Bo Nix, Broncos lean on defense to slip past winless Jets

After giving the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the NFL season last week, the Denver Broncos almost gave the New York Jets their first victory of the season on Sunday.

The Broncos beat New York 13-11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the 25th victory in the franchise’s 66-season history while scoring 13 or fewer points.

Denver improved to 4-2 as the Jets recorded minus-10 passing yards – a record low for the Broncos. New York quarterback Justin Fields had only 45 passing yards while completing 7-of-19 throws, and Denver recorded nine sacks that lost 55 yards.

The Jets’ three field-goal series covered a total of 41 yards. New York started its first two possessions at the Broncos 37 after a fumble and the Denver 24 after a 72-yard kickoff return by running back Kene Nwangwu.

“It’s almost impossible what they did,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said of the Broncos defense. “It was impressive. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things where I don’t get to watch a whole lot of it. I wish I could. They’d be a fun defense to watch, probably an awful defense to play against. I know that kind of from practice. But they turned it on. Nine sacks is a lot of sacks.”

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Four of Denver’s six full second-half possessions were three-and-outs. Another ended on a safety that gave the Jets an 11-10 lead with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

But the other possession lasted 12 plays, covered 65 yards and put Wil Lutz in position to kick a 27-yard field goal with 5:06 remaining to provide the winning margin. Nix’s 26-yard completion to wide receiver Marvin Mims on third-and-8 was the big gainer on the drive as the Broncos marched to the New York 9-yard line.

“Those linebackers had to decide who was going to cover Marvin,” Nix said. “We get speed out in space, that’s what we wanted. Made my job easy. I saw man, knew if clean release and nobody peeled he was going to be there and, sure enough, an explosive play that led to our points.”

After Denver lost a fumble on the third snap of the game, the Broncos came back with a field goal on their next possession and a touchdown on their third.

A former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn standout, Nix threw 16 yards to tight end Nate Adkins as Denver took a 10-6 lead on the final play of the first quarter. At that point, Nix had completed 10-of-12 passes for 90 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also had an 11-yard run.

“We just didn’t have those same plays (in the second half),” Nix said. “We weren’t in a good rhythm at all. First half, we were going quick, getting the ball to different players, spreading the ball around, getting them in certain defenses where we would get softer coverage.

“Obviously, there in the second half felt kind of like the opposite. Lot of run-heavy looks, loaded boxes and then just complete lack of rhythm. … Just kind of felt like a tale of two different halves with what we were going.”

For the remainder of the game, Nix completed 9-of-18 passes for 84 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran four times for 13 yards.

“Played a tough game,” Nix said. “They were a good defense, and we pulled away with a win, which is good.”

The Broncos play the New York Giants at 3:05 p.m. CDT Oct. 19 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.