By now, nearly everyone who follows the Denver Broncos know they’re up against it. They have a backup quarterback, Jarrett Stidham, who’s appeared in just one game this season leading them in the AFC Championship game on Sunday against the New England Patriots, and the chances that they’re going to win this game with their offense are basically slim and none.
Denver’s punchers chance on Sunday is about their defense, and last weekend against the Buffalo Bills, the Broncos did something they haven’t really done before. They turned into a takeaway machine, forcing a fumble from Bills running back James Cook III, then taking advantage of quarterback Josh Allen’s ball security issues to post a total of five turnovers.
Coach Sean Payton has been harping on this possibility for weeks now, and his defense finally came through. It was linebacker Alex Singleton who forced the initial fumble, and fellow linebacker Jonathan Cooper summarized the obvious in a piece written by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic.
“It changed the game for us,” linebacker Jonathon Cooper said. “It changed the game for us and that’s the spark that we needed. He set it off.”
The Broncos also had two takeaways in their season finale win over the Los Angeles Chargers, so that’s seven in two games, although the Chargers turnover have less meaning given that they happened against backup quarterback Trey Lance.
“It was something that we talked about,” said defensive back Ja’Quan McMillian, whose interception keyed the 33-30 overtime win. “Sean (Payton) was like, ‘We get a clean slate.’ We didn’t do a real good job in the regular season, so it was kind of emphasized to us in practice. He told us we had a clean slate. We just came out there and played hard, man.”
“He’s been pretty [upset] at us over the turnovers this year,” added linebacker Nik Bonitto. “He’s made a huge emphasis on it. He said he didn’t care about sacks anymore. He just wants turnovers. That was a big emphasis and we got some today.”
The Broncos will have an opportunity to do more of the same against New England on Sunday. The Patriots turned the ball over three times in their 28-16 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, and Pats quarterback Drake Maye has had ball security issues all year long when he’s force to be a pocket passer.
Maye also struggled to recognize where pressure was coming from on Sunday, and rookie left tackle Will Campbell was consistently pushed back into the young quarterback by Houston pass rusher Will Anderson Jr.. Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joesph has all kinds of speed rushers available to bring pressure, so look for Joseph to exploit this weakness.
The counter that the Broncos will have to consider is the strength of the New England running game. Denver struggled mightily against Cook for most of the game last weekend, and Rhamondre Stephenson was a beast for New England, ripping off power runs that will doubtless be part of the Patriots strategy.
The Broncos are well aware of how difficult this game is going to be, but they want to show they can win with Stidham.
“Let’s step it up for this guy and give him as many opportunities as we can,” Singleton said of Stidham during a SiriusXM interview yesterday. “That’s what we’re going to do.”