Why aggression is what Vic Fangio wants … and what the Broncos need most

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If it wasn’t obvious before the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV victory last Sunday, it should be now: Everything the Broncos want to accomplish in the years to come requires at least matching the level of play from the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes on a consistent basis.

After posting four consecutive division titles, two conference-championship appearances, a world title and the best winning percentage in the AFC the last two seasons — only trailing the Saints on a league-wide basis — the Chiefs are it. They will likely absorb free-agent losses in March, but as long as Mahomes continues to play at a level that has him poised to remain elite for the foreseeable future, they will remain the team to beat.

So how do the Broncos avoid the fate of the backwash of the AFC East during the years of the Belichick-Brady hegemony atop that division?

They start by understanding the challenge that faces them.

It’s not just that the Chiefs have an explosive offense. It’s the understanding that fire must be fought with fire.

For the last four seasons, the Broncos have tried to compensate for subpar quarterbacking with schemes and a strong defense. But the schemes didn’t help, and roster attrition and age gradually eroded the defense from its 2015 apex.

To combat fire with fire means becoming more aggressive on offense. That is what Broncos coach Vic Fangio wants.

“Yeah, that’s what I like,” he said Thursday, just after Pat Shurmur completed his first press conference as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator.

“Contrary to the stereotype that is always out there — a defensive head coach wants to ground and pound and considers a pitch to the halfback a pass –that is not me. I like to be aggressive.”

Yeah, perhaps you thought that his background on the defensive side of the football would make him want to keep things close to the vest. That he’s content to have his offense grind it out, play to prevent mistakes, emphasize conservative tactics and win games by scores such as 17-13.

Yet the only Super Bowl appearance of his career as an NFL coach came in 2012 with the San Francisco 49ers, guided by dual-threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The then-second-year passer wowed in that season, but he also took risks and fumbled once every 40.7 times he had the football — 10 fumbles in a total of 298 passing attempts, 88 rushing attempts and 21 sacks absorbed.

And one of the two best seasons in terms of the record amassed by a Fangio team came in 1999, with Peyton Manning at quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. In just his second season, Manning threw 15 interceptions. He was young and still finding his way; as a result, four of his five worst seasons in interception rate came in his first five years, including 1999 — with his final, plantar-fasciitis-riddled 2015 campaign being the exception.

Fangio wants aggressive offensive tactics. That’s something the Broncos didn’t see often enough from previous offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. Joe Flacco lobbed that critique into the public sphere after the Broncos’ Week 8 loss at Indianapolis on Oct. 27, but it was an issue with all three quarterbacks who started last year.

Sometimes, the Broncos managed to hang on and win despite parking the bus after strong starts; they pulled this off against the Browns in Week 9 and the Chargers in Weeks 5 and 13. But this philosophy also led to fall-from-ahead defeats to Jacksonville in Week 4 and Indianapolis four weeks later.

And one thing is clear: That mentality won’t get it done against the warp-speed Chiefs.

“They’ve lost eight games in the last two years,” Fangio said. “All of those games except one, the other team has scored 31 or more points, I believe.”

xxx The magic number is actually 29, but Fangio’s point is valid and undeniable. In seven of those eight Kansas City defeats in the last two years, the opponent scored more than 28 points. That leaves the Chiefs with a league-best .960 winning percentage — a 24-1 mark — when the opponent scores 28 or fewer points.

When the opponent gets more than 28 points, the Chiefs are just 4-8.

“That paints a little picture there for you. The other game that they lost, the winning team only scored 19 points, but they ran the ball 45 times in that game. That was a different formula,” Fangio said.

That was the Colts’ 19-13 win over the Chiefs in Week 5, when Indianapolis chewed up the clock with those 45 runs. But there was another factor at play: Chiefs sloppiness. The officials whistled the Chiefs for 125 yards in penalties that night. According to pro-football-reference.com, that was the most penalty yardage against the Chiefs at home in over 20 years, since their infamous Monday Night Football meltdown against the Broncos on Nov. 16, 1998. Six of the Colts’ 21 first downs came via penalties, the third-most in any game last season.

What the Colts did … that was the unicorn.

“It’s got to be something in between there,” Fangio said. “You’ve got to be able to slow them down somewhat, which to some degree we did a little bit. But obviously you’re going to have to score some points. That goes without saying.”

For the Broncos to vanquish the Chiefs, they need to push the envelope. They need more offensive explosions like the one they had in the first half against Houston in December, when they took the restraining bolt off Drew Lock and let it fly.

Remember this as you watch the Broncos go about their business in the offseason — from their free-agency moves in March to the draft in April and OTAs in May and June.

They won’t ignore the defense.

xxx But the hire of Shurmur, the trust they show in Lock, the fortification of the offensive line, the weapons they could add at skill positions, the schematic changes to maximize the talent of players on hand such as Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant and Phillip Lindsay — all of it is borne out of the knowledge that the best way to dislodge the Chiefs from their perch is to beat them at what they do best.

The first step is recognizing the problem and the situation. Fangio and the Broncos have taken that step.

Now they must find a way to go throw-for-throw, big-play-for-big-play and score-for-score with the Chiefs.