The Denver Broncos have now won 5 straight games and have scored 77 points over the last two games.
The Broncos last won five straight in 2023 and the last time the team scored 77 in two straight games
was in 2014. The Broncos beat the 49ers 42-17 and then beat the Chargers 35-21 the following week. That is also the last time that the Broncos scored 40+ and 30+ in back-to-back games.
The Bronco defense now has four interceptions and 36 sacks on the season. I mention the four interceptions since our OLBs who are not named Nik Bonitto rarely get picks and now Dondrea Tillman has one. Tillman read Dak Prescott like a book and made a nice catch undercutting the tight end. He then proceeded to make like a running back and run that INT back for 36 yards breaking multiple tackles in the process. Dondrea now has one career INT which is the same as Jonathan Cooper and Nik Bonitto and one more than Jonah Elliss.
With 36 sacks through 8 games, the Bronco D has already surpassed the season total for a whole host of previous Bronco teams.
The D is averaging 4.5 sacks per game and is still on pace to break the NFL record of 72 in 16 games (’84 Bears). They are on pace to get 77 sacks if they continue at this pace. Teams remaining on the schedule are mostly good in terms of their ability to protect the QB. The Broncos have the Chiefs and Faiders (twice), Texans, Commanders, Chargers, Packers and Jaguars.
The Packers are currently 3rd and the Faiders are currently 8th. The Chiefs are 9th, the Texans are 10th and the Commanders are 14th. So the Broncos have plenty of games remaining against good OLs. The Jaguars are 15th. The team left on the schedule that is poor at protecting the QB is the Chargers. The Broncos sacked Justin Herbert five times in the first game, but most of the games against bad OLs are in the past. So don’t be surprised if the Broncos defense doesn’t break the record of 72 sacks.
The Bronco defense has fallen to 3rd in pressure rate at 29.0%. The Cowboys – 29.8% and the Vikings – 29.7% are currently ahead of Denver, but both are far behind in sacks. The Cowboys have 15 and the Vikings have 18. The Cowboys did not sack Bo Nix on Sunday and only were able to generate one pressure according to NFL.com.
The Broncos are currently 3rd in passer rating allowed with next weeks opponent still leading the league in PR allowed. The Broncos have allowed opposing passers a PR of 81.0. The Texans have allowed 70.7. The Texans have gotten to face some bad QBs so far this season. The QBs that they have faced: Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Cam Ward, Cooper Rush, Sam Darnold and Mac Jones. So I would expect their defense to regress once they face some better QBs. They have Bo Nix, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, and Kyler Murray yet to face.
Another thing you might have noticed from the table above is that Bo Nix has only scrambled 16 times in 8 games this season after he was forced to scramble 50 times as a rookie. Right now he is leading the big six QBs who were drafted in 2024 in every category and he is the only one to have made every start since being drafted. Nix has accounted for 52 TDs in 25 games (44 passing, 7 rushing and 1 receiving). It should go without saying that this is most for a Bronco draftee to start his career. For comparison, Peyton Manning had 71 TDs for the Broncos in his first 25 games, but 9 of those games were during the 2013 season in which the Bronco offense set the record for points in a season. So Bo Nix is playing at a really high level and it’s not surprising that he is not matching Manning from 2012-2013. Very few have ever done what Manning did in those two seasons. Manning accounted for 93 total TDs (92 passing and 1 rushing) in the first two seasons in Denver. Manning’s 55 passing TDs still stands as the record even with an extra regular season game and no QB has come close since Aaron Rodgers threw 48 in 2020. There have only been 8 instances of a QB throwing for 45 or more TDs, but the only one to come close was Patrick Mahomes 50 in 2018.
The potential loss of Pat Surtain for some time is scary, but it remains to be seen if his shoulder will keep him out for any time. The loss of both Lucas Krull and Nate Adkins to injury means that the Broncos might be in the market for a TE in trade as I doubt that either TE on the practice squad is ready (Caleb Lohner or Patrick Murtagh). It would be easy to find a good blocking TE without having to give up any or much draft capitol. While I would love to get TJ Hockenson from the Vikings (he’s an elite receiver and blocker), I’d rather just find another “cheap” free agent blocking TE like Chris Manhertz or Eric Saubert. Both are still playing in the NFL, albeit sparingly. Evan Engram has emerged as a nice target in the passing game, so it’s not as if the Broncos need a receiver to replace Krull and Adkins. I know Lohner is not a good blocker. I have no idea about the blocking ability of Murtagh.
