WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. — It was them, not him.
The Broncos defense let Vance Joseph down exactly a year ago this week, failing to communicate, tackle or provide effort in an embarrassing 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins that had some calling for his head.
Rather than point fingers at the players, Joseph looked in the mirror. This gets lost when explaining how the Broncos won five straight last season, and why they won last weekend.
Given every reason to go volcanic, Joseph remained calmer than a lagoon. His unwavering belief created trust. A year later, Joseph’s defense is the reason the Broncos are flirting with relevancy.
In a sport where head coaches and coordinators have egos bigger than the 11,000-acre Greenbrier Resort the Broncos currently call home, Joseph tucks his under his pillow like a mint.
“If you are going to be in this league for a long time as a coordinator you have to evolve. I hate saying I am a 3-4 guy or a 4-3 guy. I am a defensive coordinator,” Joseph said after a soggy practice beneath the Allegheny Mountains. “It’s players first. It’s what’s in the building that allows you to have success, so my scheme always fits them. That’s how you win — with players.”
The modesty is refreshing as it is rare. But let’s not wait around for Miley Cyrus to give him his flowers. Joseph deserves them now, regardless of how this season plays out.
It’s not like the Broncos’ went from Red Faces to the Orange Rush because of a free-agent windfall. They added complementary pieces in defensive end John Franklin-Myers, safety Brandon Jones and defensive lineman Malcolm Roach. They also cut Justin Simmons and made no attempt to keep linebacker Josey Jewell.
Yeah, it’s about the players. And I thought the defense would be better against the run by beefing up around Zach Allen and D.J. Jones. And it is, allowing 126.0 yards per game compared to 177.7 at this time last season. But coaching matters. And few have had a better three weeks than Joseph — the same guy Broncos Country despised as a head coach and wanted fired last September.
The statistics reveal a story Joseph refuses to tell. Multiple Broncos insisted this summer that this group would play faster and have a nasty disposition, that Joseph “would keep riding that wave we created last year,” explained D.J. Jones.
But it has gone well beyond that. They are attacking, playing downhill, fighting as if their opponents have hammerheads and razor-sharp teeth. The Broncos are rolling in the deep.
They ranked last in three critical categories after three games last season: net yards, yards per play and points per game. They rank third, third and sixth, respectively, this season. One of the hardest things to do in sports is have confidence without results. Joseph inspired the defenders last season when they were awful, and now they are in a tornadic feeding frenzy. They posted seven sacks against Tampa Bay.
“Confidence is one of the biggest things in this league. And once you see you can do it, it’s a whole lot easier doing it again,” Franklin-Myers said. “The first win is always the hardest, the first tackle is the hardest, and the first sack is the hardest. After that, you realize this man puts his pants on like everybody else, so (bleep) strap it up and go.”
Nobody expects the Broncos to beat the heavily favored Jets on Sunday, though Sean Payton exacting revenge on Nathaniel Hackett would be delicious.
There is a path to an upset. It goes through VJ’s defense. The Jets offensive line is leaky, so if the Broncos can slow the running game, they can upend a one-dimensional opponent, even with Aaron Rodgers slinging it.
Why? Joseph is coaching with uncommon aggression. The Broncos’ 44.8% pressure rate ranks third overall and their 14 sacks are second. With three corners (Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian) providing coverage tighter than SaranWrap, the rush is getting home. And you also saw at Tampa Bay how much the edge players benefit from playing with a lead, forever a foreign concept in these parts.
“The pressure rate is just game planning, right? Sometimes you’re going to bring pressure. Sometimes you don’t. We’re a 3-4 front, so it can be a four-man rush that sometimes looks like a five-man rush and it’s not really five. We have simulated pressure that looks like five and it’s only four,” Joseph said. “It’s just calling plays and having game plans to stop what they do best. That’s our first order of business, and the game plan also helps our players to navigate their job.”
With all due respect to Bo Nix, if the Broncos overachieve this season it will be because of Joseph’s defense. He won’t say it, so I will.
It’s not them, it’s him.
What a difference a year makes
A look at how this year’s Broncos defense stacks up to last year’s through three weeks:
| 2023 | Rank | 2024 | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Yards | 458.3 | 32 | 259.3 | 3 |
| Yards per play | 7.2 | 32 | 4.73 | 3 |
| PPG | 40.7 | 32 | 15.3 | 6 |
| Net Rushing | 177.7 | 32 | 126 | 21 |
| Net passing | 280.7 | 29 | 133 | 2 |
| Sacks | 4 | 28 | 14 | 2 |
| 3rd Down % | 34.3 | 24 | 36.1 | 18 |
| Red Zone TD % | 45.5 | 25 | 301 | 4 |
(Can’t see chart on mobile? Click here.)
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