Two years ago, the Denver Broncos were Super Bowl champions. Four months ago, the New York Jets looked like a contender for the top overall pick in the NFL Draft. On Thursday, the Jets (5-7) were a slight favorite beat the Broncos (3-9) on Sunday in Denver.
The winds of change are unpredictable in pro football, that’s for sure.
Read on for three reasons to believe in Gang Green as a favorite to win on the road, keeping their slim postseason hopes alive.
Mighty McCown
The surprising success of Josh McCown as the Jets’ starting quarterback continued last week when he passed for 331 yards, threw a touchdown pass and ran for a pair of scores in a 38-31 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. He now has more rushing TDs (five) than games with a passer rating of less than 100 (four) this year.
The Broncos average the fourth-fewest passing yards allowed, but they’ve given up the most touchdowns through the air this year. Trust in McCown again.
Musical chairs
Denver currently looks like it owns the least stable quarterback situation in the NFL — a title many assigned to the Jets over the summer. Three players have started, and none owns a positive touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Trevor Siemian, who went 3-5 as a starter at the beginning of the year, is back atop the depth chart this week. Although the Jets’ pass defense isn’t imposing, none of the Broncos’ QBs has been much of a threat in 2017.
Pointless ponies
In large part because of their awful quarterback play, the Broncos rank 27th in points scored this year and average 17.2 points. When their defense was dominant, that might have been enough to be middling. However, the Denver ‘D’ is giving up 26.3 per game as well.
The Jets, while not an offensive juggernaut, have scored at least 20 points eight times this year and combined for 65 over the past two weeks. As long as Gang Green doesn’t slump in the thin mile-high air, they should be fine.
