The Broncos did something Sunday that has never happened before
Sep 10, 2024, 11:29 PM
The Denver Broncos flew to the Pacific Northwest this weekend in the hopes of launching a new era in the most promising fashion possible.
At this, they failed. But they did accomplish something that was a first in NFL history, which is the first of three numbers worth examining from Sunday.
3-2-1
Three field goals, two safeties and one touchdown. In NFL history, never had a team had that exact combination of scores until Sunday, bolstered by a pair of safeties in the second quarter which made Denver the first team to have two safeties in one quarter since 2011.
A disappointing aspect of Sunday’s game was wasting 2 safeties, which ensured that the 2024 Broncos became the second-best Denver team in terms of safety production before halftime of its first game.
7
Quarterback hits in Sunday’s game for the Broncos.
Edge rusher Jonathon Cooper accounted for more than half of them — 4 of 7. That is the team’s highest QB-hit tally in its last 5 games, and exceeded the total amassed in 11 of 17 games last season, when the Broncos averaged 5.65 QB hits per game.
He led the NFL in pass-rush win rate, according to ESPN Analytics, posting a 50-percent win rate. Pro Football Focus credited Cooper with a 44-percent win rate; that was third best among 75 edge rushers with at least 15 pass-rush snaps.
But for the Broncos, the pressure tailed off badly after the initial flurry. After accumulating 4 hits of Geno Smith in the first quarter, they had just three the rest of the game.
3.0
The Broncos’ average gain on first and second downs Sunday, which was 30th in the league. Denver’s average of 3.2 yards per first down was 31st in the league in Week 1 for non-kneeldown plays; its average of 2.8 yards per second down was 28th.
Remarkably, despite the massive struggles on first and second downs, the Broncos’ average yards needed on third down was 21st in the NFL, a 7.5-yard average.
This is because the Broncos had no plays in which they lost more than 6 yards. Twenty-two other teams had at least one play with such a loss. Last year, the Broncos averaged 1.76 such plays per game, more than all but nine teams.
