
When trailing this season, Nix had 17 touchdowns with a passer rating of 108.2, according to Next Gen Stats. But for one of the few times this season, he failed to come through when the game mattered most in the fourth quarter.
For the game, Nix completed 28-of-47 passes for 352 yards, with one touchdown pass and an interception in the fourth quarter. He also had a fumbled handoff exchange earlier in the game, recovered by the Jaguars. He led the Broncos to just a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Bo Nix walks off the field after losing to the Jaguars 34-20 at Empower Field At Mile High. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Entering Sunday’s contest, Denver had a plus-54 point differential in the fourth quarter. Nix had been responsible for eight fourth-quarter comebacks in his first two seasons in the league but could not execute another one late against the Jaguars.
4. Receiver Parker Washington plays big for Jacksonville
A sixth-round draft pick by Jacksonville in the 2023 draft, Washington had a career day for the Jaguars. He finished with a game-high six receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets.
Those numbers included a nifty, 63-yard catch and run that set up a 10-yard touchdown reception by Travis Etienne that gave Jacksonville a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter.
4 ½. What’s next?
The Broncos will try to bounce back on the road against the struggling Chiefs on Christmas and then face the Chargers at home in the final game of the season, which could decide the top spot in the division.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars also hit the road to face the slumping Indianapolis Colts, quarterbacked by 44-year-old grandpa Philip Rivers, before finishing the season at home against the lowly Tennessee Titans.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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