The Denver Broncos ’ defense went back to the basics after a disastrous opener in Kansas City.
asserted
defense → go → City
It focused on the most fundamental part of football there is — tackling.
asserted
It → focus → football
It was shored up in a hurry.
asserted
It → shore → hurry
The defense limited Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense to three points in the second half — and none over the final 24 minutes — allowing Bo Nix to stage a comeback as the Broncos rallied for a 20-13 win Sunday.
asserted
Broncos → limit → win
“Look, our job is to play the game and give the ball to the offense,” linebacker Alex Singleton said after his defense’s rebound.
asserted
Singleton → look → rebound
The Broncos re-emphasized fundamentals all week after missing a whopping 28 tackles in a 31-10 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
asserted
Broncos → re → Mahomes
They held the Jaguars under 100 yards rushing Sunday and kept Lawrence out of the end zone after he threw for three TDs and ran for another in a 34-20 win in Denver last December.
asserted
he → hold → Denver
“It was being better this week and being one step better, having that short-term memory,” Pat Surtain II explained.
asserted
II → have → memory
That could possibly be chalked up to not playing all that many snaps in the preseason.
uncertain
That → chalk → preseason
One thing’s for sure — the team’s confidence never wavered.
asserted
confidence → ’ → ?
“It’s funny how everyone was freaking out after one game,” defensive lineman Zach Allen said.
asserted
Allen → ’ → game
“We got back on track today.”
asserted
We → get → track
Trailing 13-3 in the third quarter, the defense dug in as Nix and the offense found their groove in reeling off 17 straight points to snap the Jaguars’ nine-game regular-season winning streak.
asserted
Nix → trail → streak
The Jaguars finished the game by going interception, missed field goal and punt.
asserted
Jaguars → finish → interception
The Broncos’ last four drives looked like this: field goal, TD, TD and victory formation.
asserted
drives → look → this
“It was a good day for the team to bounce back,” said cornerback Riley Moss, who picked off Lawrence’s pass late in the third quarter.
asserted
who → bounce → quarter
“There’s still things that we’ve got to work on.
asserted
we → ’ → that
It wasn’t a perfect game, but we got the ‘W.’”
asserted
we → get → W.
Last December, Lawrence threw for 279 yards and three TDs with no interceptions.
asserted
Lawrence → throw → interceptions
Lawrence threw for 138 yards in the first half but only 51 more the rest of the way.
asserted
Lawrence → throw → way
What’s more, the Broncos held the Jaguars to 2 of 6 on third-down conversions in the second half.
asserted
Broncos → ’ → half
“As as far what they did, it wasn’t anything that surprised us,” Lawrence said.
asserted
Lawrence → do → us
“They played really good up front.
asserted
They → play → ?
They got after us a little bit and I thought we played on our heels a little bit.”
asserted
we → get → heels
In constant pursuit was pass rusher Nik Bonitto, who had three QB hits.
asserted
who → have → hits
He led a group that kept constant pressure on Lawrence.
asserted
that → lead → Lawrence
“They’re a great offense,” Bonitto said.
asserted
Bonitto → ’re → ?
“But at the same time, we look at last year’s game and we see it was really just missed tackles that gave them a lot of points and even this year making sure that we’re playing to our standard.”
asserted
we → look → standard
One of the biggest sequences of the game was in the third quarter and the Jaguars facing a first-and-goal at the 9.
asserted
Jaguars → face → 9
Denver held them to a field goal to make it 13-3 and keep the game in range.
asserted
it → hold → range
“We made game-changing plays,” said Surtain, whose team hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night.
asserted
team → make → night
“That’s what we did — just finding ways to get them off the field, finding ways to win third down.
asserted
we → ’ → down
___
AP freelancer Ashlyn Stapleton contributed to this report.
asserted
Stapleton → contribute → report
The Aporia
