Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars

The contest is a should-win for Denver, but hardly a guarantee. The Broncos’ rookie quarterback knew early last week there was a good chance he would be called upon to start Sunday at Jacksonville, and his excitement was obvious. The victory moved them to 8-4 on the season as the Miami Dolphins loss put the Broncos right back into the AFC’s sixth seed.

“A gut check. We needed to win the way we won”.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs are 8-3 and they now occupy the 5th seed spot to qualify for the Wild Card round of the Playoffs. It clearly shows that Paxton Lynch is not ready. Devontae Booker then scored on a 6-yard run after breaking an attempted tackle by Smith and overpowering strong safety JohnathanCyprien into the end zone to put Denver up 7-3. He’s tied for fourth on the team in tackles, with no other significant splash stats. I can’t wait. I’m going to have so much energy, so much juice. “It’s definitely one I’ve had circled for a long time”.

No action until the second period.

The nerves didn’t last too long. Tight end Julius Thomas (back) is officially listed as doubtful and will likely miss his second straight game. But at the end of the day, everybody gets treated the same.

For the Broncos, their offense has been inconsistent and it may be more so in Week 13.

First-round rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch will start after Broncos coach Gary Kubiak made the switch official following Friday’s practice.

Two punts to begin the second half.

We’ve heard this before. The most crucial interception came in the third quarter courtesy of cornerback Bradley Roby.

That was about all of the action in the third quarter. They allowed the Broncos 206 total yards.

Quarterback was a huge question mark for the Broncos this season.

“Oh God, I think this guy has a brilliant career ahead of him, ” Kubiak said.

Nothing going on for the offense. It felt more like three years. Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles turned the ball over three times in the game, with two interceptions and a fumble.

It was not to be.

Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian is out of the walking boot he wore last week and might be available to play Sunday at Tennessee. But in two starts his year, he’s played well below Siemian’s level.

The stakes are much bigger this time for Lynch and the opposition on the lesser side as Denver will visit the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.

You can never be too careful in the National Football League; letdowns happen all the time. That was proved with a 20-10 victory in this sorry excuse for a big-league stadium, half covered in orange jerseys of visiting fans and half disinterested.

Additionally, the Jaguars’ passing game has mostly stalled out during the current seven-game losing streak – only four completions of at least 30 yards. “Hopefully he’s back here (soon) and he can take care of himself the rest of the year”. “I know it’s got to be frustrating for him, especially as competitive as he is, as badly as he wants to make a play and make a difference”.

I’m sure a lot of you have come to the conclusion that Bortles sucks anyway and is a lost cause, which is certainly reasonable, but the Jaguars aren’t and probably shouldn’t think about it that way. They got both. Now they are looking at the playoffs from the 6 spot.

Will Keys is an Editor for Mile High Huddle.