It's very safe to say that without the effort from the Denver Broncos' defense, the Broncos would be 3-3 after their Week 6 game against the Seattle Seahawks. Three crucial turnovers helped Denver do just enough to win in overtime against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix stated the obvious after his postgame presser on Thursday: "We don’t win that game without them."
Coach Sean Payton went a step further, calling the performance "magnificent."
"Defensively, we were magnificent," Payton said. "I don’t know how many times we hit the quarterback, we got three takeaways. We felt like that was going to be a big deal in this game, being smart with the football.”
Defense had it on 🔒 pic.twitter.com/CzF8e57Z36
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 16, 2026
Of those 17 quarterback
hits, a dozen different Denver players recorded at least one QB hit on Thursday, tying the highest number of defenders with at least one quarterback hit in a single game since at least 2006.
Star pass rusher Nik Bonitto, who forced a fumble and half a sack in the contest, spoke about the work put in by defensive coordinator Vance Joseph in the days prior.
"Coach had a really good game plan for us this week, and all we had to do was execute," Bonitto said. "We knew with this team we were going against, if we stop the run, we’re going to have a great opportunity to get after the pass. Obviously, with our DBs covering the back end too, it just works hand-in-hand.”
While the Broncos' pass rush credited the secondary for their ability to cover Seattle's star receivers, the secondary, in turn, complimented the pass rush.
"It starts with the defensive line," cornerback and hero of the Thursday night victory Ja'Quan McMillian said. "They were getting after the quarterback all night, so he was feeling the pressure."
After the three-turnover night, the Broncos have a plus-four turnover margin this season, their best mark in that category through six games since winning the Super Bowl in the 2015 season (plus-six).
Linebacker Justin Strnad said the defense is just trying to get better each week.
"We pride ourselves on being a dominant unit, and I thought we were every bit of that tonight," Strnad said Thursday. "We're just going to keep it rolling week in, week out. Our team's just going to keep getting better, and as the season goes on, we're going keep getting better and better.”
The Broncos could get a key player back this week as pass-rusher Jonathon Cooper was reinstated by the NFL on Friday, making him eligible to play as soon as Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
If the defense can keep up the elite play, and the offense can catch up in the next few weeks, the Broncos can find themselves once again at the top or near the top of the AFC standings.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Broncos’ fantastic defense posted amazing numbers vs. Seahawks
