Why being ‘selfish’ would doom Broncos against Josh Allen
Jan 10, 2025, 1:39 AM
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the Denver Broncos defense, the power of their pass rush rests in the collective.
They led the league and established a new franchise record with 63 sacks not on the strength of one player having an otherworldly season, but from a varied cast comprised of players whose skill sets seem to fit perfectly like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The result was a collective onslaught in which six Broncos had at least 5 sacks apiece, with three of them — Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and Zach Allen — posting tallies greater than any Buffalo Bills player managed in the 2024 campaign.
Now they face a Bills side that allowed a league-low 14 sacks. And much of that is a credit to MVP favorite Josh Allen and his dynamic skill set, one that has seen him mature over his seven NFL seasons from a scattershot passer within the pocket to one who can stay there and dissect coverage — particularly man-to-man looks that Allen and the Bills’ bunched-receiver formations can exploit.
And oh, he can still take off when a gap arises and wreak havoc with his legs, evidenced by his 5.2-yards-per-carry average and 12 rushing touchdowns.
“He [can] do everything,” Cooper said. “He can make every pass. He’s really mobile with his legs. He’s tough, he’s big. He’s kind of tough to bring down.”
Which is why Bonitto mentioned Wednesday that when you attack Allen, you can’t “rush selfish.”
“[It’s] you taking your chances, rushing high, opening up that B-gap just for him to escape — and you didn’t tell anybody on the D-line,” Cooper explained. “So, they’re rushing and they don’t know that you’re doing all that. And then all of a sudden you got a big play.”
If anyone in Denver’s front seven has a bright idea about how to attack Allen, he’d best run it by teammates and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Because one player going rogue can be enough to wreck the entire operation.
“It’s got to be communication on the line,” Cooper said. “You can’t just keep it to yourself and then go out there and freelance and think, ‘Oh, Imma rush high’ or you’re going to take an inside move and give up that edge like that. So, you know, there’s a couple things that go into it for sure, but you just can’t be selfish, like Nik said.”
It helps that the Broncos’ front seven does communicate well, a point Cooper made a moment later. Joseph sees that from his players, too.
“Well, our guys do a great job with that,” Joseph said. “For two years now, we’ve had games where we couldn’t rush by ourselves. A guy like Josh, if you’re rushing four, it’s two gaps open.
“So, if everyone’s not on the same page, I mean, he can take off anytime he wants. And if he steps through the B-gap, it’s dangerous because he can run for 40 or throw for 50, so, rushing together is always key. And having a plan to box him in and to get him on the ground and to chase him when he’s moving.”
And that spurs a subsequent challenge: holding up on the back end in coverage.
“The biggest issue is the secondary staying in coverage that long and plastering receivers,” Joseph said. “They do a great job with a scramble drill of finding a quarterback’s eyes and making big plays.
“… Most of their big plays are made on the second act. So that’s our challenge this weekend.”
Of course, with Allen’s spectacular and improvisational style comes opportunity, as well.
“[I] just like going against those type of guys, they going to give you chances to get after him,” Bonitto said. “So, I know we look forward to it up front for sure.”
But if Bonitto and his fellow sack masters are to fare well, they’ll have to remain a collective operation, rather than a collection of individuals. If they devolve into the latter, the Broncos will likely be left trampled in Buffalo.
Against Buffalo QB Josh Allen, Broncos Pro Bowl edge rusher Nik Bonitto cautions that when you attack in pass rush, you can’t “rush selfish,” because when you do, “you see wide-open rush lanes for him to just run through & you can see those 30-, 40-yard runs down the field.”
— Andrew Mason (@masedenver.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 1:09 AM
