Good morning, Broncos Country!
The Denver Broncos defense had some serious issues in the opener.
Namely, the Broncos couldn’t tackle. For an NFL team, it was startling, to say the least. For a defense that was one of the best in the NFL and has sights on that again, it was dumbfounding. Even now.
Denver looked like a Pee-Wee team the first time it strapped on pads.
Now comes the Jacksonville Jaguars, who embarrassed this same defense last season and should follow the Kansas City Chiefs’ attack plan. Run the ball until the Broncos
prove they can stop it and tackle.
When asked about the issues from the opener, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said to the media on Friday:
“I saw missed tackles. Just fundamentals, block destruction, open-field tackling angles, those things. Obviously, leaving camp, you would think those things would be fixed and correctable. They are, but it was too much on Monday night. So many explosive plays that came from missed tackles and just simply block destruction, so we have to fix that. We’ve got to work on that. I think time on task and just practicing better, that will get better.
“(It was) disappointing, obviously, that we played that way in that part of our game. It wasn’t a bunch of mental mistakes or blown coverage, those things. It was just mostly fundamentals, and for me as a coach, that’s disappointing.”
Whether these issues are correctable in a short week remains to be seen. However, these are correctable. Tackling is not about talent; it’s about effort and want-to. Similar to boxing out for rebounds in basketball.
It starts with how the Broncos did the work in practice this week.
“We definitely have self-awareness on our side of the ball,” Joseph said to the media on Friday. “I don’t have to walk in and give a speech after a game like that. They watched the game immediately after the game on the bus and on the plane. Once we landed, everyone knew what the issues were.
“It was like 145 yards, I think, after contact. So we felt it during the game, but once you watch it, it makes you sick. We have a self-aware group. We don’t have to walk in and show the tape and say, ‘Guys, this is what happened.’ They know what happened, and we’ve worked on fixing those issues, and again, we’ll see how it falls on Sunday.”
Added cornerback Pat Surtain II:
“I think it just all goes in towards effort. Tackling is one of those things where you have to be intentional with it. You have to bring pads, feet, and you have to wrap your arms. I just feel like we were assuming that the ball carrier was going to go down at the moment rather than finishing at the end of the day. Hats off to them as well. They were running the ball very hard, but we know we’re better than that defensively, and we’re just going to correct it and move forward with it.”
In terms of motivation, Denver doesn’t have to look far to find it. The Broncos have the performance in the opener paired with what happened the last time these two teams. Plus, it’s the home opener in front of the Rocky Mountain Thunder.
“It’s significant to defend your home field, and the fans absolutely make a difference,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said to the media on Friday. “All these problems, let’s say from a week ago for us offensively with crowd noise, get off, cadence, what you do with motions, they all become much more challenging when you’re off a silent snap count.
“So when you’re at home, obviously, the defense has to work through the communication, but it’s a significant advantage. Our crowd last year, we feed off that. So when the quarterback’s in the huddle and there’s stress, ‘What was that snap count?’ Or, ‘What was the end of that play?’ That’s problematic.”
