The Denver Broncos had not lost a game since September 21. That changed on Sunday, when the Jacksonville Jaguars strolled into Empower Field and handed them a 34-20 defeat.
The loss tightens things up on the AFC playoff race as the Broncos are now just one game ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West and could be tied with the New England Patriots for the No. 1 overall seed, depending on what happens in New England's Sunday night tilt with the Baltimore Ravens.
The story of this game was much more about what Jacksonville did right than what Denver did wrong. The Jags were efficient on offense, moving the ball well against Denver's vaunted defense and cashing in against the league's best red-zone defense.
Trevor Lawrence, coming off the best game of his career last week, had another gem on Sunday, completing 23 of 36 passes for 279 yards with three touchdowns. Parker Washington had 145 yards receiving on six catches, forcing several missed tackles throughout the contest.
The Broncos had their chances to respond to the big shots being delivered by the Jaguars, but two second-half turnovers by Bo Nix knocked the Broncos out.
The Jaguars continued their historically good play in the Mile High City and now have a winning record of 5-4 all-time there. With the win, Jacksonville improves to 11-4 on the season, still very much in the race for the No. 1 overall seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
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The Broncos won't have much time to sit and sulk over this loss as they will be back on the field on Christmas night at Arrowhead Stadium against the sputtering Kansas City Chiefs.
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