Late last week I was curious and looked up some pass rush statistics on the Denver Broncos, because I just felt like they just hadn’t been getting the job done through the first four games. And that hunch proved correct. They were near the bottom in pressure percentages, sacks, and QB hurry percentage despite being among the league leaders in blitz percentage. So Vance Joseph was trying to create pressure and still wasn’t able to get it done.
After their second half domination of Justin Herbert and
the Los Angeles Chargers, they still rank poorly overall, but they showed out with a five sack effort moving them back into the Top 10 in sacks. My hope is that we’ll see that pressure and hurry percentage increase, because as it stands they are dead last in QB hurries even after yesterday’s game.
This is a trend I hope continues this week. Denver will need to bring the heat against the defending champs on TNF.
Broncos daily recap
Denver Broncos Stock Up, Stock Down: Week 5 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers
Stock up and stock down is a weekly series where I go through the Denver Broncos’ 53-man roster and tell you which Broncos players’ stock is going up, down, or remains unchanged. After an ugly win vs. the Chargers on Sunday, we have a good mix of stock-ups and stock-downs today.
Sean Payton expresses faith in Bo Nix despite early season struggles
Bo Nix hasn’t made the year three jump fans had hoped for, but Head Coach Sean Payton remains confident his quarterback will turn things around.
Game balls for the Broncos road win over the Chargers in Week 5
The Denver Broncos almost threw the game away, but the defense rallied in the fourth to lift to a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Here are our game balls.
Potent quotables
Sean Payton
On the challenges of preparing on a short week
“I would say this, it’s time. There are two things, time and then the second thing is proper recovery from the last game. For each player, getting their body ready for a short work week, so that the time and the recovery—those are the two things that hit me right away with that question.”
On RB J.K. Dobbins’ expression of appreciation for his increased workload
“We’re not taking polls. We’re not taking polls. I’m glad he was appreciative of it, but we’re trying to win games.”
On if takeaways have become part of the defense’s identity and how important that will be this week
“I think the ball security, the punch out we get early is a huge play and the interceptions we’ve had to date. Obviously, and you guys probably have seen it, it can cure a lot of what ails you. There are a number of things right now that we have to clean up and get better, but we won the game yesterday because of it.”
On P Jeremy Crawshaw’s development and performance so far this season
“I’ve been encouraged the last couple of weeks. You’ve seen it. I think that consistency is so important. I’m excited and fired up for how he’s played in the last two to three weeks. It’s obviously a big deal. They had a good returner, someone that was quick and certainly was a threat. To watch him pin a team back, especially inside the five [-yard line], that’s a big deal.”
On his postgame comments in support of QB Bo Nix
“He and I will be on the same page each week relative to the plays and the plan. Someone asked me that question yesterday and then two seconds later they were at his locker, ‘Coach said this.’ It was somewhat comical. I think there are certain throws that we’re going to be aggressive with. There are other throws that we’re going to be smart with. We’ll be on the same page there.”
On QB Bo Nix’s confidence
“We’re not giving levels of confidence grades right now on a Monday morning before a Thursday game. You can go ahead and opinionate, but I think confidence comes from—I’m watching the film offensively and there are a ton of things we’re not doing well right now, so that has to improve.”
Under the radar
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