Report Card: Broncos vs. Jets

By Jim Lyles

BRONCOS RUSH OFFENSE: 

The Denver rushing attack took a sharp decline from the prior week’s rushing total of 244 yards from scrimmage. The Broncos rushed for 125 yard on 34 attempts against the New York Jets. Willis McGahee and Lance Ball combined for 36 yards on 17 carries. McGahee also coughed up a fumble toward the end of the second quarter that led to a second quarter field goal for the Jets. Tim Tebow led the ground game with eight rushes for 68 yards and scored the only touchdown for the Broncos offense on a 20-yard run.

The offensive line struggled against the Jets’ front seven for most of the game, but the Broncos offensive line collected themselves and did an excellent job of blocking on the 12 play, 95-yard gut wrenching gaming winning drive.

Grade: C+

BRONCOS PASS OFFENSE:

Tim Tebow completed seven more passes than the prior week, going 9-of-20 for 104 yards. The Broncos came out throwing, but it was obvious that Tebow was up against one of the elite secondaries in the league and Tebow struggled with a quarterback rating of 61.2. Tebow did complete 3-of-5 passes on the Broncos final drive.

Grade: C 

BRONCOS RUN DEFENSE:

The Broncos defensive front swallowed up the Jets running game, allowing 83 yard on 28 carries for a 3.0 average per attempt. The run defense forced the Jets into obvious passing downs, which is always a blessing for the secondary. It makes it easier to dial up blitz packages and pass coverage.

Grade:  A+  

BRONCOS PASS DEFENSE:

The Broncos defense kept Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez off balance all night long. Von Miller  and Elvis Dumervil combined to sack Sanchez three times and Andre Goodman picked off a pass returning it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Grade A+

BRONCOS SPECIAL TEAMS: 

Special teams performed well. Broncos punter Britton Colquitt averaged 43.8 on his eight punts. Matt Prater was perfect on his PATS and on his sole field goal attempt. Cassius Vaughn had a 67-yard kick return. Unfortunately the Broncos were unable to capitalize on the field positioning.

Grade: B+

OVERALL TEAM RATING: 

It was a mixed bag for the Broncos. The offense wasn’t particularly effective. The defense was extremely effective. The Broncos failed on a first quarter short yardage fourth down attempt while in field goal range. It was a questionable coaching call early in the game to not take the points. The offense squandered a 67-yard kickoff return by not advancing it enough to attempt a field goal.

Coaching is about getting your players to believe that they control their own destiny. When you march 95 yard against one of the league’s better defenses with the game on the line, that says a lot about the character of the team and its coaching staff. The Broncos did it. Enough said.

Grade: B

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