Is the Broncos pass rush coming back for good?

TAMPA, Fla. — The Denver Broncos figured out a pass rush on Sunday — and did so without the services of edge rusher Baron Browning.

But the truth is, they’ve been doing it all season long. Sunday’s game was the apex, but the Broncos don’t get to having the NFL’s third-best pressure rate — one every 6.89 pass-rush opportunities for their individual defenders, per Pro Football Focus’ data — without sustaining it over multiple weeks.

That being said, the Broncos sensed an opportunity heading into the 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Riley Moss spoke last Wednesday of how he felt the Broncos could keep Tampa Bay wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin from getting past the Broncos secondary.

Indeed, they provided the cover while the front seven provided the rush. It worked flawlessly and made the afternoon miserable for Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“You know, all week, we were just making sure that we hunt the quarterback,” said edge rusher Dondrea Tillman, who had a pair of sacks in his NFL debut Sunday.

“We knew he was gonna hold it, and we knew he was gonna try to escape, but we all knew that we just had to rush together and we’d eventually get there.”

11

Sacks for the Broncos through three games, including the 7-sack performance in Sunday’s 26-7 win. This is the Broncos’ highest sack tally through three games since 2016, when they opened the season with 12 quarterback takedowns in their first three contests.

That 2016 defense had Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware — for nearly two games, at least, before he was injured in Week 2 of that season — along with Shaquil Barrett and Shane Ray. There isn’t a Super Bowl MVP in the Broncos’ midst these days … but they hope to find an alpha, or at least recreate one in the aggregate.

Plus-7

The sack differential in the Broncos’ 26-7 win, which matched two other games for the most in team history since the sack became an official statistic in 1982.

Sunday’s game was also the first 7-sack effort for the Broncos in 80 games, since a 16-0 win over the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 13, 2019.

Granted, the Tampa Bay interior rush lacked Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea, both of whom were inactive due to injuries. But Bo Nix spent most of his day relatively unruffled — and when there was pressure, he deftly escaped it, like on his 22-yard scramble during the Broncos’ game-sealing 7-minute, 57-second march though Tampa Bay in the third and fourth quarters.

0

Losing seasons recorded by the Broncos in years when they defeated Tampa Bay.

Denver’s worst record in a season with a win over the Buccaneers was 8-8, occurring in 2008. The Broncos also defeated Tampa Bay in 1976 (finishing 9-5), 1981 (10-6), 1996 (13-3), 2004 (10-6), 2012 (13-3) and 2016 (9-7).

AND ONE MORE: 107

Nix’s 107 rushing yards so far this season are the most by any Broncos quarterback in a 3-game span in over 12 years, since Tim Tebow closed the 2011 season with 143 rushing yards on 28 attempts in season-ending losses to New England, Buffalo and Kansas City.