Not that he had much choice, but Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton examined his defense through a critical lens following Sunday’s 34-20 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars — a cold, hard reality check for a team that hadn’t lost since September.
“I think the No. 1 thing, I don’t know what the third down numbers were, but I know they weren’t good,” Payton told reporters in his postgame press conference.
Indeed, the Jaguars bested the Broncos on third downs, converting 8-of-15 attempts compared to Denver’s 5-of-14 mark. Jacksonville went 4-for-5 in the red zone as quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another.
“He [Lawrence] played a really good game, and so you can try to pin that down on… I’m sure we’re going to look at the tape,” Payton said. “We missed a lot of tackles in space. There were a lot of yards after the catch that showed up, which was evident.”
The Broncos did do some things well on the defensive side, notching five sacks and 14 hits on Lawrence. But they were canceled out by repeated missed tackles, blown assignments, and generally ineffective play due in part to the absence of starting safety Brandon Jones.
Specifically, Payton rued “too many” coverage breakdowns and that Jacksonville “threw with more efficiency” than their counterparts at Empower Field. He also vowed to course-correct — and quickly — ahead of Denver’s Christmas night matchup in Kansas City.
“We’ll look at it all, but we’re going to have a quick week,” he said. “We’re going to be on to Kansas City like ASAP. So that’s just how it is with this quick turnaround.”
Dec 7, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton on the sidelines against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Drilling Down Further
How poorly did the Broncos defense play against the Jags? According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence posted a career-best EPA when not pressured (+18.3) and a career-high 11.1 yards on pass attempts under 2.5 seconds. That poorly.
Denver also uncharacteristically allowed several explosives, punctuated by Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington burning Vance Joseph’s unit for 145 yards and a TD on only six catches — a dazzling 24.2 yards per reception.
“I said this to the team. I said, ‘Part of this process is not fooling ourselves. They beat us tonight. They beat us good in all three areas, and it starts with me.’ Even though that hurts going down, you can’t spit it out and you have to swallow it,” Payton said after the defeat. “That’s the truth. They beat us in all three areas. We have to coach better. We have to look at what we’re doing. We have to make sure we’re not doing too much, and we have to do that all on a quick turnaround. So that’s kind of how I saw that game.”