Vance Joseph: Broncos defense was ‘unengaged’ and a ‘bit lazy’ against Packers

Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph spoke the truth when he met with the media on Tuesday.

Much like head coach Sean Payton, he wasn’t thrilled with how the team played in the second preseason games against the Packers.

Green Bay’s first-team offense marched down the field to open the game with a 12-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. They’d go on to score 23 points in the first half of a 33-13 beatdown.

Payton wasn’t happy with the whole team postgame and Joseph called out his defense with some strong words.

“I think that first drive was kind of two-fold. For me, I didn’t think we… our approach in my opinion was unengaged and a little bit lazy. It wasn’t the right approach, even in pregame, so I felt that,” Vance Joseph said.

Essentially, Joseph saying is the Broncos weren’t ready to go from the jump. It showed to anyone attending the game at Empower Field at Mile High or watching on television. Pat Surtain II thought he forced a fumble early in the first drive, but Packers wide receiver Christian Watson had his knee down.

That opened the floodgates, including Green Bay attacking with a specific style.

Vance Joseph mentioned in the first two preseason games both the Packers and the Falcons have used a lot of boots and misdirections to try to keep the Broncos off guard.

He said if opposing teams “lose first-down” then Denver’s pass-rush can come alive. He’s not wrong, and the longest third-down Green Bay faced the whole drive was only five yards.

“To me it was a great lesson, on both ends of when we play it’s a standard and I want to see it all the time,” Joseph said.

These are definitely the game to learn from. Clearly, Vance Joseph wants the Denver defense to come out with more energy, even in warmups, and also not be caught on its heels with a bunch of movement from the offense.

The Broncos have between now and the Sept. 14 opener against the Chiefs to get it all cleaned up.

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