Could special teams decide Steelers at Broncos? Tremon Smith says yes

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos lost a key special teamer this offseason.

While Riley Moss‘s standing with the Broncos has grown from last year—he’s now a starting cornerback—the Broncos can’t afford to work him as hard on special teams.

That means the Broncos had to break up one of the best gunner duos in the NFL.

Now, veteran Tremon Smith is now flying downfield on punts with a new partner.

“It’s his first year playing gunner, but he’s doing a fantastic job,” Smith told DNVR.

Smith’s new partner is another Smith: second-year undrafted safety Keidron Smith.

Keidron, who played college ball at Kentucky, forced his way onto the Broncos’ roster this summer. He forced a turnover in all three preseason games. He picked off a pair of passes before recovering a fumble in the season finale.

But Keidron wouldn’t have made the team if he couldn’t help out on special teams, and Tremon, 28, is helping him learn the ropes.

“I can just give them the little tips and in’s and out’s that I’ve learned over my seven years,” Tremon said. “I try my best. We’ll stay after practice, or they know they can always come to me and ask me questions about anything—text me questions. I try my best just, you know, mentoring them.”

Special teams is, oftentimes, a young man’s game. Rookies and other players who are yet to prove themselves do the bulk of the work.

But a select few players, like Tremon, stick in the NFL longterm because of what they bring to the table in the third phase of the game.

In the Broncos’ Week 1 opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Smith beat the Seattle jammer on a punt and chased the ball downfield. He jumped at the one-yard line, batted it back into the field of play, and left the Seahawks with a 99-yard field.

On the next play, the Broncos scored two points with a safety.

“Tremon brings great value,” special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica said. “He has great position flexibility. On that specific play, he does a great job of running down the field and keeping the ball in play. He [has] returner ability, and he’s a good coverage player that can make tackles.”

Tremon is in his second year with the Broncos. Originally, he was a sixth-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs out of Central Arkansas. The speedy cornerback spent time with five different teams before joining the Broncos last offseason.

Given his history, he’s often seen as an underdog to make the team during training camp, despite his track record on special teams.

“It’s hard not getting the recognition,” Smith said. “It’s tough, but I just keep my head down and work. Just block out the noise and do whatever I can do to help this team. That’s my biggest thing: to help this team.”

Smith sees another big year for the Broncos’ special teams coming. He thinks safety JL Skinner is ready to be a breakout contributor.

“He’s a very physical player,” Smith said. “He can beat blocks and get out very well and run very well. He can make the open field tackle.”

Of course, Skinner would probably rather play defense, but special teams can be a launching point. Just ask Alex Singleton, Cody Barton or PJ Locke.

Special teams figures to be particularly important this week, when the Broncos host the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game is expected to be a slugfest, with Las Vegas anticipating the lowest-scoring game of the week.

“I feel like special teams will be a big key,” Smith said.

The Steelers are one of the few NFL teams that are kicking the ball into the landing zone on kickoffs, rather than into the end zone for a touchback. Smith is one of the Broncos’ two deep returners on kickoffs, along with wide receiver Marvin Mims.

“I think we can help the offense,” Smith said. “Either jumpstart past mid-field or even get into the end zone.”

Injury Report

The Broncos and Steelers released their final injury report for Sunday’s game on Friday.

Broncos

Steelers

Notes

• One question for Sunday: Will Pat Surtain II follow George Pickens? The matchup makes sense—Pickens is not only Pittsburgh’s best receiver, he’s also the biggest and most physical—but Denver was hesitant to deploy Surtain to the same receiver for the duration of a game last year. However, in Week 1, Surtain covered DK Metcalf on 24 of the 25 routes that Metcalf ran.
  
  
• Zach Allen played 65 of the Broncos’ 67 defensive snaps on Sunday. It was the second-largest workload by snaps and the most by percentage. He ranked top-three among NFL defensive linemen in Week 1 snaps, and only Maxx Crosby played a higher percentage.
  
  Sean Payton said the slower-paced game with fewer plays was a factor.
  
  “He is someone that’s in good shape. There are certain players that have that stamina, but I think in a longer game with more snaps then it becomes a little bit more challenging.”
  
  
• Sean Payton expects a slow, physical game, but he isn’t putting much stock in that expectation. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought a game was going to go a certain way and then it ended up going a different way.”