The New York Jets soundly defeated the Denver Broncos on the road in 2023, and they did it without Aaron Rodgers.
Now, with the four-time NFL MVP healthy and back at the controls, the Jets will welcome nemesis Sean Payton and the Broncos to MetLife Stadium for a Week 4 clash. Denver's strongly-opinionated head coach, who infamously took verbal jabs at New York offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, looks to avenge last year's loss with the help of his rookie quarterback.
The Bo Nix-led Broncos avoided the dreaded 0-3 season start by walloping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 3 road affair. As a 5.5-point underdog, Denver sent the Bucs to their first loss of the season. After back-to-back offensive duds, the Broncos out-gained their latest opponent by a 1.5 yards per play average.
"We were able punch back and I think that's important relative to the momentum that obviously we didn't do as well in Seattle," said Payton while addressing reporters on Monday via conference call.
After two turnover-marred losses, Nix took care of the ball as the offense exceeded the 300-yard mark for the first time. The rookie went 25-of-36 passing for 216 yards to go along with 47 yards and one touchdown rushing.
The Broncos did damage on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry and rushing for two touchdowns, including a three-yard run by Nix.
"We got to a few quarterback read runs. As they load the front, how do you get your number back? One of the ways of doing that is your quarterback becomes the threat," said Payton.
Denver's defense played a huge part in the victory, too, limiting the Buccaneers to 132 net pass yards. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was held under 5.0 yards per attempt.
While the Jets are presumably more talented than the Broncos, and also have the benefit of extra rest, the visiting team was able to slightly alter the narrative by posting a much-needed Week 3 win. Instead of entering the matchup as a wounded duck at 0-3, the Broncos and their rookie quarterback are riding a jolt of confidence with the chance to even their record at 2-2.
"We got Denver, who's coming off a nice win against the undefeated Buccaneers," said Rodgers during his weekly Pat McAfee Show appearance on Tuesday. "Just watching them, I feel like defensively they throw a lot of different things at you."
Both teams have different quarterbacks at the helm and they appear much better off than they did heading into last year's meeting in Denver.
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