Broncos Vs. Jets
Denver Broncos @ New York Jets
Despite losing to the Kansas City Chiefs Monday night, there were quite a few positives to take away from the 27-23 loss. First and foremost, the Denver Broncos defense, which has been struggling so far, held the Patrick Mahomes offense in check. It’s worth nothing that Kansas City only had 13 points heading into the fourth quarter before coordinator Joe Woods resorted to playing a soft defense that hurt Denver in the first three games.
This gives me hope as Denver travels to New York to face Sam Darnold and the Jets, who after a season opening win over the Lions have struggled in their next three games. Granted, they did face a surprising 3-1 Dolphins, a much-improved Browns, and arguably the best team in the AFC Jacksonville Jaguars.
The key here is Denver not letting a short-week heartbreaking loss impact their performance as they travel across two time zones, which is no easy task (just look at the Baltimore game). The New York Jets currently posses the 14th best defense in yards allowed and 13th in points per game. Bill Musgrave needs to establish the run early with the Denver Broncos as he did against the Chiefs and allow that to open up passing lanes for Case Keenum, who has not proven as keen on protecting the ball as he was last year.
On defense, the Denver Broncos defense needs to continue varying what they are doing on defense to confuse the young and interception-prone Sam Darnold, and the pass rush needs to take down Darnold.
I believe both of these things will happen as long as Denver shows up angry after their Monday night loss.
Line: New York Jets -1
Pick: Denver