Broncos defense: From zeroes to heroes in a month

After Week 3, the Broncos defense was so dreadful, the A-to-F scale couldn’t accurately measure it.

And yet, here the Broncos sit, authors of one of the best defensive performances orchestrated against the Chiefs with a two-time MVP at quarterback.

What’s more, the Broncos appear to have found a viable success equation. A pressure-based, attacking defense that can generate quick stops, to work with a ground-based offense that can consume clock and shorten games, thus a) exhausting an opposing defense and b) ensuring that takeaways have a greater impact.

It’s their version of complementary football.

Complementary football for the Broncos means the running game and a swarming, pressure defense:

pic.twitter.com/qPI6SuVYE9

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) November 2, 2023

DEFENSE

OVERALL GRADE: A

The defense will not be able to count on four takeaways — plus another via special teams — every week. But it can rely upon the kind of rush-and-coverage combination that stymied the Chiefs.

PASSING DEFENSE: A-plus

This was the Broncos’ best coverage game of the season. Nahomes was left tentative as the Broncos melded zone coverage against most targets with a man on tight end Travis Kelce. The result was that Kelce never operated in the kind of space with which he had to work during the Week 6 game.

This was also the Broncos’ best personnel grouping of the season. Baron Browning appeared to be all the way back. Fabian Moreau and Ja’Quan McMillian appear to be upgrades. And the Broncos may want to consider riding with P.J. Locke at safety alongside Justin Simmons.

Missed tackles have dropped, although Alex Singleton did miss a pair of potential stops Sunday. But by and large, this aspect of the Broncos is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was.

RUSHING DEFENSE: B-plus

In two of the last three games, the Broncos held an opponent to under 4.0 yards per carry. The Broncos have had considerably more stoutness up front than they did in previous weeks, leading to fewer open spaces at the second level.

Of course, the Chiefs barely challenged Denver on the ground after halftime. Kansas City ran on just three of 24 second-half plays.

OFFENSE

OVERALL GRADE: B

If the Broncos are to flourish this season on offense, this is how it needed to look. They had persistence on the ground, allowing the team to control the tempo.

PASSING: C

Not much was asked of Russell Wilson for most of the game — and nearly nothing was asked within the line of scrimmage, a range in which he completed one pass. He also contributed to his own demise on multiple sacks. But he delivered in the red zone.

The aerial game did what it was asked to do. It wants much. But it appears as though the Broncos’ success equation no longer involves extensive use of the short passing game beyond the line of scrimmage.

RUSHING: A

Don’t get caught up in the overall numbers here. Javonte Williams’ per-carry average dropped because the Chiefs stacked the box late as the Broncos went into clock-chewing mode. Williams’ final 8 carries — all in the fourth quarter — netted 7 yards. In the first three quarters, he averaged 4.10 yards per attempt.

The Broncos rank in the NFL’s top-10 in run-blocking efficiency, according to Pro Football Focus. Some of its best work came against the Chiefs.

SPECIAL TEAMS

OVERALL GRADE: B

What’s happening now is that the Broncos’ special teams has reached a point of forcing mistakes. A combination of game situation and pressure led to the Mecole Hardman muff that Drew Sanders recovered, basically tilting the game away from Kansas City for good.

Marvin Mims Jr. is also good for one explosive return most weeks.

The blocked field-goal attempt by Wil Lutz was the only substantial hiccup in an otherwise solid performance that continued the vast improvement for this unit, which now ranks ninth in Pro Football Focus’ special-teams rankings.

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