Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston were all once first overall picks in their respective drafts, and all have been humbled by the 2016 Denver Broncos defense. The three have been knocked down by the Denver ‘D’ a total of 35 times, and will no doubt remember (if not feel) the Broncos’ impact for some time.
It hasn’t seemed to matter in Denver who the quarterback is while the defense makes life impossible for opposing signal callers. Week 4 against Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was no different, with the defense taking their devastation to another level, forcing three turnovers and hitting Winston 16 times for five sacks.
“Yeah, it has something to do with how we prepare,” said defensive end Derek Wolfe. “Everybody prepares like they are going to play. Paxton [Lynch] prepares all week long like he is going to play. So he was ready to go.”
Wolfe was also ready, terrorizing Winston all game and sacking him 2.5 times in the process. The defensive end knocked and pulled the Bucs young QB to the ground any which way he had to, ending up with a team-high five quarterback hits.
“Derek is playing really well,” said head coach Gary Kubiak. “Just teasing with him in the locker room I said, ‘You waited an hour and a half to go back out there and get one more sack?’ I think he had a sack at the end of the game. I’m proud of all our guys. It was a very crazy situation that we handled very well. We’re going home with a W. That’s all that matters.”
While Aqib Talib and Wolfe were the ones who shined Sunday against the Bucs, the Broncos have been making plays all over the field in the first four games. Whether it be Chris Harris Jr. pulling down an acrobatic interception Week 1, Von Miller dominating the Colts Week 2, or Shane Ray abusing the Cincinnati offensive line Week 3, there’s no telling who’s going to step up and have a big game on a given week. So while the offense dealt with Paxton Lynch being thrown into the fire after Trevor Siemian was knocked out of the game, on the other side of the ball the slew of playmakers is just concerned with making the next big play.
“It’s amazing,” said Demaryius Thomas. “They always got our back, and whenever we can, we got their back. They fuss about how many yards people put up on them and stuff like that. It’s good to have guys like that because you work with them, and you see how hard they work, and it pays off on the field.”
One area in which the Denver defense hadn’t played up to its standards in the first three weeks was in stopping the run. The Broncos put a stop to that, holding the Bucs to a paltry 2.8 rushing yard average and 72 yards total. Part of the Broncos struggles in defending the run was allowing quarterback scampers, something Winston was unable to do, being held to 19 yards on five carries. In fact, no Bucs runner surpassed the 30-yard mark.
In Tampa, it could be argued, the Broncos had their best outing of this young season by creating more turnovers and quarterback hits than in any other game this year, while also holding the Buccaneers to seven points.
The Broncos defense got off to a fast start with Aqib Talib’s interception on Tampa’s first play and never let up their grip. Because of how tough their pass defense is, this team is proving that no matter who the quarterback is they’ll have a shot at winning, as the ‘D’ turns great QBs into average ones and average QBs into novices, leveling the field completely.
After the latest dismantling of an offense, the last seven quarterbacks to face the Broncos—Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston—have combined to go 146-for-273 for an average of 241.4 yards per game, with just three touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Next up, the NFL’s leading passer and leading receiver, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons.
