Broncos' Defense Needs More Takeaways to Be Considered Great

What the Denver Broncos defense is doing this season is incredible. The defense is why the Broncos have been in every game through Week 7, despite the anemic offense.

It will be difficult to find a team with this type of defensive performance and a losing record throughout the modern history of the NFL. One only has to look at the numbers to understand how good the Broncos playing on defense. In every game except one, Denver has held its opponent to fewer points and yards than what they average entering the matchup.

The Broncos held the Seattle Seahawks to 17 points and 253 total yards in Week 1. The Seahawks' average, including that game, is 28 points and 381 yards. The Broncos held them below average by 11 points and 128 yards.

In Week 2, the Broncos held the Houston Texans to 10 points and 91 yards below their average. Then the San Francisco 49ers came to town, and were held to 13 points and 103 yards below their average.

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Weeks 5, 6, and 7 are all the same story. The Broncos' defense held each team below their average output by no less than five points and 65 yards.

The only team that outperformed their average against the Broncos was the Las Vegas Raiders. However, that is only when viewed on paper because one of the Raiders’ touchdowns came on a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by their defense.

If you exclude those points, the Broncos held the Raiders to one point below their average. In total yards, the Raiders outperformed their average against the Broncos, and that was due to their running game. The Broncos' defense held the Raiders below their average by nearly 80 yards in the passing game.

What makes this even more incredible is that the Broncos have produced these performances with defensive starters missing significant time due to injury. OLB Randy Gregory and FS Justin Simmons both landed on injured reserve and have missed the required four games.

CB Ronald Darby was placed on injured reserve with a season-ending ACL injury. He has missed two full games and part of another.

LB Josey Jewell has been sidelined most of the season due to a nagging injury. Valuable backup safety Caden Sterns has missed time, and starting LB Jonas Griffith was hurt in the preseason and had to work his way back to significant playing time during the regular season.

Denver's defensive performance in the face of all the injuries and an impotent offense is nothing short of amazing. This defense is on pace to allow only 279 points in a 17-game season with an offense that is so dreadful that it is on pace to have a top-five worst scoring output in Broncos' history.

Consider that Denver's other top-five poor season-long offensive performances occurred back when only 14 games were played, and one came during a strike-shortened season.

For this 2022 defense to be considered one of the greats, it needs one element to rise significantly: takeaways. The Broncos have been unable to get the turnovers at a pace that the other great defenses have done in the past.

The Broncos are on pace for only 17 takeaways on the year. The great defenses of the past typically had double that output.

Furthermore, the Broncos haven't forced turnovers at the same rate that the opposing offenses have given up. The only offenses Denver forced the same number (or more) of turnovers in a game were when it faced off against the Niners (one additional takeaway than average) and the Indianapolis Colts (same number as the average). Had the Broncos' defense netted more takeaways, it's quite possible the team would have a record above .500.

The 2022 Broncos' defense can be considered a very good defense if it continues to perform as it has to date, but not one of the greats, due to the lack of takeaways. Considering that the deck has been stacked against them, what the Broncos have done so far defensively is nothing short of amazing.

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