Broncos' biggest turnaround this side of Bo Nix: A run defense with real bite

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix has surged into the national spotlight after his rousing performance in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. He was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday — the first rookie quarterback in team history to win the award — after completing 28 of 33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns. It was his seventh game this season with no turnovers. The fervor around Nix’s massive game was such that head coach Sean Payton on a Monday morning conference call said, “Let’s not send this kid to Canton quite yet, please.”

As significant as Nix’s growth has been since the first month of the season, it’s not the only turnaround that has helped push the Broncos into the thick of the playoff race as the season reaches its homestretch. The about-face Denver has made as a run defense has had a transformative impact on how the team can win games.

It’s why Payton signed off Monday after taking bushels of questions about Nix’s performance by asking one of his own.

“Nothing on the defense and holding the Falcons’ rushing (attack) down?” Payton asked. “It was a Bo Nix day, huh?”

Wednesday’s #DENvsLV injury report:

📰 » https://t.co/NHkoVQSfnV pic.twitter.com/CIjTXBuhO8

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 20, 2024

It was a fair critique. The Broncos enter Sunday’s road game against the reeling Las Vegas Raiders ranked fourth in opponent yards per carry (3.8), tied for third in rushing touchdowns allowed (six) and third in TruMedia’s defensive rush EPA (expected points added). Denver last season ranked 32nd in yards per carry allowed (5) and 28th in rush EPA. The latest installment of the Broncos’ dominating performance as a rush defense came Sunday, when they limited Falcons running back Bijan Robinson to only 35 yards on 12 carries. It was the second-lowest output for Robinson since a 16-carry, 31-yard performance in a Week 3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. In the six games prior to Sunday’s game in Denver, Robinson had averaged 87.3 yards per contest and 5.24 yards per carry while scoring five touchdowns.

If solving the quarterback conundrum after releasing Russell Wilson this offseason was the top priority, rebuilding a struggling run defense was a close second. The Broncos had handed out big free-agent contracts the prior two offseasons to nose tackle D.J. Jones (2022) and defensive end Zach Allen (2023), but there wasn’t enough depth around them. It made it too easy for opponents to exploit weaknesses in Denver’s defensive front. It became a fatal flaw as the Broncos lost three of their final four games.

Limited in free agency by the $53 million in dead money the Broncos were eating on Wilson’s contract — with $32 million more to come in 2025 — any path to success for them would require making the most of economic signings. It starts with a quarterback playing at a high level in the first year of a rookie contract, but that was only part of the puzzle. The Broncos identified former Saints defensive tackle Malcolm Roach as an impact addition at an economical price (two years, $7 million). The signing has been a hit by every measure. Roach notched his first full sack Sunday when he dragged down Kirk Cousins, but his most significant impact has been in the run game. He ranks second among all defensive tackles with a run-stop rate (percentage of tackles made for zero or negative yards) of 15.6 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Broncos then added a big name at a relatively small price when they traded a sixth-round pick to the New York Jets before the draft for defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, then reworked his deal to lower his cap hit this season to a palatable $5 million. Franklin-Myers has five sacks, just one off the career high he set with the Jets in 2021. Allen also has five sacks and will set a new career-best mark with his next takedown. The same tough decisions they create for offenses — Who do we use extra resources to block? Who do we leave one-on-one? — extend to the run game, and the Broncos have frequently left opponents with few good options.

D.J. Jones fights through a double and John Franklin-Myers wins instantly to blow up the run pic.twitter.com/gMBU88Dd00

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) November 19, 2024

“It starts with our D-line and them creating pressure in the backfield,” said cornerback Pat Surtain II, who is having his best season in run support on top of limiting opponents to a 44.3 passer rating when targeted, according to Pro Football Reference, by far the best mark of his career. “When runners get a ball, all they see is a wall. It’s hard for running backs and their rushing game to get going when our D-line is striking and putting the O-line in the backfield.”

The Broncos have a league-high 39 sacks entering Week 12. That leaves them on pace to challenge the franchise record of 57 sacks, set in 1984. There are numerous factors for Denver’s success in harassing opposing quarterbacks. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s play calling, Nik Bonitto’s breakout (already a career-high nine sacks, tied for second most in the league), the hard-to-defend interior pairing of Allen and Franklin-Myers are among them. But the rushing success defensively, particularly on early downs, has set the table for everything else.

“If an offense has got a run rhythm, you’re defending a lot of different elements,” Payton said. “If an offense, at some point, becomes one-dimensional, you’re only defending one element. So I do think there’s a correlation there.”

The Raiders, who have lost six straight games, don’t profile as a team that will pose a major threat on the ground. They are averaging a league-worst 75.2 yards per game. The biggest challenge for Denver’s defense will come from rookie tight end Brock Bowers, who had 13 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown in last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins. He had eight catches for 97 yards in the Raiders’ Week 5 loss to the Broncos in Denver, including a 57-yard touchdown reception on the opening drive. Bowers ranks sixth among all NFL players in targets this season with 89, four more than Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

“He can move, he can be outside, he can run a route tree different than most tight ends,” Payton said. “He goes up to make the first touchdown catch against us. When it’s happening week in and week out, you see that with the player in Detroit (Sam LaPorta). Obviously, you see it with (Travis) Kelce and (George) Kittle. That’s a weapon and it becomes a little more challenging (to defend) when they’re at that position.”

One question for the Broncos is whether they’ll have starting safety Brandon Jones back Sunday. He missed the game against the Falcons with an abdomen injury and was limited in practice Wednesday. Left guard Ben Powers, meanwhile, missed practice with a shoulder injury. In other injury news, the Broncos decided to let safety Delarrin Turner-Yell’s 21-day activation window expire without activating him Wednesday, meaning he’ll remain on the physically unable to perform list for the rest of the season. Payton said it was a difficult decision and Turner-Yell, who suffered an ACL tear late last season, has a “bright future,” but the Broncos, by virtue of a largely healthy roster, didn’t have the space to bring Turner-Yell back.