Clayton: Broncos secondary finding its own “groove”

I thought it was interesting that Broncos safety Justin Simmons brought up the differences between this year’s secondary and the “No Fly Zone” that helped fly Denver to a Super Bowl 50 win.

“Aqib (Talib) — the whole ‘No Fly Zone’ was kind of loud and boisterous,” Simmons said. “They let you know they made a play. My personal game style, it’s not that way. Obviously, in the moment, you get hyped up and you make plays, but you’re talking about T.J. (Ward), ‘Stew’ (Darian Stewart), Aqib, (Bradley) Roby, Chris (Harris Jr.). Those guys — always, no matter what — were going to let you know they made a play, and that was their MO.”

The current secondary, which is considered the best in football, is much quieter.

“I think this group carries that same type of confidence, but probably just isn’t as loud or as boisterous as that,” Simmons said. “It’s cool man — finding your own groove as a secondary. I think we’re gelling together really well, and the biggest thing that’s going to be important is making sure that shows up on Sundays when we’re out there trying to execute on the back end.”

This group is playing with a quiet confidence. What eventually will be a good debate is which of the two secondaries is going to be considered the best.

One thing head coach Vic Fangio brought up is the difference in pass coverage.

“The game changed,” Fangio said. “The game has changed with the way people are lining up on offense from formation standpoints and who they’re playing. The fullback has basically disappeared, except for about five or six teams that play them. He’s been replaced by a wide receiver or really good receiving tight end. That’s really changed the game in a lot of ways, so I kind of had to (disguised more coverages).”