The Jets will be hoping that a change of scenery is the key to kickstarting their season as they head over to London for their fourth international game since 2015. 

Aaron Glenn and the team boarded a transatlantic flight on Monday night with promises to stay the course despite a disappointing 0-5 start to the season. 

New York will be hoping to channel the energy of their first international appearance back in 2015 when they beat the Dolphins 27-14 behind a suffocating defense and a dominant 166-yard performance from Chris Ivory and a 128-yard performance by Brandon Marshall.

Standing in their way is a Denver Broncos side who are coming off their best win of the season, and arguably the best win of the Sean Payton era, a 21-17 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, just the fourth game they’ve lost at home since the start of the 2023 season. 

The Broncos head into the game against the Jets on a two-game win streak, and boast one of the NFL’s best defenses having allowed just 84 points through the first five games, an average of 16.8 points per game. Only the Houston Texans have allowed fewer. 

The Broncos have the best red-zone defense in football, allowing teams to score touchdowns on just 28.57% of entries inside the 20 and boast the third-best third down conversion rate allowed of 30.30%, so the Jets will need to be at their absolute best when it comes to moving the ball. 

The offensive line will have its hands full with a Denver front that generates pressure at a league-high rate of 31.7%. They also blitz on 29.1% of all drop-backs which is the seventh-highest number in football. That unit is led by star linebacker Nik Bonitto who has generated 26 pressures and 7 sacks in just 114 pass-rush snaps this season. But the talent on this Denver defense filters through to all three levels. 

Outside of Bonitto you have Jonathon Cooper, D.J. Jones and old friend John Franklin-Myers up front, with dynamic linebacker duo Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad behind them and one of the better secondaries in football led by 2x All-Pro Pat Surtain II and safety Talanoa Hufanga who’s enjoying a career year to start the season. 

No defense is perfect, and DeVonta Smith took advantage of Denver’s #2 CB in Riley Moss at the weekend beating him for 114 yards on 8 catches, with Moss later admitting that he played “dumb football” by pressing Smith on a 3rd and 17 which resulted in a 52-yard completion and a Philadelphia TD two plays later. 

For as good as Denver can be, their linebacker unit can be exploited in coverage. Alex Singleton for example has allowed 88.5% of passes to be completed into his coverage for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns and while Pat Surtain has not been credited with allowing a TD this season, he has been called for five penalties. 

Tanner Engstrand’s gameplan will be a difficult one to devise this week, but it may be worth taking a page out of Jim Bob Cooter and the Indianapolis Colts playbook. In week two at Lucas Oil stadium, Indianapolis and Daniel Jones put up 473 total yards and 29 points which included over 300 passing yards and over 150 rushing yards. 

On the offensive side of the ball the Broncos have been more inconsistent ranking 18th in football at 23.4 points per game, just above the Jets who rank 19th with 22.4. 

However, moving the football hasn’t been much of a problem for Sean Payton, as the Broncos offensive unit ranks 10th in the league with 355.2 yards per game which includes 140.6 yards per game on the ground, ranked fourth in the league. 

A week after having to deal with the difficult George Pickens, Sauce Gardner will again be matched up with one of the best receivers in the league in Courtland Sutton. The veteran receiver is coming off an 8-catch 99-yard game against Philly and is now up to 365 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season. 81 of his 99 yards on Sunday came against young star Quinyon Mitchell, a player who had never allowed more than 2 receptions or more than 49 yards to any receiver in a single game. 

If you’re not worried about Sutton then you need to be worried about running back J.K. Dobbins, who is on course to have the best season of his young career. The former Raven and Charger has racked up 402 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground which is good for 5.2 yards per carry. His ability to extend plays is a dangerous skill set that the Jets will need to be wary of, his 255 yards after contact is 7th highest in football and his 14 missed tackles forced is good for 11th best in the league. In short, he’s an absolute handful. 

It’s clear that Sean Payton wants to run the football, the Broncos average 28.4 rushing attempts per game and try to control the clock. When they need a first-down through the air, they often turn to Courtland Sutton. In many ways their offense reflects the identity that the Jets are trying to establish, they’re just a little further down the line. 

If the Jets hope to find success against this offense they’ll need to ensure they find success stopping the run on early downs forcing the Broncos into obvious passing situations. Bo Nix is a very good QB, but under pressure his completion percentage drops to 47.6% and in 42 attempts under pressure he’s only thrown 1 touchdown (1 INT) and his average yards per attempt drops all the way down to 4.5. 

The Jets have been unable to generate pressure over the last couple of weeks which has put pressure on their secondary to hold up. Jermaine Johnson is currently re-habbing his ankle injury and it appears he will make his return on Sunday. Reuniting him with Will McDonald may be the recipe needed to get this pass-rush going. 

Sunday will be a difficult match-up, but maybe the unfamiliar confines of N17 is exactly what the doctor ordered, and maybe years from now we can say we saw Glenn’s first triumph as HC of the Jets.