Broncos' Fading Defense Must Be Challenged to Capitalize on Mini-Bye

The Denver Broncos' offense used the mini-bye between Weeks 10 and 11 to get back on track, and now it's time for the defense to do so ahead of the season finale vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dec 25, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton (49) celebrates after the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-13 on Christmas Night, but it was an ugly game where they were once again inconsistent on a short week. The last time this happened was in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but after that game, the offense improved for a few weeks. 

This time around, the Broncos need that turnaround on defense. Since that mini-bye (Week 10), Denver's defense has allowed seven-plus more points per game and nearly 100 more yards of offense.

It isn’t just the penalties or lack of takeaways that were an issue earlier in the season. Almost everything has seemed to falter since that mini-bye week. 

Now, to be clear, this isn't to say the Broncos have been terrible, though they were in their Week 16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But the Broncos haven’t been great.

Do You Have to Let Them Linger?

Dec 25, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown (5) misses a catch against Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

How you win doesn’t matter, but Denver allowed the Chiefs to hang on until the final play, with a third-string quarterback, fourth and fifth-string tackles, and most of their top offensive weapons sitting on injured reserve.

The Broncos' defense had the single-season sack record in its grasp, but since the mini-bye week, it has gotten out of reach. Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman have become Denver's premier edge rushers, and they're not the starters.

At the same time, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper have been quiet as pass rushers and struggling against the run, especially the latter. And their discipline has been poor.

In the secondary, safety Talanoa Hufanga has made some great plays, but for every great moment over this span, he has three terrible plays. Cornerback Riley Moss isn’t being penalized as often, but he is allowing more big plays, and his tackling technique has been awful, with roughly four missed tackles in each of the last two games. 

The Broncos are still doing well against the run, but that hasn't been as big a blessing as it should be because their pass rush and coverage units haven't met the same standard. Injuries aren’t an excuse, as every team is dealing with them at this point in the season, and it's been the consistent starters who are having the bigger issues. 

What happens next for the Broncos? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Mini-Bye: Broncos' Defense Must Improve

After their first mini-bye week, the Broncos' offense started putting it together. Even though they had an ugly game against the Chiefs, the Broncos' offense has been a much better unit than it was before Week 11.

If the Broncos' defense can have a similar turnaround coming out of this mini-bye week, that would put them in a great position with the playoffs two weeks away. 

The concern is that the Broncos have struggled to put together a complete game all season, aside from their Week 4 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, who were an unmitigated disaster at the time. The Broncos can’t get their defense on track, only for their offense to start faltering, which is why the offensive performance against the Chiefs can’t be overlooked. 

The Broncos had four scoring possessions of 14 or more plays in Kansas City, which is impressive. The Chiefs made Denver earn every inch of ground, but settling for field goals twice prevented that offensive display from impacting the scoreboard and the game as much as it should have. Again, good, not great.

The Takeaway

The Broncos had so many advantages on Christmas Night, given all the injuries the Chiefs have dealt with, but they allowed them to stay in the game until the final minute. Getting to 13 wins is an achievement, but there's still much to be concerned about with this Broncos team as it prepares to face the Los Angeles Chargers in the season finale, with the division crown and the top seed in the AFC possibly on the line.

The Broncos have to play significantly better than they have been defensively if they don’t want to get electrocuted in their finale and perhaps fall all the way to the No. 6 seed.