Broncos struggle, still win, and that’s good

Once again, the win wasn’t pretty. Broncos Country is getting used to victories like this. What should be remembered here is with all the offensive struggles, and some weird defensive struggles, the Broncos still can get into the playoffs. You can’t win a championship if you aren’t playing in the post season.

If that didn’t blow your mind, think about this; for all the back and forth about the Broncos quarterback situation, it looks like the team has two viable options that will only get better. We can debate for days about which QB is the best option. There have been arguments aplenty on this site about the young guys under center. But the fact is, with two youths at the position Denver will be able to make the best possible choice for the future of the franchise.

What we saw from Paxton Lynch against the Jaguars was not stellar. He struggled. He looked like a rookie making his second start behind a bad offensive line, with little support from the run game. He looked a lot like… Trevor Siemian. Good or bad, that is what we can expect from the Broncos quarterback for the rest of the season, whoever it is.

I have been very critical of Siemian most of the season. I still think Lynch should have been named the starter. However, at this point Siemian has established himself. He played his best game last week in the loss to Kansas City. Lynch came in against the fourth ranked passing defense in the league, and he did just enough to win. It was not much, and as soon as Siemian is healthy, this is his team the rest of the way.

If Lynch had come out and lit up Jacksonville there would be people crowing. The “I told you so” crowd could put on their smug faces and go nuts. As it is, the other side of the quarterback argument probably feels pretty good about themselves right now. What we learned though, is that whichever young passer is in the game, the offense will struggle to put up points.

This win wasn’t all bad. The defense was back to its old ways. Bradley Roby nabbed a pick six. Von Miller iced the game with a forced fumble. The Jaguars struggled to put points on the board. Aside from a defensive lapse that saw the nimble Blake Bortles scamper 22 yards for a touchdown, the defense was up to the task. Just another 2015-like victory.

We can talk all day about the Broncos wins this year, and how ugly they are. Their losses are uglier. If the Broncos had failed to come away from Jacksonville with a win, their season would have been academic. Take the win, and move on.