One winning streak continued while another ended with the Jacksonville Jaguars beating the Denver Broncos 34-20 on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. Jacksonville’s win also changed the complexion of the AFC playoff picture.

The Jaguars’ sixth straight win moved them to 11-4 and kept them atop the AFC South with the third seed in the conference. The Houston Texans’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday kept Jacksonville from clinching a playoff spot, but it can clinch if the Indianapolis Colts lose on Monday night.

The Broncos (12-3) snapped an 11-game win streak, and while they clinched a playoff spot last week, they still haven’t clinched the AFC West and now have a battle for the No. 1 playoff seed.

Jacksonville was fueled by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. It was the ninth straight game Jacksonville has scored 25 or more points, and it was the most points scored against the Broncos this season.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw for 353 yards and a touchdown, but his two turnovers — an interception and a fumble — were big blows to Denver’s attempt to keep up with the Jaguars.

Jaguars a scary contender with this offense

The Jaguars went three-and-out on their first two drives Sunday. They gained only 5 net yards on those possessions and gave up two sacks. It looked, at least for a moment, like Jacksonville’s red-hot offense had finally cooled.

It was merely a hiccup.

The Jaguars, against the NFL’s best pass rush and a team that had won 12 straight games at home dating back to last season, pushed once again into a gear that will make them a scary contender in the AFC playoffs. Lawrence looked like an MVP as he spread the ball around the field, extended plays with his legs and generally turned most plays Liam Coen called into winners.

The Jaguars have now scored at least 25 points in nine straight games and have crossed the 30-point threshold in seven of those. Lawrence looks light-years removed from his rocky start to the season. His 17 touchdown passes since Week 8 are the second-most in the NFL in that span behind the Rams’ Matthew Stafford (23).

With Lawrence playing at this level behind an offensive line that has navigated its early-season protection issues, spraying the ball to a group of targets that seems to improve each week, the Jaguars are going to create game-planning headaches for any defensive coordinator charged with combating them in the postseason. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos beat writer

Margin of error gone for Denver

Here is the good news for Denver. If the Broncos win their next two games — Christmas night at hobbled Kansas City and at home in Week 18 against the Chargers — they will be the AFC West champions and the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

The bad news is that the Broncos may have no margin of error left in the pursuit of those grand prizes. Denver could still win the AFC West in Week 17 with a win against the Chiefs and a loss by the Chargers on Saturday against Houston. But the way Justin Herbert and the Chargers have played lately, including during a romp of the Cowboys on Sunday, the division title and the No. 1 seed race could very well come down to the regular-season finale.

The Broncos, in four days, will face a Kansas City team that is battered and bruised and down to its third-string quarterback after Gardner Minshew was injured in a lopsided loss to the Titans. Denver will be heavily favored in the game. But even if the Broncos win on Christmas night, they may need to come up with one more victory to accomplish the lofty goals they set for this season. — Kosmider

Broncos red-zone defense flounders

The Broncos entered Week 16 with the NFL’s best red-zone defense. Denver was limiting opponents to touchdowns on only 38.5 percent of their drives inside the 20-yard line, and in recent weeks, it was that element of the Broncos defense that was covering up for leaks elsewhere.

On Sunday, that red-zone defense collapsed, and it exposed significant issues the Broncos must correct if they want to avoid an early playoff exit.

Jacksonville scored touchdowns on its first four red-zone trips Sunday as Lawrence threw three touchdown passes and ran in for another score himself. It was the first time this season Denver had allowed more than two red-zone touchdowns in a game.

The Broncos continued to give up handfuls of explosive pass plays, a nagging shortcoming ever since Denver returned from its bye in Week 13. They missed a handful of tackles, including a couple of massive whiffs against slippery receiver Parker Washington. They were burned by two personal foul penalties — questionable calls though they were — that extended drives for Jacksonville. Denver had three sacks through the game’s first 18 minutes, but it largely struggled to get home the rest of the day as Lawrence found his rhythm. The Broncos didn’t produce a takeaway and are now minus-4 in the turnover differential department this season.

Without stops in the red zone, all those problems loomed large for the Broncos in their first loss since September. — Kosmider

Jags defense remains opportunistic

Broncos coach Sean Payton noted this week that one challenge of facing the Jaguars defense is that their defensive backs rarely miss an opportunity to create a turnover if they get their hands on the ball.

Sure enough, with the Broncos facing a fourth-and-2 midway through the fourth quarter, trying to ignite a comeback, cornerback Jarrian Jones made a game-clinching play when he intercepted a Nix pass intended for Pat Bryant. It was the 28th takeaway for the Jacksonville defense this season, the second-most in the NFL.

The turnover margin element for the Jaguars (plus-3 on Sunday) is a major reason they have worked themselves into favorites in the AFC South. — Kosmider

Bryant carted off after hard hit

There was a scary scene that accompanied the end of the game as Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant was loaded onto a stretcher and driven off the field on a cart after taking a hit in the middle of the field.

The injury occurred as Bryant tried to make a catch over the middle and was hit by cornerback Montaric Brown. Officials initially threw a flag for an illegal hit, but then picked it up.

There was no immediate word on Bryant’s status. The entire Broncos team gathered around the rookie as he was treated by trainers and then taken off the field. The rookie third-round pick has 27 catches for 347 yards and a touchdown this season. — Kosmider