The Denver Broncos had a nice bounce-back win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, winning 20-13 in their home opener. Although Denver started the game looking like the same team from last week, the Broncos finished strong with 17 unanswered points to secure the win.
Bo Nix started sluggishly, throwing an interception in the end zone to Jourdan Lewis on a pass intended for Courtland Sutton. Nix then righted the ship, finishing the game 22 of 31 for 288 yards and one touchdown. Jaylen Waddle broke out, catching eight passes for 138 yards.
Waddle, Denver’s big offseason acquisition, struggled with a lack of touches in Week 1. Davis Webb, Denver’s offensive coordinator, made sure not to make the same mistake twice. Webb also incorporated a much more balanced offensive approach in Week 2, with Denver recording 28 rushing attempts.
Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins finished the game with 10 carries for 39 yards before exiting with a hamstring injury, avoiding anything major.
Denver began the third quarter down 13-3 before a 45-yard field goal from Wil Lutz brought the Broncos within a touchdown.
Riley Moss, Denver’s No. 2 cornerback, then had a huge momentum-swinging interception of Trevor Lawrence, the Jaguars’ starting quarterback. This led to Denver’s first touchdown of the game on a 7-yard pass to Nate Adkins.
Denver continued its momentum on the next drive with a short-yardage touchdown run from rookie running back Jonah Coleman.
With a 20-13 lead late in the fourth quarter, Denver successfully stopped the Jaguars’ offense and ran out the rest of the clock for its first win of the season, improving its record to 1-1.
“When you have a tough game like that, you’ve got to get through the week,” Denver head coach Sean Payton said when asked about last week’s game. “It was much better, obviously, defensively, better in the second half offensively,” Payton added, referring to this game.
Denver now looks forward to playing the Los Angeles Rams at home in prime time on Sunday Night Football. The Rams are coming off a dominant Monday night win. The game is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. MT.
