2023 Broncos Draft Picks Watch: Russell Wilson, Denver rally to beat Jaguars

The bleeding has stopped (for now).

The Denver Broncos (3-5) were perhaps on the verge of blowing it up if they couldn’t get a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) in London, but Russell Wilson was able to muster up a classic moonball and help his team to a 21-17 comeback victory over a Jaguars team that cannot stop blowing 4th quarter leads.

Wilson finished 18/30 for 252 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and 3 sacks taken. It could’ve gotten out of hand early for the Broncos given Wilson’s pick led to a Jaguars touchdown.

Then on the next series Trevor Lawrence had Jacksonville poised for a 14-0 lead. Justin Simmons had other ideas at the goal line.

Jacksonville did have a 10-0 lead but Wilson “threw” a touchdown to Jerry Jeudy to cut it to 10-7 before halftime. Wilson then had perhaps his best drive as a Bronco, going 5/5 for 82 yards on a 98-yard touchdown drive capped off by a short TD run by Melvin Gordon.

As Jacksonville’s offense struggled to do anything except run with Travis Etienne, Denver’s offense stalled out with a slew of three-and-outs. A short field was just what the doctor ordered for the Jags, as a big pass to Christian Kirk and runs by Etienne put them in the red zone and eventually the end zone. Etienne torched Denver for 156 yards on 24 carries and should’ve had the game-winning TD.

Wilson responded with a beautiful deep ball to KJ Hamler, could’ve had a touchdown to Courtland Sutton if Sutton didn’t drop it, and after struggling on 3rd down all day he scrambled for a critical first down just before the two-minute warning. Latavius Murray cashed in to give Denver the 21-17 lead with under two minutes to play.

Trevor Lawrence had the chance to be the hero and it took him one play to throw a telegraphed pass into the arms of K’Waun Williams, who’s playing with a cast on his right arm.

All three of Russell Wilson’s wins as a Bronco have been 4th quarter comebacks, while the Jaguars have now squandered a 4th quarter lead for the fourth time already. They’re 2-6 with a +14 point differential which is insane, but consider their two wins were 24-0 over the Colts and 38-10 over the Chargers.

Good for Wilson after just taking on a relentless level of mockery and criticism in ways we’ve never seen in Seattle, bad for the Seahawks’ draft pick situation at the moment. Still, we’ll take 3-5 for Denver given they have a difficult schedule coming up after the bye, including a pair of games against the Chiefs and road matchups at Tennessee and Baltimore.

Draft Pick status: Now that Week 8 is over, the Seahawks’ Broncos pick in the first round is 10th overall, while the second-rounder is 42nd.

Up next: Bye week, then the Titans on November 13th in Nashville.