Broncos’ defensive collapse started with the stops — the tackling, that is

In the NFL, you see it until you stop it.

So, while not every team can replicate the concepts and plays executed so perfectly by the Miami Dolphins in their 70-20 evisceration of the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the Broncos know they will have to deal with something similar until they can figure out.

“Teams are going to watch that and install every single play (Miami) ran. I would,” linebacker Alex Singleton said. “I’m sure Chicago’s going to come out and run the same first 15 plays. I would. So, we’re going to have to learn from it, take it for what it is and step up.”

Of course, a massive first step would involve tackling better.

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Tackles missed by the Broncos on Sunday, according to data compiled by Pro Football Focus. In the previous two games combined, Denver had a total of 19 missed tackles: 8 against Las Vegas and 11 against Washington.

“I think it’s a byproduct of a couple things: leverage, speed,” Payton said.

“… When you’re a half-step or a half-gap behind, you’re going to be more arms and not in control. Your balance—you’re not in a position to tackle properly.”

It wasn’t much better when it came to quarterback hits. The Broncos had just one.

“We just played on our heels most of that game,” LB Alex Singleton said. “We never got around to getting a step on them.”

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As in years, referring to the length of time since a team that lost a game by at least 50 points made the postseason. In that year — 1989 — it happened twice. Pittsburgh lost the regular-season opener 51-0 to Cleveland. Fifteen weeks later, the Houston Oilers absorbed a 61-7 pummeling at the paws of the Cincinnati Bengals. Both made the playoffs and faced each other in the wild-card round, with the Steelers winning in overtime, 26-23.
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Still, those are the only two teams of the 20 in the last 60 years that lost a game by at least 50 points and rebounded to make the playoffs — or even have a winning season. The other 18 all finished .500 or worse and out of the postseason.

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Number of teams in NFL history to make the postseason after starting 0-3 with a point differential of worse than minus-50. The 1981 Jets are the only team of the 119 to start a season like that to rally and make the postseason.

What’s more, just three of those 119 even finished with a .500 or better record, most seasonly the 2009 Carolina Panthers, who scrambled back to 8-8 after an 0-3 start with a minus-50 point differential.

A 50-point loss is an outlier. Now, the Broncos’ hopes of snapping their postseason drought rest on being an outlier, too.

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