Broncos’ key to more takeaways? ‘Intention,’ says Surtain

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the Broncos defense, there were signs in the preseason that they’d figured out how to find the takeaway touch that was lacking for the entire 2025 regular season.

In the Broncos’ first preseason game at Atlanta, Riley Moss capped the first-team’s night by intercepting Atlanta reserve quarterback Cooper Rush. Seven nights later, fellow cornerback Pat Surtain II jarred the football loose from Green Bay wide receiver Christian Watson, but an instant-replay reversal took it away, with Watson’s knee hitting the ground a split-second before Surtain made the play on the ball.

Close may only count in horseshoes and hand grenades, but Surtain’s play was a step in the right direction for a defense that ranked ahead of just three teams — Green Bay, Kansas City and Tennessee — in forced fumbles.

Most importantly, the two plays for the Broncos’ top two cornerbacks offered a glimpse that the defense’s point of emphasis through offseason and training camp was starting to bear fruit.

“I think it’s all about intention,” Surtain said.

“It’s one thing to think about turnovers, but it’s being intentional at the same time, right? When you’re going to the ball, you’re intentional about stripping the ball out, about intercepting the ball, and I think that’s what matters.

“Because we all have the ability, right? We all could get a takeaway. We all can pick the ball, but it’s all about a mindset going in towards the play and actually capitalizing on those opportunities.”

BRONCOS HAD MIXED RESULTS IN CAPITALIZING IN PRESEASON

In that Broncos preseason opener, one aspect of the defense’s play that frustrated Joseph was that the defense didn’t capitalize on all of its takeaway opportunities — particularly in the form of interceptions.

“Our big focus now is catching the football,” Joseph said late in training camp. “We caught two and probably dropped two.”

To that end, players like safety Talanoa Hufanga have spoken of the work being put into convert those opportunities into actual thefts.

“I really, messed up last year when it comes to those things,” Hufanga said in training camp. “I left a lot of — we call it ‘money,’ — but money on the field for us as a team. So, for me, I’m going in and working and hopefully coming down with a few this year.”

But for the defense as a whole, it may not be as simple as just making the catches when they come. Throughout that game and again against the Green Bay Packers, opposing quarterbacks got rid of the football in a hurry — which could well be a design to counter a pass rush that has led the league in sacks each of the last two seasons.

At that point, if the front seven can’t get home with a quarterback hit or pressure, the next-best thing may be for them to get their arms up to potentially deflect passes, a tactic that former Broncos defensive-line coach Bill Kollar preached to his charges during the salad days of the “No-Fly Zone”-led defense in the mid-2010s.

“That may be a trend for us,” Joseph said. “Our rush is so good that the ball may come out fast. We had four batted balls, so we have to pivot each season, each game to what takes the ball away. A batted pass for interception — that’s a huge play for us. So, we’re constantly talking about just playing the right way, and that that comes with it.”

And the Broncos defense has some major goals when it comes to takeaways.

“I think just to put out a lofty goal for us, we’re nowhere near it,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said. “We got a long ways to go and hopefully we can take the ball away and continue to make that a mentality for us.

“Coach (Joseph) obviously emphasizes it, but we gotta make sure we attain it.”

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