Bo Nix spent Sunday looking like a quarterback who finally had the right piece to stretch a defense, and the Broncos spent the second half looking like a team that had remembered how to finish.
Denver’s 20-13 comeback over Jacksonville at Empower Field at Mile High started as a slog and ended with the home crowd of 76,472 roaring while the Jaguars never got another crack at tying it. The Broncos were down 13-3 early in the third quarter, then ripped off 17 straight points and never let the game swing back.
Nix was sharp throughout the rally. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 288 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he wasn’t sacked.
That works out to 9.3 yards per dropback, the same number that showed up as 9.3 yards per attempt on the box score. The big difference from Week 1 was obvious: Jacksonville never got him on the ground.
And the big target was impossible to miss.
Jaylen Waddle caught eight of 10 targets for 138 yards in his Broncos home debut, a huge bounce-back after he managed just one catch for two yards in Kansas City the previous week. Denver traded for him in March, and on Sunday he looked like exactly the kind of receiver who changes how a defense has to play the game. Rookie Jonah Coleman added a 3-yard touchdown run, his first NFL score, and then helped drain the last 4:41.
The Jaguars had come in chasing a 10th straight regular-season win, but the streak ended at nine. Trevor Lawrence finished 17 of 29 for 189 yards and an interception. After Cam Little’s short field goal pushed Jacksonville ahead 13-3, the Jaguars’ final three possessions ended in an interception, a missed 54-yard field goal try and a punt.
The turning point wasn’t just the score. It was how Denver attacked once the second half began.
The Broncos adjusted their protection plan and gave Nix extra help on 13 of 15 second-half dropbacks, according to the Denver Post’s charting. Against four or fewer rushers, he was 16 of 17 for 205 yards and the touchdown. When he had to move off script, he still made plays, going 5 of 6 for 110 yards outside the pocket.
That’s where Waddle kept showing up.
The Denver Post noted that Waddle saw 10 targets, turned seven of them into first downs and converted three third downs. His 138 yards were the most by a Broncos wideout since Jerry Jeudy in 2022. Three of his catches traveled at least 10 air yards between the hashes, which is exactly the area Denver has wanted to attack more often.
One of the biggest throws of the day came on a 49-yard strike in the second quarter that put Denver at the 1-yard line. Nix rolled right, Waddle stayed on a post from the left, and the safeties got pulled toward Courtland Sutton and Pat Bryant.
The Broncos then came away with only Wil Lutz’s 20-yard field goal after three straight runs lost a yard. Even so, the play showed how much stress Waddle can create on a defense.
Later, Davis Webb dialed up motion and a double move for Waddle against Jourdan Lewis, and Lewis ended up on the white paint of the Jacksonville sideline. That play kept the drive alive and helped Denver keep control late.
“I’m glad he’s ours.”
That was Payton’s verdict after spending a first-round pick, a third and a fourth-round swap in March to land Waddle from Miami. The numbers around Waddle’s debut fit the buzz, too. His 138 yards were the most by a Bronco in a home game since Rick Upchurch in 1975, according to Nick Kosmider in The Athletic.
Denver still had to grind through the ugly parts. The first six drives produced only six points.
Nix threw an end-zone interception to Lewis right before halftime. But after that, the Broncos kept finding answers.
Riley Moss picked off Lawrence late in the third quarter. Nix then hit tight end Nate Adkins from seven yards out to tie the game at 13.
Little missed from 54 yards. Then Coleman finished it off from the 3-yard line with 7:21 left after J.K.
Dobbins exited with a hamstring issue.
Coleman’s six carries for 33 yards helped close the door, and Denver’s defense tightened up as well. After missing 28 tackles in Week 1, the Broncos held Lawrence to 51 passing yards after halftime.
The difference from opening week was obvious in the numbers, too:
Week 1 against Kansas City: Nix was 17-of-28 for 131 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt, four sacks, Waddle had one catch for two yards, and Denver scored 10 points.
Week 2 against Jacksonville: Nix was 22-of-31 for 288 yards, 9.3 yards per attempt, no sacks, Waddle had eight catches for 138 yards, and Denver scored 20.
The Broncos aren’t a finished team. They started slowly again, leaned on a takeaway and a missed kick, and now have a short week before Sunday Night Football.
The Rams come to Mile High on Sept. 27 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, and Matthew Stafford just put up 28 points against the Giants.
But Sunday showed what Denver can look like when the offense opens up. Waddle gave Nix a real downfield weapon.
Coleman gave them a closer. And when the Broncos finally stopped playing tight, they looked a whole lot more dangerous.
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