Broncos porous run defense once again becomes their Achilles heel

The Denver Broncos lost to another bad team on Sunday. They’ve only played five games, with three of them at home and have won precisely zero games in front of the crowd at Empower Field at Mile High.

Things have gone awry under HC Sean Payton. He mouthed off about former Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett before the season, then in Week 5 it was Hackett’s offense that at times looked unstoppable on the way to a 31-21 win for the Jets.

After the game, Payton was blunt in his opening statement.

“Obviously, a disappointing loss. I think it was pretty clear, at least in my eyes, when you look at some statistics—the turnovers come to mind. We talked about the red zone efficiency. Offensively, we had two drives in the first half [that] both ended up in field goals, and that starts with me. Two negative outside plays. We felt like we had a good plan going in, and yet, we ended up kicking field goals. The turnovers, and then defensively, it was a tale of two halves. I thought we played them well in the first half, then we allowed a big run in the second half, and then the running game becomes a problem. Three turnovers and a safety I think lead to 15 points—tough to win a game like that. I have to do a better job. It starts with me.” Payton said.

Here are three observations from the Broncos humiliating loss to the Jets in Week 5.

***

Hall Pass

Jets running back Breece Hall is one of the best young runners in the game. Last week, reports out of Jets’ HQ indicated that Hall was no longer going to be on a snap count. He was splitting time almost 50-50 with veteran Dalvin Cook, but that came to an end against the Broncos.

Hall was fantastic, ripping off a 72-yard touchdown run on his way to a 22-carry, 177-yard day against the Broncos. He’s got a blend of power and speed that the Broncos had a tough time stopping (obviously). Hall had the speed to scoot by the Broncos defense with ease. He also had the power to continue running after contact which allowed him to pick up extra yards.

Payton admitted the second-half rush defense was below average.

“The first half of the game, I felt like we defended the run well. Then in the second half, some of the motions, some of the gap adjustments we’re making—we get caught out of the gap on the long touchdown run—I never felt like in the second half we defended the run the same way we did in the first half. So that was troubling. We put our defense in tough positions with the turnovers. Right off the start of the game, we get a three-and-out, we fumble the punt, and we force a field goal. That was good, relative to how we responded defensively. But when you look at the fumble exchange on the reverse, the fumble late in the game, the fumbled punt—it’s hard to win games like that. The concern defensively, obviously, was the second half and the way they ran the ball compared to the first half.” Payton said.

***

Speeding Up Zach

At the start of the game, the Broncos defense was getting after Jets QB Zach Wilson early and often. He was sacked four times total in the game, and he threw one interception late in the game. However, a lot of those sacks occurred early in the contest.

Guys like Zach Allen (1.0) and Nik Bonitto (2.0) were meeting at the quarterback and collecting sacks. Wilson didn’t stand much of a chance early in the game against Denver. Even Elijah Garcia got in on the action with one sack of Wilson. However, later in the game and specifically in the second half you saw a change in plans from the Jets.

Instead of holding onto the ball to attack the Broncos downfield, Wilson was commanded to get rid of the ball faster. They were running the ball effectively, so that helped keep the defense at bay. Wilson was able to quickly distribute the football without the Broncos rushers harassing him as they did in the first half.

Bonitto commented how things changed for the Jets’ offense.

“I could tell they were kind of getting the ball out a little quicker the rest of the game. They were running it for real. They were not really trying to hold it in his hands that much.” Bonitto said.

***

No Reward After Big Play

On Sunday, we got to see two of the best cornerbacks in the game play in Broncos CB Pat Surtain and Jets CB Sauce Gardner. While I think Surtain is superior (he doesn’t hold as much as Gardner), I believe that was clear in this contest. Both cornerbacks played well, but it was a late interception that I think gave Surtain the slight edge.

After scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 24-21, the Jets got the ball back and wanted to drive down the field to take the rest of the time off the clock. Then, at the 2:30 mark, Wilson threw an interception to Surtain. It was great coverage and a bad throw, so Surtain made the young quarterback pay with a play that could have changed the game – had the Broncos not fumbled (which was returned for a touchdown) when their offense got the ball.

Surtain made the play to stop the Jets, and the Broncos should have rewarded him with a quality drive to at least tie the game and send it to overtime. Instead, Wilson fumbled the ball and Bryce Hall returned it for six to finish the game. Surtain wasn’t perfect against the Jets, but you have to give it up to him for making the play when the team needed him the most. His offense let him down on the subsequent drive.
Surtain talked about his interception.

“I knew it was a crucial part of the game and obviously, we needed a key stop or a play to be made. I had the opportunity to make a play, and I capitalized on it. [We had to] get the ball back to the offense. Just possessions like that, key and crucial moments throughout the game. Making key stops and big-time plays. In my mind, I thought about making a play.” Surtain said.

***

Follow @CecilLammey