DENVER - The Jacksonville Jaguars squandered a 13-3 second-half lead Sunday, falling to the Denver Broncos 20-13 at Empower Field at Mile High in a Week 2 game that exposed troubling breakdowns along both lines of scrimmage.
Jacksonville held a 10-3 halftime advantage and extended it to 13-3 early in the third quarter on a 23-yard field goal by kicker Cam Little, but the offense went silent after failing to convert a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. The Jaguars did not produce a productive offensive drive the rest of the afternoon.
“It just felt like we were a little out of sync in the second half,” Head Coach Liam Coen said after the game. The loss is Jacksonville’s first of the 2026 season, snapping momentum built on an eight-game regular-season winning streak that carried the Jaguars to the 2025 AFC South title.
Broncos wide receivers Troy Franklin and Jaylen Waddle delivered the explosive plays that broke the game open, with Waddle finding success across the field against Jacksonville’s new-look secondary. Team correspondent John Shipley noted that explosive passing plays had hurt the Jaguars at times last season and were again an issue Sunday. Quarterback Bo Nix operated largely without pressure, as the Jaguars’ defensive line failed to generate a consistent pass rush.
“The lines were supposed to be the strength of the Broncos and on Sunday against the Jaguars they were absolutely that,” senior correspondent Brian Sexton wrote in his postgame assessment. Sexton said his first reaction when Jacksonville failed to convert from the 3-yard line was “uh oh,” calling it a warning sign given the momentum Denver had built late in the first half. On the other side of the ball, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was under constant pressure as the offensive line struggled in pass protection, limiting his ability to operate effectively.
Team reporter Kainani Stevens drew a direct comparison to Jacksonville’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, writing that the defensive breakdowns in the second half “were eerily familiar to the problems we saw in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills” and a far cry from the performance against the Cleveland Browns in the season opener.
One bright spot was second-year running back Bhayshul Tuten, who led the Jaguars in carries and yards from scrimmage for the second consecutive game. Stevens called him a “difference-maker” and noted the offense was at its best when Tuten set the tone.
Wide receiver Parker Washington urged calm after the loss. “We want to worry about responding,” Washington said. “It’s a long season.”
The Jaguars return home for Week 3, where Coen will look to reestablish the line play that defined Jacksonville’s run to the division title last season.