If you take out the Dolphins debacle, how good was the Broncos defense in 2023?

The Broncos defense looks different in regards to its season-long performance if you remove the 70-point debacle in Miami from the equation.

But just how different?

There is no denying that it did improve. Although the Broncos finished the season ranked 27th in scoring defense, they were 14th from Week 4 onward — after the Miami massacre.

In defensive touchdowns allowed, Denver ranked in a tie for 25th. But after Week 4, the Broncos were tied for ninth. Their pass defense was 14th after the Miami game; it finished the full season 22nd.

3

Referring to scoring defense, defensive touchdowns allowed and passing defense — categories in which the Broncos were in the league’s top half in the 15 weeks after the 70-20 throttling at Miami.

This would stand as evidence that the unit’s improvement.

“We had the one bad outing, but we knew inside of the room it wasn’t that,” Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said just before the end of the regular season. “And that was the national narrative, obviously. And we lived through it. We talked about it.

“We kind of laughed about it after three or four weeks, because that wasn’t us. And the film didn’t speak to that. The score did, but the film didn’t. So, we knew who we were. It was just a matter of getting back on track and playing good ball.”

Still, while there was improvement in total yardage — 29th over the course of the full season, 26th from Week 4 onwards — that difference was modest.

Broncos DC Vance Joseph: “… It took us a while to catch our balance. But I was proud of the guys for allowing us to coach them. Because … it's pro football. They can say, 'No,' to your coaching. They can say, 'I don't agree with that.' But this group never did that to us. …” pic.twitter.com/7c9ENMgHRW

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) January 12, 2024

So, yes, the Broncos defense was better.

But was it good enough?

And further, if you remove the Miami game from the mix, how does the Broncos defense look? To this end, it’s fair to remove both the best performances and worst performances in a few categories from each team to see where the Broncos rank.

2.59

That is the average number of touchdowns conceded by the Broncos defense over the course of the season — including 3 in the regular-season finale against Las Vegas. That average was 2.33 per game over the final six weeks of the season.

When dropping the high and low games — 10 touchdowns allowed at Miami, none in Week 16 to the Chargers — the Broncos rise into a tie for 19th place, averaging 2.27 touchdowns allowed per game.

However …

BRONCOS DEFENSE SEASON-LONG RANKINGS IN BASE STATS: 23, 26, 29 and 20

Those are the Broncos’ rankings in points allowed per game, total defense, rushing defense and passing defense when eliminating the worst and best single games from the calculation.

The Broncos’ rankings in those categories when including all games was 27th, 29th, 30th and 22nd respectively. Thus, they have a drop-the-high/drop-the-low average rise of 2.5 spots. ‘

That is notable. But not enough to get the Broncos away from the bottom tier of the league in those four key metrics.

And when considering all games, the Broncos’ No. 29 rank in total defense is the team’s worst in 13 years.