Broncos OLB Bradley Chubb Downgraded to Out vs. Chargers Week 16
The Denver Broncos originally listed Pro Bowl rush linebacker Bradley Chubb as questionable for Week 16's road tilt vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. One day later, the team downgraded him to out.
Just a few days removed from earning the first Pro Bowl nod of his young career, Chubb won't be able to preen and strut his stuff against a Divisional foe as the ankle that has bothered him of late is nagging. At this stage, with the stakes the Broncos are playing for being nil, there's no upside to playing a less than 100% Chubb.
The Broncos are instead erring on the side of caution and will play without him. That means an expanded role for Jeremiah Attaochu and Malik Reed. Reed had a good game against the Chargers in Week 8, notching a sack on Justin Herbert.
The Broncos will need him to show out this time around. Sitting at 6.5 sacks, Reed got off to a slow start this year but blew up in the second quarter of the season, posting a whopping five sacks between Weeks 6, 7, and 8.
Since then, Reed has only 1.5 sacks to his name so he's due for a game. Meanwhile, Attaochu has four sacks on the year and missed a lot of time in the middle of the season but he's since been back in the action from Week 11 on.
The Chargers have allowed 29 sacks on their quarterback this year, ranking them middle-of-the-pack at No. 14 in the league. The Broncos have notched 37 sacks on defense, ranking them No. 10 heading into Week 16.
Being in the top-10 in sacks this late in the season without Von Miller all year is quite the achievement for Vic Fangio. But sans Chubb this week, if the Broncos are going to get after Herbert and affect the passer, it's going to take an inspired effort on the interior.
Guys like Shelby Harris, Dre'Mont Jones, and DeMarcus Walker will have to show out to stop Herbert from marching up and down the field and exploiting the Broncos' decimated cornerback corps.
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