BRONCOS

Don’t look now, but Vance Joseph deserves credit for doing his job

Sep 17, 2024, 4:00 AM

Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph might have been on the hot seat entering the 2024 season.

But right now, his chair feels icy cold.

Joseph’s defense kept the Broncos in the game against the Steelers on Sunday, a 13-6 loss that could’ve been way uglier if his unit didn’t do its job. Outside of a long Pittsburgh touchdown drive early in the first quarter, the Denver defense held the Steelers to just six points.

In fact, a couple of questionable penalties helped Pittsburgh get two field goals, the only scoring they would do the rest of the afternoon.

Outside of a tough start to the second half in Seattle, the Broncos defense has been very good in seven out of eight quarters. You probably didn’t have that on your bingo card entering the year.

If anyone’s seat is hot, or should be hot, perhaps its head coach Sean Payton. His offense isn’t doing anything right. And his decisions managing the game have been less than stellar.

Payton foolishly passed on a long Wil Lutz field goal attempt to get points on the board in the first half against the Steelers. Instead, he went for it on fourth-and-seven, with an uninspiring play call in which Bo Nix threw the ball into the body of a Pittsburgh defender. The route run by Troy Franklin wasn’t even past the sticks.

Then in the second half, Payton did kick a field goal down 13-0 with 10:42 to go to make a two-possession game still a two-possession game. Was that choice made to win, or not get shutout?

And the icing on the cake was Payton not attempting an onside kick with his team down 13-6 late with 1:54 to go. Payton had only one timeout left, and the math didn’t add up. No one is saying the Broncos would’ve recovered the onside kick, but Payton at least needed to try it.

He didn’t, and instead Nix had to go 81 yards in nine seconds. That was never going to happen, and Payton’s explanation for the bizarre decision after the game didn’t add up.

But while Payton is struggling, Vance Joseph is thriving. Sure, he lost leaders Justin Simmons and Josey Jewell this past offseason, but that hasn’t seemed to make a big difference. Denver surrendered just 251 yards of total offense to the Steelers on Sunday. Through two games, they’re 10th in the NFL in total yards allowed.

Joseph simplified his defense after the embarrassing 70-20 beatdown by the Dolphins a year ago, and the group got much better. He deserves credit for that, and also deserves credit for creating a turnover hungry bunch that was the catalyst to the Broncos surprising five-game winning streak in 2023.

They’ll face a tough test on Sunday, as another September trip to Florida looms. The last one to Miami didn’t go well, and this one sees them headed to Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers were a couple plays away from going to the NFC Championship Game last year, and Baker Mayfield is buzzing. He’s got Tampa at 2-0 after upsetting the Lions on Sunday.

Joseph was the head coach in Denver before. And he might be an NFL head coach again. For now, his defense has to keep playing well while the offense desperately tries to figure things out.

If the Broncos season goes poorly, and it’s certainly headed that direction, there will be a scapegoat. There always is. But it’s looking more and more likely it won’t be Joseph. How can Payton justify firing “VJ,” when the defense clearly isn’t the problem?

There’s a long ways to go and they can’t have lapses like they did in Seattle. But if anything, the Broncos might win a few games thanks to their defense, just like they did a season ago.

In a time where fans are frustrated, and rightfully so, let’s give kudos to a man not always embraced by fans. And that’s Vance Joseph.

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Don’t look now, but Vance Joseph deserves credit for doing his job