Game balls for the Broncos 10-9 win over the Jets

In the sloppiest of conditions, the Denver Broncos were locked in a defensive battle on the road with the New York Jets on Sunday. In most cases, that would be an advantage for the home team, but not on that day. Denver's defense frustrated and contained Aaron Rodgers to the tune of five sacks.

Both teams may have struggled to move the ball, but the team that scored the only touchdown in the game is the team that came out on top. At 2-2, the Broncos are poised to recover from that 0-2 start if they can keep to their winning ways against two AFC West rivals over the next two weeks.

Here are Mile High Report's game balls for that 10-9 win over the Jets .

Zach Allen Sometimes its hard to account for an interior defensive lineman's true effect on a game. The stat line says he had five tackles and three quarterback hits, but zero sacks. However, I swear that the image above is Zach Allen getting an actual sack on Rodgers. Perhaps ESPN's box score is wrong there. In any case, Allen also disrupted the Jets offensive line cohesion. It is rare for a home team to have so many false starts, but Allen was dominating his matchups so badly that the other side was jittery enough to fall for their own quarterbacks hard count on more than one occasion on Sunday. This was easily one of Allen's best performances as a Bronco and it was fun to watch. - Tim Lynch

Bo Nix Bo Nix went 12/25 for a whopping 60 yards with a touchdown. That's not a stat line necessarily deserving of a game ball, but I'm giving mine to Nix anyway. He got his first NFL touchdown in on hell of a gritty win. While he looked very poor as a thrower when the rain was pouring, the rain let up in the 2nd half and he finally started seeing success. He played smart and helped get this team through a tough road game and find their way to 2-2 on the season. - Sadaraine

Justin Strnd The last time Justin Strnad started a game, he was terrible. That was the game where the Broncos let Case Keenum and the Cleveland Browns with their 4th string RB run all over the field. The Broncos lost 17-14, but the Browns ran the ball 33 times for 182 yards and controlled the game. In that game, Strnad was out of position and taking terrible angles.

He was a rookie then and he hasn't started a game since then, until Sunday. Starting in place of the injured Alex Singleton, he began the game with a sack of Aaron Rodgers and finished the game with 4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL and 1 QBhit. While he wasn't necessarily stuffing the stat sheet, the fact that he played well and looked like a competent ILB is a huge step forward for the special teams ace. He gets my game ball. - Joe Mahoney

Vance Joseph The Broncos defense loses a captain and doesn't miss a beat. Several defensive players deserve individual recognition as well, but Joseph outdueled Aaron Rodgers (and Nat Hackett, I guess?), clearly confusing the veteran QB all day with mixed fronts and varying pass rush concepts. The Jets were held to just over 3.5 yards per play and Rodgers was sacked 5 times... none more important than when Joseph dialed up a P.J. Locke blitz on 4th and 10 late in the 4th. The best friend of any QB (especially a rookie looking to come along slowly) is a staunch defense and Bo Nix has quite a buddy in this Vance Joseph-led unit thus far. - Jonathan Rice

Javonte Williams For the first time since his injury, Williams looked and ran like vintage Pookie. And the Broncos offense needed it on a day when yards were tough to come by. For the game, Williams had 16 carries for 77 yards for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Even better for Denver, Williams got stronger as the game went along in the second half. A game like this should really help Williams get even more confident and he could get even better for the Broncos. - Ian St. Clair

Patrick Surtain II In 4 weeks of football Pat Surtain has shutdown every opponent's number one wide receiver. Headed into the week it was obvious that Garrett Wilson would be a big test, and PS2 rose to the occasion, once again. With just 5 catches for 41 yards, Wilson had limited impact on the game. Surtain gave up one big play, but it required Wilson to make a great catch on the sideline. It was really all he could get the whole game. Looking at stats is almost pointless when examining Surtain's performance. He just locks guys down, and Wilson is just the latest guy who disappeared with PS2 on him. - Adam Malnati

Courtland Sutton When the chips are down for the Broncos' offense, there's one guy Bo Nix can look at every time and know he's got a chance to make a play: Courtland Sutton. In a game throttled by weather conditions, Sutton was the one receiver Nix could connect with past the line of scrimmage. And as he often has over the last 6+ seasons, Sutton made the critical plays to help get the offense moving. It's no surprise that the TD drive that gave Denver its first lead of the game featured Sutton's playmaking and excellent body control. And there's no Bronco on the roster today who's more worthy of catching Bo Nix's first NFL touchdown pass. Great job, Sutton! - Taylor Kothe

Riley Dixon + Special Teams I'm going to throw one more in here, because leaving them out would be criminal: Riley Dixon and the Broncos' ST unit (coaches included). Riley Dixon is one of the NFL's best punters. With the assistance of the Broncos' special teams gunners, he's downed a punt at the opposing 1 yard line in 3 out of 4 games this season. You can't ask for much better than that! And to date he's put a career-best 45.8% of his 24 punts down inside of the opponent's 20 yard line. We're seeing him & the rest of the Broncos' special teams unit making plays every week that are leading directly to safeties, or stifling opposing drives before they even begin. After years and years of absolutely dismal special teams play, Ben Kotwica has turned this into a unit that's an absolute strength for the Broncos. Well done! - Taylor Kothe

Who gets your game ball for the Broncos-Jets game? Share in the comments section below.