Justin Fields Sacked Nine Times As Jets Fall To Broncos, 13-11, In London

LONDON - Earlier this week, Jets captain Quinnen Williams admitted that the defense was the reason the Jets were 0-5. On Sunday, the defense held up their end of the bargain, but this time it was a poor offensive performance that let them down. The Jets led 11-10 deep into the fourth quarter, but Will Lutz’s 28-yard field goal with 5:05 to go gave the Broncos a 13-11 win.

The Jets finally forced their first turnover of the season on Denver’s opening possession, and also had a long kickoff return by Kene Nwangwu in the first quarter, but on each occasion they couldn’t convert the short field into a touchdown. Two Nick Folk field goals put them ahead 6-3 late in the first quarter.

Denver took the lead on the last play of the first quarter, when Bo Nix found backup tight end Nate Adkins all alone for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 10-6. That ended up being the only touchdown of the game.

New York took the opening possession of the second half into Denver territory to set up Folk’s 38-yard field goal which reduced the deficit to 10-9. 

After an Austin McNamara punt pinned the Broncos down inside their own five-yard line, the Jets incredibly took the lead 11-10 on a safety as Micheal Clemons drew a holding penalty in the end zone with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter. At the time, New York had just 82 yards of total offense and still led as they entered the fourth quarter with 76.

The Jets had a final chance to win the game at the end but they turned the ball over on downs after getting to Denver’s 44-yard line.

Here are the key takeaways…

• Jarvis Brownlee was filling in for the injured Michael Carter in the slot and he made his presence felt on the first series as he punched the ball out from Troy Franklin to set up the Jets’ first defensive turnover of the season. He also made a few other plays including an impressive tackle in the flat to blow up a screen pass.
• Don’t underestimate the second half of the equation on that turnover, though. The Jets have punched the ball out a few times this season, but without being able to recover the fumble. Andre Cisco came up with the loose ball, after New York had only previously recovered two of 15 total fumbles this season, both on offense. The Jets got some long overdue fumble luck this week as Garrett Wilson had a lost fumble overturned by the replay booth, Isaiah Williams was ruled down on another lost fumble, and Breece Hall scooped up a fumbled snap and ran for positive yardage in the fourth quarter.
• The Jets had some issues with their zone coverages early and the Broncos punished this as Evan Engram got open for a fourth-down conversion and Adkins was all alone on his go-ahead touchdown reception.
• New York had just one yard of offense halfway through the second quarter. During the week, Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand had indicated they were satisfied with the way the offense had been moving the ball early in games, despite not scoring much, so this was a step backwards in terms of their initial gameplan.
• A three-and-out midway through the second quarter summed up the Jets’ issues. Wilson, who had not been targeted yet, appeared to be open coming across the middle, but Justin Fields failed to get the ball out and was sacked. On the next play, they smartly dialled up a short pass designed to get Wilson involved, only for him to drop it. Fields was then sacked again on third down. Wilson ended up with just three catches for 13 yards on eight targets.
• The Jets’ most valuable player in the first half was arguably Denver tackle Matt Peart, who was starting with Ben Powers having been placed on injured reserve. Peart had three first half penalties including one to negate a big third down conversion into the red zone. Without those calls, Denver could have built a much bigger first half lead. As it was, it felt like the Jets were fortunate to only be down by four points having been outgained by 175 yards to 32.
• New York’s last possession of the first half was easily their best drive of the half, although all they achieved was to run out the clock as it stalled near midfield. They gained 31 yards on 10 plays but, even then, had to get tricky on fourth down to extend the drive as they lined up in punt formation but with Hall as the upback and he picked up the required yard on a direct snap.
• The Jets leaned heavily on their running game all day as Fields was unable to get anything going through the air. Hall carried the ball 22 times but for just 59 yards, as his longest play of the game was just an eight-yard run. In fact, the Jets only had one play of more than 10 yards all day, on an 11-yard catch by Josh Reynolds. The Jets ended up with minus-10 passing yards with Fields sacked nine times.

Highlights

Jets ball!

Jarvis Brownlee forces the fumble and the Jets get their first takeaway of the year ???? pic.twitter.com/JtEnbHUvKi

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 12, 2025

Breece Hall converts the fake punt! pic.twitter.com/sjifTAmfrC

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 12, 2025

What's next

The Jets return stateside for next weekend’s game against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19.