The Nix-Sutton connection has also been effective for the Broncos. Harvey explodes for 38-yard TD run.

DENVER — The breaks may be on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ side so far. But so is Trevor Lawrence.

The Jaguars are leading the Broncos, 31-17 midway through the third quarter on a cloudy but unseasonably warm late-December Sunday afternoon before a boisterous crowd at Empower Field at Mile High.

Boisterous? Broncos’ fans not only threatened to break the sound meter, the players struggled to hear the whistle.

The Jaguars went up 7-0 late in the first quarter thanks in large part to an odd case where the loud noise made by the Empower Field crowd hurt the home team.

On third and 10 from the Denver 44, Jacksonville jumped and the officials stopped play for the false start penalty. But the Broncos’ crowd was so loud, not all players knew the play was whistled dead.

Lawrence did. The quarterback let up. Broncos’ safety P.J. Locke did not. He came on a blitz and crushed Lawrence from behind. A flag was called for unnecessary roughness on Locke. His penalty overruled the false start. Jacksonville had first down at the Denver 29 as Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph vehemently protested on the sideline.

Four plays later, Lawrence threw a one-on-one fade route to Parker Washington, who outmaneuvered nickelback Ja’Wuan McMillian for a 12-yard touchdown.

It was 7-0 Jaguars with 7 seconds left in the first quarter. It wasn’t Locke’s fault he couldn’t hear the play was blown dead. It wasn’t the refs fault. They can’t let a franchise quarterback, or any player. get annihilated off a dead ball. And can’t blame the crowd that showed up in force dressed in orange game jerseys. They were making incredible noise on a third-down play. As Payton asked for during his Friday press conference.

OK, stuff happens. Bad break. And it happened just after Broncos’ kicker Wil Lutz clanked a 44-yard field goal attempt off the right upright. Get over it.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix on the final play of the quarter, first play after the Jacksonville touchdown, nailed a deep crossing completion to tight end Evan Engram for 33 yards. Flipping to the other end zone during the break, Nix faded back on his rear right foot and lofted a perfect 15-yard pas to Courtland Sutton for a game-tying touchdown.

It was 7-7 barely into the second quarter. Nix started the Broncos next drive with a 26-yard completion to Marvin Mims Jr., who was wide open on a middle pattern. On fourth-and-4 from the Jaguars’ 36, Payton didn’t go for it, as he often does in that situation, but sent Lutz out for a 54-yard field goal attempt.

Payton wanted to show confidence in his kicker after Lutz missed the previous 44-yarder. Lutz nailed the 54-yarder right down the middle. Showing confidence in a player that might be shaken, that’s coaching.

At that point, the Broncos were dominating play, 175 yards to 40 but were only leading 10-7. But on the next Jacksonville series, consecutive play-action passes gave Lawrence time to throw. He dropped a beautiful 23-yard completion over a defender to tight end Curtis Stange for 23 yards. The drive ended with Strange pushing Locke aside to catch another back-shoulder touchdown pass from Lawrence.

It was 14-10 Jacksonville with 4:33 left in the half. The Broncos moved the ball but had to punt. Lawrence threw some darts during their 2-minute drill to set up a 47-yard field goal by Jacksonville kicker Cam Little, who earlier this season made an NFL-record 68-yard boot.

It was 17-10 Jacksonville at halftime. Lawrence was 13 of 21 for 130 yards, two touchdowns and a 111.2 passer rating. Nix was 11 of 17 for 153 yards, a touchdown and a 113.1 passer rating.

Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening second-half possessions. Rookie running back RJ Harvey broke two different ways to score on a 38-yrd jaunt to tie the score, 17-17. Harvey first ran through a hole right, shrugged off a would-be tackler and cut left. He should have been tackled inside the 10 by Jaguars’ cornerback Jarrian Jones but he instead of wrapping for the tackle he tried to punch the ball out. Why with the sideline right there is anyone’s guess. Harvey broke through Jones and lunged to the goal line for the touchdown.

But Lawrence came right back for Jacksonville. He was aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Denver defnensive tackle Malcolm Roach, who was accussed of driving Lawrence to the ground and landing on top of him. 

Later in the drive a pass interference penalty on Broncos’ rookie corner Jahdae Barron set up a first-and-goal at the 1. Lawrence from the shotgun easily ran right for the go-ahead touchdown.

Lawrence and his receivers had a couple more big plays for the no-longer vaunted Denver D. On third-and-3, Lawrence drilled a short pass to Washington for a first down — but both Riley Moss and Talanoa Hufanga overplayed the ball and Washington took off on a 63-yards gain to the Broncos’ 10. Lawrence then hit running back Travis Etienne Jr., split out left, for a 1-yard touchdown.

It was 31-17 Jacksonville with 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Jaguars were 4 of 4 in the red zone against a Denver defense that came into the game ranked No. 1 in red-zone D.

The Broncos had three sacks in the first half – by Riley Moss, John Franklin-Myers and Roach — all on third downs. …

Sutton has four catches for 53 yards at the half. …

Jaleel McLaughlin picked up 25 yards off his first two carries. …

Special teams safety Delarrin Turner-Yell limped off the field with a knee injury and into the locker room in the first half. He was playing in his first game in nearly two years. …

Tight end Nate Adkins also left the game early with a knee injury. Adkins previously missed five games with a knee injury.