The Denver Broncos were considered an AFC front-runner entering the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars were not remotely on that radar.
And yet both teams find themselves as division leaders with three weeks left in the regular season ahead of Jacksonville’s trip to face Denver on Sunday.
The Broncos (12-2) have a one-game cushion in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed thanks to their win over the Green Bay Packers last week and the New England Patriots’ loss to the Buffalo Bills. Denver is two games ahead of the second-place Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West.
Denver showed its resilience in the latest victory, outscoring the Packers 20-3 over the final 25 minutes on the way to a 34-26 win. It was the Broncos’ 11th straight win.
Jacksonville (10-4) enters on a more modest five-game winning streak that has helped the team rise up to the No. 3 seed in the AFC. The Jaguars hold a one-game lead over the Houston Texans in the AFC South.
The Jaguars, who are coming off a 48-20 win over the New York Jets, have scored 35-plus points in three of their past five games.
“They’re doing a lot of things really well. They’re scoring,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “… We’ve got to be on point.”
However, only four of Jacksonville’s wins have come against teams currently over .500.
Jacksonville coach Liam Coen said of opposing the Broncos, “It’s a great opportunity for us to go compete and earn everything we get.”
Both teams’ quarterbacks are coming off what could be the best games of their careers. Denver’s Bo Nix completed 23 of 34 passes (67.6%) for 302 yards and a career-high-tying four touchdown passes in the Green Bay win.
Nix moved into a tie for fourth-most wins by a QB in his first two NFL seasons (22). With two more wins, he would tie Russell Wilson atop the leaderboard.
“It’s an honor,” Nix said. “The great thing about wins is it’s a team award. I think winning is the ultimate sign of how your team’s doing. To me, it’s a sign that we’ve got a really good team that I’m on. I wouldn’t be able to do it without the guys in the locker room.”
Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence diced a depleted Jets defense last week, throwing for a season-high 330 yards and a career-high five touchdowns while also rushing for 51 yards and his sixth touchdown of the season, a career high.
Over the past three games, the fifth-year quarterback has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions. He enters this week’s game with 23 TD tosses, two off his career high.
Lawrence hasn’t been sacked in the last two games. Extending that trend will be a test against a Denver defense that has 58 sacks, 10 more than any other team and just off the pace of breaking the Bears’ NFL record of 72 sacks in 1984.
“They’re really, really good. Obviously, the numbers are historic,” Lawrence said. ” … It’s not just the group up front. It’s the whole defense, every level. They’re well-coached, they’re flying around, making plays, they’re physical.”
Jacksonville’s defense, on the other hand, had three interceptions last week to bring its season tally to 18, second in the league.
Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten (finger) didn’t practice on Wednesday and is reportedly set to miss the rest of the regular season. Jacksonville signed running back Deejay Dallas off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad and added him to its active roster on Tuesday.
Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (illness/shoulder) and defensive lineman Danny Striggow (ankle) also missed the Wednesday practice.
Linebacker Justin Strnad (foot) was the only active Denver player who didn’t practice on Wednesday. Running back RJ Harvey (ribs) was a full participant after getting hurt late in last week’s game.
