On Sunday, Denver (6-2) visits Houston (3-4) for a fascinating showdown between two of the very best defenses in football. The Texans are No. 1 in scoring defense (14.7 ppg) and total D (266.9 ypg), while the Broncos rank first in yards per play allowed (4.6) and comfortably lead the league in sacks (36, 10 clear of the next-highest total). In fact, Denver is currently on pace for 76.5 sacks on the season, which would break the 1984 Bears’ record of 72. While DeMeco Ryans’ stingy group deserves all the credit it receives as one of the NFL’s finest units on either side of the ball, I’d like to concentrate Vance Joseph’s defense today, because it’s an interesting case study in team building and strategy.
Denver’s devastating D features just two players who entered the league as first-round picks (defensive backs Patrick Surtain II and Jahdae Barron), with a few notable free-agent additions who originally joined the Broncos on reasonable deals (DL Zach Allen signed a three-year, $45.75 million deal in 2023; S Brandon Jones inked a three-year, $20 million pact in 2024; S Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw came aboard in March on contracts that pay them an average annual salary of $13 million and $10.5 million, respectively). Despite the relative lack of pedigree/true blockbuster FA additions, Joseph has found a way to maximize the strengths of his personnel, both individually and collectively. Most noticeably, the Broncos defensive coordinator has assembled a collection of potent pass rushers (Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, John Franklin-Myers and Allen) and placed them in a creative scheme that taxes opponents while enabling his defenders to play fast on the perimeter. As a result, that quartet of QB hunters has already combined for 22 sacks this season, after racking up 39.5 in 2024.
Schematically, Joseph likes to crank up pressure via the blitz — Next Gen Stats had Denver at fourth in blitz percentage last season at 35.7, and the Broncos hold the same ranking this year with a 34.9 percent clip — but he also mixes in simulated pressures that feature four pass rushers and maximum coverage. With the Broncos showing various double-A-gap pressures with Cover 0 disguises, opposing quarterbacks and play-callers are forced to play the guessing game against a defense loaded with high-IQ players who understand how to get to their spots or assigned receivers from unorthodox pre-snap alignments.
“I want us to be smart bullies,” Joseph said a few weeks ago, via the Denver Post. “I don’t want to pressure and expose a corner or expose a linebacker. Every pressure we have is calculated and thought through on matchups. Can we pressure the quarterback? If we don’t, what do our matchups look like? I think we do a great job.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work out in our favor, but that’s always our purpose when we’re pressuring is to have our best matchups while we’re pressuring. So, it’s a balancing act.”
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