{"id":1004149,"date":"2026-09-18T13:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1004149\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T13:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:03:16","slug":"are-the-broncos-in-a-must-win-game-vs-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1004149\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the Broncos in a must-win game vs. Jaguars?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n Sports <\/a><\/p>\n

\n Published September 18, 2026 7:00am\n <\/p>\n

Friday Faceoff: Is Sunday\u2019s visit from the Jacksonville Jaguars a must-win game for the Broncos?<\/p>\n

Paul Klee, sports editor<\/p>\n

Answer: No doubt about it<\/p>\n

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What, us overreact?<\/p>\n

Not usually. That\u2019s small-market stuff. It\u2019s only Week 2 of a long NFL season.<\/p>\n

Then you see what\u2019s coming next for the Broncos: Jaguars (13-4 last season), Rams (12-5), 49ers (12-5), Chargers (11-6), Seahawks (14-3). Their combined record a year ago: 62-23. Gulp.<\/p>\n

Apparently Joe Montana\u2019s 49ers and Tom Brady\u2019s Patriots were unavailable.<\/p>\n

Kansas City was the only opponent among Denver\u2019s first six that didn\u2019t make the playoffs. You saw what the Chiefs did on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Why is Sunday\u2019s visit from the Jaguars so important for Denver\u2019s Super Bowl dreams? It\u2019s the last time until Week 7 the Broncos will be favored to win a game, according to oddsmakers. That\u2019s no joke.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs sure looked like they are all the way back \u2014 and then some.<\/p>\n

Empower Field at Mile High is all the way back, too. The Broncos last season went 8-1 in the friendly confines, a sure sign they\u2019ve regained one of the league\u2019s most influential home-field advantages.<\/p>\n

Shoot, even the third preseason game was almost a packed house. Greg Penner and Co.\u2019s greatest accomplishment in four years of ownership is building a bond with Broncos Country.<\/p>\n

Expect some serious crowd noise when Trevor Lawrence takes the field Sunday.<\/p>\n

Broncos fans are a lot of things. One is impatient. If the Jags jump out to an early lead to grab momentum, there will be boos. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s no way to continue a schedule with no breathing room.<\/p>\n

\"RoachDenver Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach (97) tackles Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Chris Schmaedeke, digital sports editor<\/p>\n

Answer: No<\/p>\n

A Broncos win on Sunday against the Jaguars would calm a lot of nerves in Broncos Country.<\/p>\n

But is the game a must-win? Not quite.<\/p>\n

While the odds of winning the Super Bowl after a 0-2 start are not good, as just three teams have done it (1993 Cowboys, 2001 Patriots, and 2007 Giants), these Broncos are good at bouncing back from slow starts.<\/p>\n

Bo Nix\u2019s rookie season started 0-2 and Denver went on to make the playoffs. Last season, the Broncos started 1-2 and then went on a run to the AFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n

Sean Payton\u2019s group hasn\u2019t panicked in the past. Don\u2019t expect them to this season either.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of concerning stats if the Broncos do lose Sunday. Since 1990, only 35 of 288 0-2 teams (12.2%) have made the postseason and 19 have won a division title (6.6%), according to NFL.com.<\/p>\n

But these Broncos aren\u2019t worried about past numbers. They are comfortable with who they are. Unfortunately, they are a team that starts slowly and picks it up as the weather gets chillier. <\/p>\n

A win would be great after being smacked by the Chiefs and with the upcoming schedule, but the Broncos are a confident group so a loss will not derail their season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports Published September 18, 2026 7:00am Friday Faceoff: Is Sunday\u2019s visit from the Jacksonville Jaguars a must-win game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1004150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,6,9],"class_list":["post-1004149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117292185091301554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}