Where Winless Broncos Present Issues for Bears

There's every reason to think of the obscene number run up on the Broncos last week by Miami as an anomaly, at least from the Denver end of it.

After all, how many times does something like this happen to a defense. It's never happened exactly like that, with five touchdowns rushing and five passing TDs.

"You look at the past, you look at this recent game and then you look back at the first two games they had," Bears receiver DJ Moore said. "You’ve gotta see where the holes are and attack them.

"That’s what we’ve been doing all week, and hopefully we can go out there and do what the Dolphins did, but we’re just gonna go out there and play our game."

No one would put the Broncos in the Bears' class if they had looked at those first two games of the season, when they lost by a point to the Las Vegas Raiders and two points to the Washington Commanders.

Denver looked more than capable of competing for wins in both of those games. In fact, they led the second game by 18 points before losing. The Bears haven't shown this type of ability.

Against Tampa Bay they showed perseverence, but got beaten badly on the line of scrimmage all day. It was pure guts and Tampa Bay's weakness that kept them within a field goal late in that game.

The 70-20 defeat has to be treated by the Bears as just a one-point game. The Broncos have displayed far more offense than the Bears have so far, behind Russell Wilson and with Sean Payton running the show.

Their defense quit last week but played better in the opener than the Bears defense has played in any game.

The win-loss record doesn't show it but it's easy to see players who can take advantage of the many Bears weaknesses visible in the first two games.

Here are the top Broncos threats for the Bears.

1. QB Russell Wilson

There's every reason to think Payton was right and the problem for Denver last year really was the coaching staff and Nathaniel Hackett. Maybe Payton's comments were a bit extreme but Wilson is the perfect example why. His passer rating last year dipped below what Justin Fields' was last year. He had left Seattle with a brilliant 101.8 career passer rating. Now, after three losing games, Payton has him working efficiently at a 99.5 passer rating. The Broncos still aren't protecting him well, with 10 sacks taken, but just like with Fields, he holds the ball too long. He's holding it 3.11 seconds, or about what Fields was at last year. Fields is at 2.99 right now. That's how Wilson always operates. He has it a bit longer but produces big plays anyway. He's seventh in the league in air yards on completions according to Sportradar (7.1). The Bears pass rush had five QB hits last week. They should have the shot at reaching Wilson a few more times than they have had, but it's going to be a matter of avoiding the big play with their banged-up secondary when he does get time to throw. Wilson hasn't been piling up big rushing yards, but it's a good thing so far as he has just seven rushes in three games. He can still burn them, though, because he's at 8.1 yards per rush on those seven runs.

2. Patrick Surtain II

Teams have been trying to "cloud" DJ Moore, as Fields puts it. They've kept two people to Moore's side with a trail cornerback and the safety close by over the top. The Broncos are one of the teams that might not have to resort to anything special to prevent Moore from having a big game. Surtain is capable of covering him. He had six interceptions and just 54.3% completions allowed in his first two seasons. This year hasn't gone quite so swimmingly but the last game skewed many of the Broncos' statistics. At 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, with a 39-inch vertical and 4.42-second 40, Surtain would be an asset in any defense.

3. WR Courtland Sutton

The big problem the Bears face with the Broncos offense is Wilson has multiple players capable of being open and he uses them. The 6-4, 214-pound Sutton has never been as consistent as he should be but in this offense, with Wilson at QB and Payton as coach, he is. His 73.9% catch rate is 14.7 percentage points higher than his previous career high. Having Brandon Johnson, Jerry Jeudy and Marvin Mims on the same receiver corps is making for a more balanced passing attack and it's letting Sutton use his size to be open and make bigger plays.

4. WR Marvin Mims

Payton knows how to use a small (5-11, 182) receiver to inflect heavy damage and Mims is doing it, both on the offense and special teams. He's leading the league in kick return average after his 99-yard TD return and as a receiver has a 155.8 passer rating when targeted, while averaging a league-high 27.9 yards a catch. The former Oklahoma standout has only one punt return but broke it for a 45-yarder.

5. Brandon Johnson

With Jeudy getting practice time off to rest a knee injury, Johnson has stepped up his game in his second season the way the Bears had hoped Velus Jones Jr. might. Johnson, an undrafted player from Tennessee and Central Floriday who came up from the Broncos practice squad, has six catches for 109 yards a year after he had six catches total on the year as a rookie. Normally he wouldn't rate higher than Jeudy as a threat for the Bears but the knee injury Jeudy has is a question.

6. DE Jonathan Cooper

Yes, there are edge rushers on the Broncos. Frank Clark is one but he is trying to get through an injury. Cooper has been steady as a pass rusher, with the 21st highest edge rusher grade according to Pro Football Focus. With two sacks in his first three games, Cooper is already at a level of production he had in his first two seasons and appears to be one of Denver's most improved players.

7. LB Jose Jewell

It might not seem like the Broncos have linebackers after the way the Dolphins ran all over them but Jewell is ranked seventh in the NFL by Pro Football Focus at pass coverage and overall among all linebackers.

8. RG Quinn Meinerz

The 6-3, 320-pounder has had high marks since coming into the league in 2021 and has graded out 11th out of all guards this year according to PFF. The former Division III player from Wisconsin-Whitewater is at his best blocking the run and leading the way for running backs Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine.

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