Earlier this week, I talked about 3 No Bull keys for the offense. Now let’s talk about what the Broncos’ defense needs to do to beat the Bills.
The Denver Broncos have been riding their defense all season long to rack up the most wins this team has seen in a regular season since 1998. People may like to hem and haw about what this defense is and isn’t (especially toward the back half of the season).
Let me first say that this defense is no joke. Outside of a bad game against Jacksonville, they have
been the most consistent defense we’ve seen since 2015.
I think the main problem that loses most when they look at this defense is that they aren’t successful in a typical way. They get sacks, but it isn’t just because of a couple of dominant rushers. They change coverage schemes in-game and from game to game. There are a lot of people who say they run man coverage (which they do at times, and early in the season, it was a staple), but this defense is far more complex than that.
It succeeds much as Sean Payton’s offense succeeds: it schemes to create weaknesses and attacks those weaknesses, then shifts to a different weakness when teams make adjustments.
This isn’t a completely dominant defense, but if you can’t keep up on offense, it makes it look that way by the end of the game.
Now, let’s dig into what I think are the keys to this defense helping the Broncos get the win tomorrow.
Cage rush Josh Allen with discipline first and foremost
I guarantee you that the #1 order of business for the defense is dialing in on exactly how they want to rush Josh Allen. Look for both edge rushers (or a tackle if they stunt outside) to look more to hold space and push instead of blazing around tackles to try to speed rush. Look for guys like Zach Allen and John Franklin-Myers to collapse the pocket right up the middle while holding space to attack either gap to their sides.
Josh Allen makes plays and wins games by taking advantage of pass rushers who overextend or take wide angles to try to speed to him. In this game, the defense needs to focus more on not letting him out of the pocket and trust the coverage to hold up their end of the bargain.
Cover the middle and the seams
That brings us to coverage, and the biggest challenge for the Broncos is to cover crossers over the middle and seam routes by the running backs and tight ends with discipline.
Having both PJ Locke and Dre Greenlaw back is key to this team being able to succeed where last season’s defense failed against the Bills.
The Broncos’ scheme will likely look to keep the middle of the field muddy and force more outside throws, where our advantage at corner should be able to win the day (assuming the refs don’t start handing out pass interference flags for good defensive play). That isn’t to say that you don’t keep a safety over the top at times, but the main damage the Bills have done toward the end of the season has been in the middle of the field.
Create turnovers
The Broncos ended the season with some really impactful turnovers. This is the perfect time for that to become contagious on defense. With Joseph having 2 weeks to prepare for this game, I think we’ll see three to four opportunities for the defense to get an interception.
With the Broncos mixing in a lot more disguised zone concepts, Josh Allen may be surprised by a few looks. The hope is that they can find a few key moments to throw him for a loop and have a good shot and turning the ball over.
Bonus No Bull thoughts on Vance Joseph
If you’ve been reading my reviews this season, you already know I have mad respect for what Vance has done with this team. He’s an excellent leader, a dedicated coach, and a mad scientist as a defensive coordinator.
It’s honestly a joy to see how far this coach has come since his first stint with the Broncos. He’s a huge reason this defense has had the success we’ve seen this season.
What is most impressive to me is seeing how varied the rush packages are in the front 7. He brings pressure from everywhere, and drops guys that I would have sworn were blitzing pre-snap. It is a credit to his abilities as a coach that this whole front feasts on game day. He’s earned their buy-in, and the rewards for it are having a team full of guys playing for each other and dominating the opposition.
