NFL Highs-Lows: Broncos On Rocky Mountain Plateau, Jackson Almost Jukes His Pants Off, Richardson Struggles

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Another NFL weekend brought multiple high points (and low points) but there is no team that is at the same altitude as the Denver Broncos, with their 9-5 record and four-game winning streak.

It’s a Rocky Mountain high.

Broncos Have Great Momentum

After Sunday’s victory over the Indianapolis Colts, multiple Broncos players talked about the momentum shift a Jonathan Taylor fumble at the goal line – embarrassingly done on purpose by the Colts running back celebrating a score prematurely – as the key to a game the Broncos eventually won, 31-13.

“It was a mistake,” Denver defensive end John-Franklin Myers told reporters of his opponent’s gaffe. “We all make them, but that one cost them. It was a momentum switch. From then, it wasn’t a game.”

That is ironic in that the Broncos’ current arc also comes after a significant shift in momentum.

Recall last September when coach Sean Payton was only three games into his tenure with this team. The Broncos visited Miami and had to swallow a 70-20 loss to the Dolphins. A club source said he felt an “unmotivated” atmosphere around the team before that game.

And it obviously showed. But since then, the momentum for the Broncos has shifted. 

The Broncos were 8-6 after that game last season – even with a roster Payton knew was incomplete. Even with a quarterback Payton didn’t like.

This year the Broncos are 9-5. The defense run by Vance Joseph, the same defensive coordinator on duty when the unit gave up 70 points, is now tied for fewest points allowed in the league this year at 17.6 per game.

And quarterback Bo Nix, handpicked by Payton in the 2024 draft, is developing well. He threw three interceptions on Sunday, so he’s still a work in progress, but the organization loves him.

Broncos Culture Has Changed

That game over a year ago that threatened to devastate the Broncos was actually a turning point. The Broncos are 17-11 since that game. They’re currently tracking as the No. 6 overall seed in the playoffs race.

And the culture has definitely shifted. Consider what receiver Courtland Sutton imagines would have happened if he (or any Broncos player) dropped the football before reaching the goal line on an otherwise certain touchdown run:

“I probably wouldn’t be talking to y’all right now, to be honest with you,” Sutton said. “I think I saw an interview with (Colorado coach Deion Sanders) saying that if one of his boys did that, they might as well keep running because they’re not going to be on the team no more. I would not want to have a conversation with coach Payton after doing something like that.”

The Broncos are getting it right. They’re flying right now.

Other NFL highs:

Don’t Forget Lamar Jackson

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson: On any other Sunday, he would have grabbed all the headlines and we’d be awarding him with an imaginary and early MVP award. But Jackson’s stunning 5-TD game against the New York Giants wasn’t on national television like the game between the Lions and Bills.

Josh Allen went off on the Lions to continue a stunning streak of games that seems to make him the MVP favorite at the moment.

That doesn’t diminish Jackson’s day in the Meadowlands. 

He completed 21 of 25 passes (84 percent) and threw 5 TDs. The guy was so dominant that at one point, he took off on a scramble and delivered a stiff arm that sent cornerback Greg Stroman flying.

Lamar’s Pants Fall Down Juke

And that wasn’t his best highlight. Because there was the pants-falling-down scramble.

Indeed, any player who can juke defenders and pull up his pants in virtually the same motion gets an NFL high check mark.

Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans: I have a Hall of Fame vote, so I’ll say it right here. I will be voting for Evans into the HOF some day. And if you doubt why I should, consider he missed all but one game in November with a hamstring injury, and he still has 9 TDs this year.

He collected two of those on Sunday against the Chargers on passes of 57 and 35 yards. He finished this game with nine catches for 159 yards. Evans is 251 yards from his 11th consecutive 1,000-yard season. 

Evans, 31, remains one of the dominant deep threat receivers in the NFL. 

“We knew what kind of game it was going to be, and we came and delivered,” he said afterward.

The lows:

Lions D May Not Win Championship

Detroit Lions defense: This unit has somehow kept it together despite significant injuries, including to edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, linebacker Alex Anzalone and defensive end Marcus Davenport.

But Sunday marked more blows that can affect, not so much the regular-season because this club has already clinched a playoff spot, but the postseason.

The team lost cornerback Carlton Davis to a broken jaw that will require surgery. He will be out at least a month and possibly several weeks longer.

The team also lost defensive tackle Alim McNeill for the rest of the season and the playoffs because he suffered an ACL injury, per sources. Tough times.

“Now what are we going to do about it?” coach Dan Campbell said. “We won’t sit there and feel sorry for ourselves.” 

The club will likely have to lean on more offense to account for the weakened defense – one that now doesn’t seem healthy enough to win a championship.

Anthony Richardson Development Stalls

Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson: We expected this to be a developmental year for the second-year player, but it’s December now. There are only three weeks remaining in the regular season.

And the progress has been hard to spot.

Richardson threw two interceptions against the Broncos on Sunday. He didn’t throw a TD pass. And his accuracy was at times questionable –again.

The fact is Richardson is completing an unacceptable 47 percent of his passes this season. The NFL average is somewhere around the 65 percent mark.

Richardson completed 17 of 38 attempts against Denver. That marks the third consecutive game and five of the last six he completed 50 or less percent of his passes. This must improve the final weeks of the season.