Aaron Glenn left many puzzled by the Jets’ game management in a loss to the Broncos.
Denver’s pass rush was downright dominant, securing nine sacks against Justin Fields and New York.
The Jets defense stepped up in a major way, but it wasn’t enough in the loss.
Even the NFL’s duller International Series games have a way of engineering some intrigue.
Sunday’s London matchup between the Denver Broncos and winless New York Jets marked a meeting of teams on divergent trajectories. For a good deal of the day, the two seemed to be continuing along their respective paths. But after the Jets seized the lead on a safety in the third quarter, an outcome that would have gone down as one of the NFL’s biggest – and strangest – early-season upsets was distinctly in play.
Late in the fourth quarter, however, the Broncos regrouped to set up the go-ahead field goal before the defense wrapped up a dominant outing in a 13-11 win.
It was the sort of sloppy affair that was difficult for both participants and onlookers to process. Nevertheless, here is our breakdown of the game’s biggest winners and losers:
Winners
Broncos defense
The league leaders in sacks coming into the game teed off against Gang Green, bagging Justin Fields for nine more. And while potential NFL Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Nik Bonitto made his mark, the pass rush came from an array of sources, with eight players recording at least a half-sack. And with the game potentially on the line on a fourth down in Denver territory, the Broncos closed the lid by corralling Fields yet again. No room for error in this one, and the unit was about as stout as anyone could ask for.
Kickers
The scoring in this game didn’t amount to much more than literal legwork. Nick Folk’s two first-quarter field goals helped salvage two Jets drives that quickly came to a halt despite beginning with promising field position, and he later banged in one more. In addition to hitting the game winner, counterpart Wil Lutz also booted a 57-yard field goal, his longest conversion since joining Denver in 2023. This might not be your sport if you enjoy this kind of action, but this was your game.
Sean Payton
He won’t be happy with how the trip went down – nor should he be – but the Broncos coach has a way of working things out away from his home country. Payton, who in 1988 wound down his playing career by playing for the Leicester Panthers in what was then known as the Budweiser National League, extended his perfect mark in international games to 3-0. Now standing at 4-2, Denver won’t face a team with a winning record until a Week 11 meetup with the Kansas City Chiefs prior to the bye. Good chance for the coach with the highest October winning percentage among those with at least 50 games to continue his autumnal dominance.
Jets special teams
The kickers weren’t the only ones doing more than their fair share for New York. Kene Nwangwu and Isaiah Williams repeatedly put the offense in favorable positions only to watch the unit fall flat. The former’s 72-yard kick return on the team’s second drive marked the second consecutive possession in which the Jets started with the ball in Broncos territory and then settled for a Folk field goal after going three-and-out.
Steve Wilks
Aaron Glenn last week deflected inquiries about whether it was time to shift defensive play-calling duties given the unit’s widespread struggles through five weeks. Against the Broncos, Wilks’ crew finally rid itself of the rampant missed tackles and penalties that had dogged previous efforts. Jermaine Johnson’s return after the edge rusher missed the previous three games with an ankle injury proved particularly meaningful, as the defense frequently created problems up front for Denver in both the run and pass game. It wasn’t a totally sterling effort, as the first half featured the Broncos racking up 175 yards, and the group buckled late on the game-winning drive. But at least this showed what the group is capable of when it stays clean.
Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
Doesn’t get much better for a defensive player than forcing a fumble on the first play for a new team. In his first action since being dealt by the Tennessee Titans in September, the second-year cornerback managed to fluster Broncos receiver Troy Franklin into parting with the ball, which safety Andre Cisco then pounced on for the Jets’ long-awaited first takeaway of the season. He got trucked by Nix later in the first half, but a solid showing helped Brownlee make a claim to the nickel job.
Losers
Justin Fields
In the lead-up to the game, the Jets quarterback bristled when reporters brought up statistics indicating that he holds onto the ball too long. Hard to ignore the narrative after this one. Forced to look beyond his go-to target with wide receiver Garrett Wilson locked down, Fields repeatedly looked out of sorts, finishing with just 45 yards passing. Worse yet: The Jets sent a clear message in trying to minimize his impact until the final drive, with Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand content to run Breece Hall into a wall and play the field position game. In a game when the defense and special teams did more than enough to secure the win, Fields was unquestionably the greatest on-field limitation for Gang Green.
Aaron Glenn
The leader of the NFL’s lone winless franchise looks bound to become a reference point for what not to do in critical game management situations. Running out the clock to end the first half rightfully stirred up plenty of consternation – including from one of his own star players. But the blunders didn’t end there. Faced with a fourth-and-1 from his team’s own 30-yard line while holding an 11-10 lead, Glenn had the offense line up to go for it before burning a timeout for no discernible reason and punting. Then, after the Broncos took the lead on the ensuing drive and Hall helped get New York close to Folk’s field goal range, New York called on Fields to drop back four consecutive times despite the incessant pressure and disastrous results that had been so pervasive throughout the previous three-plus quarters. Folk converting a 62-yard field goal might seem outlandish, but no more so than this passing attack handling a fourth-and-8. New York has a good shot at ending its drought in the coming weeks against the likes of the Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals or Cleveland Browns, but this was a major missed opportunity that will increase the heat on Glenn exponentially.
Garrett Wilson
His day was tough enough with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II draped all over him. But the Jets star was boxed in by far more than the Broncos cornerback on Sunday. Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand didn’t seem to find many ways to generate touches for Wilson, who finished with just three catches for 13 yards on eight targets. The receiver was also done few favors by Fields, who was too often late with the ball, allowing Broncos defenders to close in and force an incompletion. Wilson has been a steadying force through a difficult era, but the disconnect felt like something that would be seen in last year’s routine dysfunction.
Woody Johnson
Can’t have felt good for the Jets owner and former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom to have heard lusty boos from the London crowd as his team took the field. Must have been even tougher to take in this performance as his team dropped to 0-6. And unlike after last year’s flop abroad against the Minnesota Vikings that led to Robert Saleh’s firing two days later, Johnson doesn’t have much of a choice to jettison his first-year coach. Any in-season changes are going to be hard to come by.
Kurt Warner
Long known as one of the NFL world’s true nice guys, the Hall of Fame quarterback seemed to be sent into a spiral of madness by the bizarre decision-making and offensive ineptitude throughout the day, with his confusion peaking at the end-of-half sequence. Good thing Warner is going to be treated to two ace play-callers in Liam Coen and Sean McVay in next week’s Jacksonville Jaguars-Los Angeles Rams tilt to wrap up his London stint.
Broncos offensive line
Tough day for one of the league’s more accomplished fronts. The rushing attack netted just 78 yards on 26 carries, with a good chunk of that coming from Bo Nix (five carries, 24 yards) and his scrambles. Left guard Matt Peart had three of the Broncos’ five first-half penalties, including a second holding that negated a big play to Troy Franklin. Left tackle Garett Bolles was responsible for a holding call that yielded a safety. Far too many problems holding up at the point of attack – particularly on the interior – for this attack to get anything going.