The Denver Broncos secured a 13-11 win against the New York Jets in week 6. But did they really excel and assert dominance with the win? The Jets opened the scoreboard and had their first takeaway showcasing they meant serious business. A 52-yard field goal by Nick Folks after Troy Franklin fumbled the ball had the Denver Broncos recalibrating their game plan.  

Mark Schlereth on the Rich Eisen Show shared his hot take on how good the 2025 Denver Broncos really are.

“Offensively right now they are struggling. There’s this narrative out there that they have the best offensive line in football. That’s just garbage,” Mark Schlereth said.

The game did look in favor of the Jets until Bo Nix made plays that helped the team secure the win. But that does not apply to the entire offensive line. The mistakes at the front led to 9 sacks on Justin Fields and holding the Jets to 82 total yards. This could be domination by the defense at the back limiting them to -10 net passing yards. But only at the expense of an unstable offense. 

“We weren’t in a very good rhythm at all,” Bo Nix said, according to the Broncos reporter Zac Stevens.

The offense was so weak, that it had only one touchdown of 16-yards by Nate Adkins assisted by Bo Nix with a pump-fake to the flat throw. The Broncos capitalized on only 5 of 15 on third downs and committed 6 penalties. It wasn’t just the throws that were short but also the runs. The Denver Broncos gained just 60 yards on 22 carries, averaging less than 2.7 yards per rushing attempt.

“Left guard Matt Peart starts for the first time. It was like the linebacker moved and now it’s all of a sudden since he moved I don’t have to block him anymore,” Schlereth added. 

Matt Peart’s debut showed significant blocking failures. He failed to pick up his assigned defender or help on the backside just as Quinn Meinerz does. He gave up multiple holding penalties and seemed weak to hold on to his blocks. During interior run plays he held onto the ball and had three penalties that negated positive gains. Pro Football Focus gave him a 29.9 grade, which ranks extremely low among guards.

Head Coach Sean Payton also called out the offense for their mistakes, as they were unproductive and could not sustain drives. The Jets boxed the Broncos under pressure, causing self-inflicted damage.

Defense bails out riddled offensive errors

The win was not excelling; it was merely an escape for the Broncos. The Jets could not tip the scoreboard due to Denver’s dominating defense. They did find momentum with the questionable plays called by Payton. 

Late in the third quarter a 3rd and 10 run by fullback Adam Prentice from their 18-yard line. With the Jets committing 7-8 defenders to the run, daring Denver to pass a low probability play by the HC was appalling. This drew plenty of criticism. The Broncos picked up just three yards before punting the next play.

Payton said, “We had a number of errors. There’ll be a lot of us that want to clean some stuff up.”

Going 5-for-15 on third down and communication errors on combo blocks opened lanes for defenders. Instead of extending possessions, timing issues on snap counts created short-yardage failures, forcing punts.

“I felt we lost that battle, and fortunately, our defense played well enough for us to get the win,” Sean Payton added.

The defense was under pressure through the game after the special teams unit lost field position battles too. The Jets did not leave any player unmarked, keeping them on their toes. They also exposed the Denver Broncos’ weak links that opponents can exploit. For the Broncos continuing the same mistakes and patterns of positional unfamiliarity, technique problems and multiple breakdowns could snatch their playoff hopes.