EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Before Justin Strnad took the field at MetLife Stadium for the opening play Sunday, he hadn’t been credited with a defensive snap in three seasons. Yet there he was, bursting through a gap in the New York Jets offensive line on the game’s opening play, a surreal thought darting into his mind.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m about to sack Aaron Rodgers,’” Strnad said.
Strnad, a core special-teams player vaulted into defensive action because of a season-ending injury to fellow inside linebacker Alex Singleton, did bring down Rodgers, the future Hall of Fame quarterback. It set a tone that carried throughout the Broncos’ 10-9 victory. From the opening snap to the final one, Denver’s defense harassed and hurried Rodgers to the tune of five sacks and 14 quarterback hits. Six players combined for those sacks — one week after six players sacked Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield a combined seven times.
Welcome to coordinator Vance Joseph’s equal-opportunity defense, where the pressure can come from anybody, from anywhere and at any time — even from the very first snap.
“We had practiced (the blitz) during the week like we do a bunch of calls,” Strnad, a Tampa, Fla., whose own home suffered damage this week as a result of Hurricane Helene, said of his opening sprint into the backfield. “When Cody (Barton) called out the play, I said, ‘OK, let’s roll!’ Starting the game with blitz, I love it.”
Strnad’s sack of Rodgers marked the second time this season that Denver has taken down the opposing quarterback on the game’s opening play. But the heat kept coming during back-to-back road wins that have revived Denver’s season following an 0-2 start. The Broncos have not allowed a touchdown across the past six quarters, and Denver’s relentless pursuit of Rodgers was key to not only keeping the Jets out of the end zone but also to buying a floundering offense just enough time to discover its rhythm during a third-quarter scoring drive.
“VJ is just dialin’ it up,” All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II said of Joseph. “He has so much trust in us as players and that allows him to call all these exotic schemes and show different looks and frustrate offenses. His ability to trust us and his play-calling, it’s paid dividends. We’re going to keep getting after it, for sure.”
When Joseph sent safety P.J. Locke off the edge on a fourth-down blitz late in the fourth quarter, he thumped Rodgers for Denver’s fifth sack of the game.
GOT ‘EMMMMMMM
📺: CBS | @Pjlocke4 pic.twitter.com/Z3PgH5VL9Z
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 29, 2024
“It’s tough to do against him,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said, noting that Denver’s performance against the run (the Jets had just 64 yards on 23 carries) opened up more pass-rushing opportunities. “He’s extremely smart. You might go another 20 games before you see that happen to him. That was a part of the success today.”
Locke’s takedown came one possession after defensive tackle Malcolm Roach and outside linebacker Jonah Elliss combined to drop Rodgers on a third-and-2 play with five minutes left. Rodgers appeared to fumble the ball on the play, but he was ruled down and the Broncos were unable to challenge the call because Payton had lost two earlier challenges in the game. No matter, Locke’s sack put Denver in position to seal the game. The Broncos, leading 10-9 after the 2-minute warning, needed only one first down to secure the win. But the Broncos were unable to extend their possession and Wil Lutz missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt, his first misfire of the season.
It meant Rodgers still had 87 seconds left from his own 40-yard line, needing only a field goal to win the game. It is a situation he has navigated effectively throughout his decorated career.
“I lost to Rodgers when I was in Arizona on a very similar thing,” Broncos defensive tackle Zach Allen said of the Jets’ final-drive opportunity. “I know it all too well.”
The Broncos already had escaped a few thorny situations defensively, none bigger than late in the first quarter, when cornerback Riley Moss was called for pass interference, putting the Jets at Denver’s 1-yard line. In a rain-slicked game that put points at a premium, the Jets were 1 yard away from striking a devastating blow. Instead, the Broncos kept out of the end zone on three straight plays. That included a third-and-1 play when John Franklin-Myers, Rodgers’ former teammate with the Jets, brought pressure that helped force an incompletion. The Jets’ best chance to reach the end zone came up empty.
“Shoot, our backs were against the wall,” All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II said. “That’s when we rise up to the occasion defensively. We don’t want to let them get in the end zone no matter what the situation is. Those are key stops in the red area. There is a lot of motivation behind it. A lot of grit and a lot of desire to not allow the other team to score. Stops like that are huge in a game. We’re going to continue to build off that each and every week.”
Still, it looked like Rodgers would find a way, particularly after he drew a pass-interference call on Moss that moved New York to Denver’s 36-yard line with one minute left. But after Rodgers threw incomplete on first down, Moss tackled Mike Williams following a 4-yard gain. On third down, pressure from Jonathon Cooper helped force another incompletion. That left Greg Zuerlein to attempt a 50-yard field goal and left Rodgers without a touchdown pass in a loss for the first time in his career.
“You never know,” Payton said of his thoughts as Zuerlein’s kick left the ground, “but you felt like it had a chance to be wide right.”
The Broncos streamed onto the field in celebration of a win that ended a winding, 10-day trip that took Denver from Tampa to West Virginia for practice and then to New Jersey. The Broncos go back home with a 2-2 record and a defense that is creating growing optimism about what this season could be if it keeps buying time for the offense to catch up.
“A win is a win in this league and you have to appreciate them,” said Franklin-Myers, who recorded one of the five sacks of his former teammate. “(But), shoot, it’s back to work next week.”
The first half Sunday could not have gone worse for rookie quarterback Bo Nix. He completed 7-of-15 passes — for minus-7 yards. The Broncos hadn’t had a first half that inefficient since at least 2000, according to TruMedia. Even their quarterback-less game during the COVID-19 season in 2020 against Payton’s Saints ended with a 0-yard pass total across the first two quarters. But the Broncos were nonetheless in striking distance because of their defense. Midway through the third quarter, the weather clearing, Nix hit Courtland Sutton on a deep in route for a 29-yard gain on third-and-11. Five plays later, he threw his first NFL touchdown pass, an 8-yard strike to Sutton.
Nix, who struggled to grip the rain-soaked balls in the first half, knew he’d have a chance to get a drive going in the second half thanks to a defense that kept slamming his 40-year-old counterpart.
“They got him down several times and I know how tough that was on (Rodgers), just playing the position,” Nix said. “It’s tough when you get sacked over and over. They (found) ways to keep putting the pressure on and keep putting the pressure on.”
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(Top photo of Jonah Elliss and Malcolm Roach sacking Aaron Rodgers: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)
