Twice this season the Denver Broncos have not yielded a turnover to their opponent — Week 4 against the Raiders and Week 14 against the Jets. It’s no coincidence that the Broncos emerged victorious on both of those games. Like Robert Frost’s two roads, when the Broncos take the road less-traveled this season it makes all the difference.
“The difference is that we didn’t turn the ball over,” head coach Vance Joseph said postgame.
During an eight-game losing streak bookended by those wins against the Raiders and Jets, the Broncos turned the ball over 21 times with just seven created.
“We played complementary football today. We ran the ball and ran the ball,” Joseph continued. “We had short third downs. We didn’t convert. We simply punted the ball back and played good defense and kept those guys really backed up the entire football game. It’s really complementary, simple football. When you don’t turn the ball over, our games could look just like that because our defense can be a difference if we’re in the football game.”
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The eight-game losing streak saw Denver lose the turnover battle six times (with two ties) and slide to second-to-last in the league plus/minus rankings behind only the winless Browns.
A Brandon Marshall strip sack of Josh McCown on New York’s first possession gave the Broncos offense a short field Sunday and allowed the offense to jump out to a quick 10-0 lead. Darian Stewart flew across the field two drives later to pick off McCown and cut short New York’s only drive that eclipsed 40 yards on the day.
The Jets would end the game with only 100 yards of total offense and failed to get on the scoreboard. It was Denver’s first shutout since 2005 (against those same Jets), and it came without several key playmakers.
“I’ll say this, that offense scored 38 points last week versus the Chiefs and had over 500 yards in offense,” Joseph said postgame. “That defense played without [NT Domata] Peko [Sr.], without [DE Derek] Wolfe and without [DE Jared] Crick. It was our d-line that really stepped up as backup players and played at a high level today. Our secondary played really well. We had four sacks on the quarterback, no big plays [allowed]. I’m very proud of those guys to have a shutout. It’s our first in 12 years here. It speaks to our defense. If we can get a lead, we can be the difference in the football game. That was fun to see.”
Although the Broncos were officially eliminated from the playoffs today, they have three games remaining to try and salvage their season. With a record of 4-9, Denver is still at risk of tying the worst record (set in 2010) during Pat Bowlen’s ownership tenure.
Joseph is hoping that this victory over the Jets can spark a run similar to their 3-1 start to open the season. They’ll have to do so on short rest this week.
“I’m hoping. We have a game on Thursday. We can win two games in five days. There have been teams that have won their last four after having a rough season that has carried over into the following season. That’s what I’m hoping for. Our guys again have never stopped working. Everyone is believing. Every Saturday night, we meet and it’s like a party because we’re all so confident because the work was put in. I’m hoping it does spark us. Thursday is our next game, but pushing forward in the future, it sparks us in the right direction.”
