The Broncos Have Already Gifted the Jaguars the Blueprint to Beat Them

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars will have a much tougher test in Week 2 than they did to open the season on Sunday, but the chances of a 2-0 start are still right in front of them.

After the Jaguars' easy Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, they can now set their sights on the Denver Broncos and a daunting Week 2 road game. But after the way the Broncos performed in their 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, it sure appears a blueprint has already been gifted to Liam Coen's squad.

no ni — Sep 14, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) reacts after the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Blueprint

The Broncos struggled in some key areas against a Chiefs team that had plenty of questions on both sides of the ball entering the game. The Broncos went for a pass-heavy approach against the Chiefs, putting the ball in Bo Nix's hands as the running backs combined for 11 carries for 54 yards. Despite Nix dropping back 32 times, the Broncos had just 115 net yards due to Nix being sacked four times and going 17-of-28 for 131 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the process.

Nix had one of the worst quarterback performances of Week 1, finishing 31 out of 32 quarterbacks in EPA/Dropback. The only quarterback he played better than by that metric was Atlanta Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush; Nixon had a worse game by this measurement than Deshaun Watson even had against the Jaguars.

According to NFL's NextGenStats, Nix was pressured on 45.5% of his dropbacks against the Chiefs, his second-highest pressure rate in a game in his career. The Chiefs sacked Nix four times, nearly matching their total sacks against him over his first four career games against the Chiefs combined (5). Nix finished 2 of 10 for 5 yards and an interception under pressure (including two strip-sacks), compared to 15 of 18 for 126 yards and a touchdown from a clean pocket.

When the Chiefs got after Nix, he crumbled. And that is the way the Jaguars must play him and the Broncos' offense in Week 2 to have success. Jacksonville effectively got after Watson in Week 1, collecting the most sacks of any defense in Week 1 with five. The Jaguars lead the NFL in sack rate through one game, and they ranked No. 5 in pressure rate as well. Their defense was able to impact the quarterback in a big way on Sunday, and doing the same against the Broncos could force Denver to play with one hand tied behind their back.

watsib — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) and Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker (44) sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) causing a fumble in the first quarter during an NFL football game at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, September 13, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. Jaguars lead 24-0 at the half. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Now, it is worth noting the Jaguars have already seen the blueprint on how to beat the Broncos. Jacksonville kicked Denver in the teeth with a 34-20 win in Week 16 last season, which does take away some of the guesswork, especially with the Monday Night Football results now in.

"The coaches are extremely busy looking at, obviously, Denver post when we played them and sort of how they looked. We can look at the preseason a little bit because, obviously they have a new coordinator calling plays and what his flow looked like and some of the rhythm and ways that he called the game. We can look at those, but yeah, we have to wait a little bit to see what they truly look like tonight," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said on Monday.

"So, it'll be a late night for us as coaches, and an early morning to get started. So it does leave you a little bit behind from that standpoint but we did play them late in the year, which does give us at least an idea of who they are, what they were like in a lot of ways, be able to get a lot of the scouting report information and some of the minutiae stuff that we get to a little bit earlier in this day. But yeah, we got to wait a little bit to get to see them really perform tonight.”

LIAM COEB — Sep 13, 2026; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With a win over the Broncos, the Jaguars would start 2-0 for the first time since 2018. The Jaguars have only started 2-0 twice in this century, with Tom Coughlin, Jack Del Rio, and Doug Marrone all hitting the mark. If the Jaguars can force Nix to be uncomfortable like he was against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, then Coen could join their company.

It will take another team effort, including the offense finding success against the Broncos' defense. With that in mind, the Broncos failed to slow down the new-look Chiefs' running game due to their lack of run defense, an area the Jaguars will likely try to target with Bhayshul Tuten. The Broncos defense missed 28 tackles against the Chiefs, allowing 247 yards after missed tackles, the most yards allowed by any defense in a game since at least 2018, according to NextGen Stats.

This is how the Jaguars can win. The Broncos have already given them the blueprint, and now they just need to follow it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google