Last Undefeated NFL Team Falls as Jets Stymie Broncos, 22-10

From the very beginning, it was clear that the New York Jets were ready to do something special.

What they did was shut down the NFL’s highest-scoring team, ram the ball forward on the ground against the league’s best rushing defense, and generally dominate the Denver Broncos in a 22-10 victory Monday night.

The win increased the Jets’ record to 6-1 for the first time ever and kept them two games ahead of New England in the AFC East. It was the first loss for Denver, the NFL’s last unbeaten team, which leads the AFC West by one game over Seattle. The Broncos will play host to the Seahawks Sunday.

“You get out quick and get some points and you can control the game,” Jets quarterback Pat Ryan said. “It makes a great difference.”

So does an unyielding defense. The Jets struck for all of their points in the first half and allowed the Broncos a mere 24 yards of total offense and two first downs in the first 30 minutes.

“It was awfully close to perfect,” defensive end Barry Bennett said of the opening half. “We’d get them 1-2-3 and punt, then our offense took it and scored.”

Denver ran nine plays, including two punts, in the first quarter. The Jets marched 65 yards in 12 plays to a 1-yard touchdown dive by Johnny Hector and 56 yards in 10 plays to a 27-yard field goal by Pat Leahy in the opening period.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to the Jets,” Broncos Coach Dan Reeves said. “They did a great job, controlled the tempo of the game, jumped out to an early lead and put it to us.”

The second quarter wasn’t much better for Denver, which fell behind 22-0 when Leahy added a 25-yard field goal following a 14-play, 49-yard march. Ken O’Brien replaced an injured Ryan and hit Wesley Walker with a 23-yard scoring pass, and Bobby Humphery sacked Denver quarterback John Elway in the end zone for a safety.

“They did a lot of things right,” Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson said, “especially in the first half. Sometimes you run into a good football team and they play better than you. That’s what happened tonight.”

Nothing good happened for Elway, who left the game in the fourth quarter after being hit on a scramble and suffering a possible concussion. He finished 13 for 28 for 145 yards and was sacked five times.

“It’s frustrating to play against him because he can hurt you by passing or running,” Bennett said. “He’s a two-dimensional player and we tried to get after him. You don’t let a guy like him get out there because he’s tougher than nails when he’s on the run.”

The only effective running being done Monday was by Hector and Freeman McNeil, who returned from a dislocated elbow which cost him four weeks on the injured reserve list. Hector ran for 76 yards, 19 more than the average yield per game for Denver. McNeil added 44.

“It’s a great help having Freeman back there with me,” Hector said. “The defense has to respect both of us. They couldn’t load up on just one of us.”

“The first half was ours,” McNeil said. “To be able to run as well as we did against Denver, which has a great defense, is a credit to our offensive line.”

But Denver also finished with five sacks, the most damaging of which was by Karl Mecklenburg on Ryan late in the second quarter. Ryan suffered bruised ribs and did not play again, winding up 9 for 10 for 73 yards.