Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, Denver. Your Broncos just knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-17 in London and snapped a four-game losing streak.
Unfortunately, it seemed like head coach Nathaniel Hackett and quarterback Russell Wilson didn’t have enough tea; that London Fog persisted for both of them early in the contest.
Denver started with three punts and an interception thrown by Wilson; they were complete rubbish on early Sunday morning, mate.
Finally, a quarter and a half into the game, Wilson and Co. came alive, though.
Just like he did in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Hackett started calling the easy, short passes for Wilson. And it worked again. Hackett mixed in runs with the short passes, and then Wilson was able to find Jerry Jeudy on a 25-yard completion to set up their first touchdown of the day.
Even after that successful drive, Wilson’s dodgy play did continue.
Not only did the veteran quarterback almost throw a pick on the first play of the game, he held the ball too long on a 2-minute drill before half which led to a sack. And then completely missed KJ Hamler on a crossing route on a 3rd and 7 play later.
But he was also brilliant when it mattered most.
Coming out of the locker room, Denver’s defense set the offense up by stopping Jacksonville from scoring despite a decent drive. Wilson and Co. faced a daunting task of having to go 98 yards and somehow got it done.
Not only did Hackett dial up the short passes, he mixed in the deeper throws, too. Greg Dulcich was the workhorse of the drive, with 78 yards receiving, setting up Melvin Gordon’s touchdown run.
Unfortunately, the Broncos were still wildly inconsistent on offense; after the 98-yard drive to take the 14-10 lead, Denver had to punt three times in a row and Jacksonville took the lead back in the fourth quarter.
With less than four minutes to play, everything was set up for Wilson and the Broncos to win or even tie the game; that’s when the face of the franchise took over.
On the first play of the drive, Wilson dropped back and threw with confidence not seen often in Denver, tossing a beautiful deep ball to Hamler for a 47-yard gain. Immediately, the Broncos were in kicking range, which would have tied the game. But they wanted the lead.
After a dropped pass by Courtland Sutton, Wilson scrambled for 10 yards on 3rd down to move the chains and milk the clock. Then, Hackett’s smart play-calling on Hamler’s end-around pushed Denver closer to the goal line, and Murray carried it over for the score.
And while 3-5 isn’t the record the team wanted at their bye, there are some positives moving forward with some adjustments needed, too.
Hackett’s play-calling has improved
There’s still a long way to go for Hackett as the Broncos head coach, no doubt about it.
However, Hackett’s play-calling has improved, at least slightly. After that painfully slow start to the game, he knew he had to simplify and let Wilson throw the quick, short passes to build his confidence. And then ran a jet-sweep with Jeudy for the score.
On the 98-yard drive, Hackett’s play-call for Dulcich on the deep pass was beautifully designed; he was lined up in the slot and Hamler on the outside ran his route inside to leave the tight end open.
Finally, on the game-winning drive he showed guts to let Wilson throw it deep to Hamler on the first play, and then the end-around with Hamler later was smart, too.
Broncos still making way too many bone-headed plays
We talked about most of Wilson’s mistakes; he also missed Dulcich/Hamler on a deep route in the fourth quarter.
Hackett’s Broncos were called for a delay of game on a punt and even a delay of game on a kickoff. All told, they were called for 12 penalties in the contest and 70 on the season is the most in 8 games in team history.
Montrell Washington caught two punts in the 10 yard line without using fair catches, both were gambles. And Sutton had a crucial drop in the last drive of the game, but Wilson bailed him out.
Simply, the Broncos were in the game against the Jets and they pulled this win out, but they have to start doing the small things well. And, Denver must stop shooting themselves in the foot with penalties.
Russell Wilson’s play has improved incrementally, too
Again, Wilson wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t even great. But he has improved as the season has gone on.
In the Broncos’ three touchdown drives, Wilson went 5-5 for 51 yards, 5-5 for 92 yards and then 1-2 for 47 yards and Sutton’s drop. Plus, he had that key 10-yard run to move the chains on a 3rd down.
Like with Hackett’s play-calling, Wilson’s play must be more consistent if the Broncos want to continue winning after the bye week.
Still, the positive is his last drive was the game-winner. And keep in mind Hackett’s play-calling directly effects how well Wilson plays. At the very least, it sets him up for success or failure.
Considering the Broncos are basically married to Wilson through 2025, Broncos Country has to hope their quarterback can continue to improve and play like his past, superstar self.
At the very least, he must continue to come through in the clutch like he did on Sunday, rather than what we saw from him earlier in the year.
