Winless Broncos, Jets square off looking to avoid 0-4 starts

Banged up, struggling and desperate for a win.

That describes both Denver Broncos and New York Jets, who’ll square off Thursday night at MetLife Stadium with ir seasons spiraling, coaches on hot seat and rosters ravd by injuries.

Yeah, this might t exactly be a meaty matchup for a prime-time TV audience. But, results of this game could have intriguing consequences.

“We understand situation we’re in," Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. "We can’t change anything that’s happened. All we can do is look forward and prepare for our next game, which is coming here quickly on Thursday. I think our attitude is good.”

Broncos and Jets are both 0-3 for second straight season, and each is looking to avoid dropping ir first four games in consecutive years for first time in franchise history. Barring a tie, it's about to get worse for one of m.

woeful starts have made Fangio and Jets coach Adam Gase targets of plenty of criticism and cast some doubts on ir long-term futures with ir teams. Speculation has been flying that Gase could be out as soon as Friday if Jets lose.

“For me, I have to do a great job of making sure that I keep our players in right head,” Gase said. “When a lot of negativity is coming at you and things are hard, that’s when everybody’s character has to really show up and y've got to go to work and we've got to get it fixed.”

That's easier said than done, of course.

Jets have been inept on offense, and Sam Darld has t played like a quarterback on verge of taking next step in his third year. defense has also been alarmingly porous. New York's injury list is longer than a shopping receipt, with Le'Veon Bell, Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims among those sidelined.

Broncos have had similar issues on all counts. ir roster sported a combined 18 Pro Bowls when 53-man roster was finalized. w, it has just Melvin Gordon’s pair of all-star appearances after Von Miller, Jurell Casey, Courtland Sutton, Phillip Lindsay and A.J. Bouye all got hurt.

y're also about to start ir third straight different quarterback. Brett Rypien will make his first NFL start, going Thursday night in place of benched Jeff Driskel — who had taken place last week of injured Drew Lock.

“ matter who we’re playing, right w, we definitely need a win," said Rypien, nephew of 1992 Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien.

SAM MAN?

Darld's performance last week, when he threw three interceptions and had two returned for touchdowns at Indianapolis, has many wondering if he can be franchise quarterback Jets expected when y made him . 3 overall pick in 2018.

“He’s like everybody in this profession, he does t like to lose,” Gase said. “It just eats at him and I love fact that it just drives him to just keep coming into building and trying to find ways to improve. I can see it on his face after that last game, like he was (angry).

“He was t only mad at score, but just kind of how it went down and things that he kws that he can do better and things that may have been out of his control that we’ve just got to move on from and we can’t hang on to. I think that’s what I love about him."

WORLD OF HURT

Broncos have lost six starters and three backups to IR, and that doesn’t even include Lock, whom y’re keeping on active roster so he can attend practice and get mental reps.

injured Broncos are making a combined $53.4 million this season, by far highest IR payroll in NFL and nearly $20 million more than runner-up Dallas Cowboys at $33.5 million.

FANGIO FLOP?

Fangio is 7-12 through his first 19 games, same as Gase’s record with Jets. Fangio is first of Broncos’ 14 head coaches ever to post back-to-back winless Septembers.

Broncos had just one winless September in previous 48 years when Fangio hit all red lights in starting 0-4 in 2019. Before that, last Broncos head coach who went into October still searching for his first win was Wade Phillips in 1994.

GROUNDED JETS

It's only three games and injuries have been a major reason, but New York's offense has sputtered to start season.

Jets rank last in NFL in total yards, scoring, yards passing yards, first downs and red-zone efficiency. y're also second-to-last in total touchdowns, third-down conversions and yards per play.

O-LINE SHUFFLE

Broncos have allowed a whopping 13 sacks in past two weeks, but it took Elijah Wilkinson’s shin injury to force a change up front.

Denver is inserting 12th-year veteran Demar Dotson into right tackle spot. He joined team in summer but couldn’t unseat Wilkinson, who was coming off an offseason ankle operation.

“He’s probably played 10,000 snaps at right tackle in this league, so we feel good about putting him in re,” Fangio said. “He had a good camp with us.”

Im credits: AP

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