An inside look at Sunday’s Jets-Broncos Week 3 matchup in Denver:
Marquee matchup
Jets QB Zach Wilson vs. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio
Wilson comes off a game against one of the best defensive minds in football — Bill Belichick — and faces another in Fangio.
Fangio and the Broncos made Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1-overall pick by the Jaguars, look bad last week. Now they will try to do it to Wilson, who the Jets took one pick after Lawrence. Fangio’s zone-heavy defense is completely different than Belichick’s man-to-man scheme, so Wilson’s education will continue Sunday.
“What’s good about it for Zach is that he’s seeing how the league is,” Saleh said. “Even though it’s, everyone says it’s a copycat league, people still have their own personality and how they play defense and how teams play offense. Just with regards to Zach, is how can he evolve his game week-to-week, to play quarterback and to take care of the football, but still be aggressive while being smart. It’s an art form and not an art form that’s easy to master, but we’ve got all the faith in the world that Zach’s going to figure that out.”
4 Downs
Teddy is a bear
The Broncos traded for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater this offseason, and he has been great in his first two games for them. Bridgewater is the fourth player in NFL history to open a season with two touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 75 percent completion rate in each of his first two games. The others are Drew Brees (2018), Aaron Rodgers (2015) and Jeff George (1994). Bridgewater is pushing the ball downfield more often than he had in the past, too. He had three completions last week against the Jaguars of more than 30 yards.
“It’s interesting because I’ve been around Teddy Bridgewater for a long time now, being in the NFC South and just in general, and he’s a guy that’s historically been known as a high percentage guy,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “Short, intermediate passes, and for the first time, he’s pushing the ball. I feel like for the real first time there’s a concerted effort to throw deeper. It’s going to test us.”
On the run
The Jets did a much better job running the ball in Week 2 than in Week 1. They ran for 152 yards against the Patriots after gaining just 45 the week before against Carolina. Running the ball effectively will be huge in this one, to take pressure off Zach Wilson.
“I think having success early is always key in the run game because you get to keep doing it,” offensive line coach John Benton said. “The more you do it, you tend to get better and better at it. I thought we were much more sure of ourselves, much more confident and communicated better and it showed up right from the start.”
Mile High madness
The Broncos will have a significant home-field advantage in this game. This will be Denver’s first home game of the season, and the fans should be going nuts with the team at 2-0. The Jets have been piping in crowd noise all week in practice. They also have to deal with the thin air of Mile High.
“I’m sure fans are just champing at the bit,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “They haven’t been in the stadium in forever with regards to referencing COVID. I’m sure it’s going to be loud, but at the same time, we’ve already went to Carolina, we’ve already gotten that experience with loud stadiums. It was pretty loud over there, too. So again, trust in your preparation, trust the cadence system and just go execute.”
Corner market
The Jets’ young cornerbacks were the biggest concern on the team entering the season, but they have held up through the first two games. This will be a tougher test. Carolina and New England were happy to take short throws and be patient moving the ball. The Broncos will take more deep shots with receivers Courtland Sutton and K.J. Hamler.
“This week will absolutely challenge them,” Ulbrich said. “They’re going to push it down the field and they got some receivers that can go. So, it’ll be a great test.”
Costello’s call
The Jets would have been in last week’s game if not for Zach Wilson’s four interceptions. I think Wilson will play better in this one, and the Jets’ defense will rise to the occasion to pull off a stunning upset.
Jets 23, Broncos 17