The Broncos have a plan to create more sacks and turnovers

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — No sacks? No turnovers? The Broncos? Can’t be. Nope. Not a chance.

Believe it or not, some way, somehow, that’s exactly what’s happened through two weeks into the NFL season.

In fact, Denver’s the only team in the league to boast the stat no defensive coordinator—and especially a defensive-minded head coach—wants to claim. To make matters even worse, they’re only the fourth team in the past 50 years to post such a stat.

Yes, No. 2 overall pick Von Miller and No. 5 overall pick Bradley Chubb are still on the team and are still attempting to pin their ears back on opposing quarterbacks.

“We’ve had two unusual games in that the other team’s offenses have run the ball more than they’ve thrown it, which is usual in these days. We’ve been behind in both games,” Vic Fangio said, explaining why the team built on pass rush doesn’t have a sack through two games.

During training camp, Ed Donatell talked about how he and Fangio’s defense would be built on forcing turnovers. So far, so not good. On Thursday, he doubled down, saying forcing turnovers are a major emphasis.

“As for the sacks, there’s been a lot of situational plays where we really haven’t had the lead or the long third downs to pin our ears back to get going,” Donatell said. “I look for that to improve as we get going, but again it’s another major emphasis. That’s another way that the game is disrupted and we need to coach that better and get more production.”

At this point, Fangio isn’t concerned about the lack of play making, specifically sacks, through two games, although he was disappointed in the pass rush on the Bears’ game-winning drive.

But outside of the final drive, where the rush couldn’t get home to Mitchell Trubisky, the issue with the pass rush might have very little to do with the pass rush itself.

“We have to try and get them in third-and-long, second-and-longs. We have to win first and second down better,” Chris Harris Jr. explained. “That will help us get in more pass rush situations and also try to figure out a way to get a lead. Once we get a lead, then we can stick the dogs out on them and really let all our D-line loose.”

According to the Broncos, it’s not the pass rush that needs to improve, it’s what happens before that.

Like the Von Miller-Derek Wolfe sack combination, it’s what happens before the sack that leads to it. Von constantly credits many of his sacks to the defensive lineman for the work he does in the trenches at the beginning of plays that free Von up to get to the quarterback.

The Broncos need a similar setup to open up their pass rush, although this time Denver’s pass rush—Von of the pass-rush duo—needs Denver’s first and second-down defense—aka Wolfe—to step their game up.

“These slumps they come. I haven’t had one at the beginning of a season like this, but they come and you just got to fight through the difficulties,” Miller said, not putting too much on the unusually slow start. “When I go to sleep at night that’s what I say in my head, ‘No matter what they do, I’m still going to be able to get there.’ But it don’t always work like that. But we’re just playing for a breakthrough.”

Fangio stated there’s not much he can de schematically to open Chubb or Miller up in the pass rush, especially on first and second down when the opposing offense’s playbook is wide open. However, on third down and long, not only can the pass rushers pin their ears back, but Fangio can “do a thing or two” to open them up even more.

As for turnovers, well, the always brutally honest Chris Harris Jr. put that squarely on the pass rush.

“We have to rattle the quarterback,” he stated. “We haven’t been able to rattle him.”

After a long pause, Fangio weighed in on how his defense can live up to Donatell’s wishes and be a turnover machine: “I don’t think there’s anything specific other than all the reasons and ways you can get [turnovers] we haven’t been doing.”

The formula, on the surface, appears simple. Win first and second down and the quarterback will stand no chance on third down. Once the quarterback stands no chance, the turnovers will come.

Easy enough. Right?

“There’s no way we can go a whole season and not get a sack,” Von said in disbelief that his team doesn’t yet have a sack. “There’s no way possible that’s going to happen.”