Broncos Return To MetLife Stadium To Take On 1-4 Jets

Denver Broncos - New York Jets

Week 6- 10/12/14

Time: 1:00 PM EDT

TV: CBS

Location: MetLife Stadium

Line: Broncos -10 (Bovada)

The 3-1 Denver Broncos return to the scene of their worst Super Bowl blowout in a quarter of a century as they take on the 1-4 New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The Broncos, sitting a 1/2 game behind the first-place San Diego Chargers (4-1) in the AFC West, look to keep their wining ways going as they face a struggling Jets team who occupies last place in the AFC East.

The Broncos resembled the offense of 2013 as they racked up 568 total yards in a 41-20 rout of the previously undefeated Arizona Cardinals. Peyton Manning threw for a career-high 479 yards along with four touchdown passes that allowed him to become just the second quarterback (Brett Favre) in NFL history to have 500 or more TD passes in a career. Demaryius Thomas broke out of his slump with a 226-yard receiving day that included two touchdowns.

The New York Jets are reeling after dropping their fourth straight game. Geno Smith played in his worst game of the season by completing just 8-of-19 passes for 47 yards in a 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers. Smith was benched at halftime for an equally ineffective Michael Vick. The Jets offense was stalled the entire game, unable to cross the 50-yard line until the fourth quarter. Vick later admitted that he wasn't prepared to enter the game at quarterback. Rex Ryan has also admitted that his job as head coach is on the line and wins are needed to save it. Current Jets wide receiver Eric Decker will face his former team for the first time.

2014 Record

Denver Broncos

Overall:

3-1 (2nd, AFC West)

Home:

3-0

Road:

0-1

New York Jets

Overall:

1-4 (Last, AFC East)

Home:

1-2

Road:

0-2

Head-To-Head Record

Regular Season:

Broncos lead 14-8

Playoffs:

Broncos lead 1-0 (1/17/99, AFC Championship. Broncos 23 Jets 10 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

At New York/New Jersey:

Broncos lead 6-3 (Last time in New York/New Jersey was on 11-30-08 in 34-17 Broncos win.)

Last Time Met:

11/17/11 at Denver. In a nationally televised game on the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football, the Broncos won 17-13 as Tim Tebow marched the Broncos on a 95-yard game-winning drive that was capped by Tebow's 20-yard touchdown run with :58 remaining in the game.

2014 Stats:

Last Game

Broncos

10/05/14 - Arizona Cardinals. Broncos 41 Cardinals 20.

Jets

10/05/14 at San Diego Chargers. Chargers 31 Jets 0.

Starters

Injury Report

What To Look For As The Broncos Take On The Jets

Peyton Manning In Pursuit Of Brett Favre's Touchdown Record

Peyton Manning passed the 500 touchdown mark last Sunday with four touchdowns - the Arizona Cardinals. Manning enters Sunday's game against the New York Jets sitting just five touchdowns shy of Favre, who holds the all-time career mark of 508. Manning has thrown five TD's in one game eight times in his career, including twice last season.

How much of a chance does Manning have to tie or pass Favre on Sunday against the Jets pass defense? The Jets secondary has battled injuries and subpar play over the last few seasons and when you look at the numbers you'd have to believe Manning has a pretty good chance. The Jets are tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the second-most touchdown passes allowed with 12. Opposing quarterbacks have posted a 107.5 rating this season, third worst in football.

Ronnie Hillman Versus Jets Run Defense

Montee Ball suffered a groin injury last Sunday against the Cardinals and will be out of action for a few weeks. Once again, Ronnie Hillman has an opportunity to shine.

Hillman, a third-round pick in 2012 out of San Diego State, will once again get a shot to prove that he has the goods to be THE running back in his first NFL start against the Jets. Hillman was the backup to Knowshon Moreno last season until turnovers landed him on the bench and eventually on the inactive list.

Broncos coaches have long been impressed with Hillman's talent, especially his break-away speed. If Hillman can put the fumbles behind him, he will have every opportunity to seize the starting job from Ball who has struggled this year. Hillman will be facing a Jets rush defense that is giving up 83 yards a game (7th in NFL).

Broncos Receiving Corps Versus Rex Ryan's Gambling Defense

Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase along with Peyton Manning have been sitting all week in the film room with smiles on their faces as they watched what Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers offense did to the Jets defense in a 31-0 rout last Sunday.

Why the smiles? Ryan continues to play defense as if he still has shutdown corners in Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. With Revis and Cromartie applying man-to-man coverage on receivers, Ryan would overload the line of scrimmage and send everyone after the quarterback. If the quarterback was able to get the ball off fast enough to avoid a sack, Ryan felt comfortable that Revis and Cromartie could handle the receivers on their own without any help.

This season the Jets no longer have shutdown corners which means the pass rush must get to the quarterback before the ball is released. As the Jets saw in San Diego, Rivers was able to utilize a quick release and avoid the rush, connecting with his receivers who were able to handle the coverage provided by corners Dee Milliner and Antonio Allen.

The Jets will have an even bigger problem getting to Manning before he releases the ball. Manning has a release that averages less than 2 seconds from the time he receives the ball till he passes. Once the ball is released, receivers have been having a field day catching the ball. Over the past four weeks a opposing receiver has come away with more than 100 yards receiving per game. Facing the likes of Demaryius Thomas who had a 226-yard day against the Cardinals and Emmanuel Sanders who is averaging 108.8 yards per game, the Jets are in for another long day defensively.

Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware Rushing Geno Smith

Geno Smith has been struggling to complete a pass to anybody other than an opposing defender and Michael Vick has forgotten how to prepare as an NFL quarterback. It's been a challenging season so far for the Jets at the quarterback position and it isn't going to get any better on Sunday as one or both quarterbacks will be facing the blitzing tandem of Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.

A friendly competition has developed between Miller and Ware, allowing the two to feed off of each other and elevate their play. Miller and Ware have combined for seven sacks (Miller with four and Ware with three) so far this season as they bring the strongest pass rush the Broncos have seen since 2012, if not the best in franchise history. The Jets offensive line will be under tremendous stress all game long as they attempt to hold off Miller and Ware long enough for Smith to hopefully complete his passes to his receivers.