After 2025’s playoff fireworks, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars face a reloaded Denver squad featuring Jaylen Waddle. Can Jacksonville overcome a shaky offseason to dominate the AFC?
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos were two of the biggest surprises of the 2025 NFL season.
Jacksonville went through a nine-game turnaround to finish 13-4, led by first-year coach Liam Coen and quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Denver wasn’t a bad team in 2024, making the playoffs at 10-7. The Broncos outperformed expectations last year by winning an AFC best 14 games in the regular-season, then beating the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to advance to the conference championship game.
One of Denver’s three regular-season losses served as maybe Jacksonville’s finest hour of 2025. Jacksonville came into Denver a few days before Christmas 10-4 taking on a 12-2 Broncos squad. The Jags made a statement, taking care of the home team 34-20, with QB Trevor Lawrence playing one of his best games (23-for-36, 279 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions).
If the stars had aligned, there could have been a rematch in the AFC Championship Game. Had Jacksonville beat Buffalo, it would have played the second-seeded New England Patriots. If the Jags upset New England and Denver fended off an upset from the Houston Texans, who would have been its divisional round opponent in this alternate reality, the AFC Championship would have been decided between Jacksonville and Denver in the Mile High City.
This also might have meant that Broncos QB Bo Nix never would have broken his ankle, since the Bills matchup never would have happened.
But enough about hypotheticals.
The reality is that both Jacksonville and Denver are going into the 2026 season with Super Bowl aspirations. The Broncos made a big splash over the offseason by acquiring Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins. Waddle has eclipsed 1,000 yards in three of his five seasons, and he and Courtland Sutton (1,017 yards in 2025) should make up one of the league’s top receiving tandems.
Defensively, the Broncos lost John Franklin-Meyers to a three-year, $63 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, but still return most of the unit that finished third in the league in opponent points per game (18.3).
The Jaguars, on the other hand, had an offseason that didn’t thrill everybody. At least one writer feels the Jags had the worst offseason of any team in the AFC, and to that point, the Jags did lose some difference makers.
Devin Lloyd was an All-Pro linebacker in 2025, and the Jags lost him to the Carolina Panthers in free agency. Travis Etienne rushed for more than 1,100 yards last year, and signed with the New Orleans Saints.
We don’t know what will become of the 2026 Jacksonville Jaguars, but facing a team like Denver early will be a solid measuring stick.
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