Why Denver’s defense is so good at every level

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Sometimes a game goes completely differently than how you guessed it would. I thought the Denver defense was good—really good—but that Aaron Rodgers was good enough to get things done in spite of that. Rodgers ended Sunday with 77 passing yards—the lowest total of his NFL career—and the Green Bay offense had the very life choked out of them by a Broncos’ defense that isn’t just good, but might be one of the best the league has ever seen.

What makes this Broncos defense so good is that there are no evident weak links. There are players all over the front seven that can get pressure; the secondary isn’t just talented, but deep enough that they can take away not only your best receiver, but your entire receiving corps every play. And, oh, by the way, they have a couple of legit linebackers sandwiched between the two groups.

What we saw against the Packers was a total team performance from a defense that was able to attack the Green Bay offense from every level. The defensive front brought consistent pressure and kept Rodgers contained, and the secondary was able to blanket receivers across the board—and for longer than I can ever remember seeing from a defense.

rest - https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/11/05/why-denvers-defense-against-aaron-rodgers-was-unreal/

videos showing plays from the game

[Joel]

All about timing: The article was linked in the Gameday thread about an hour earlier, but deserves a thread of its own. It's dead on that we don't "just" have tons of great coverage CBs and far more great pass rushers than our OLBs, but two very good coverage ILBs who can play the run, too. Seven seconds is an eternity to throw, especially against a pass rush leading the league in sacks, but it usually STILL wasn't enough against our secondary.

I also don't think our front seven gets enough credit for containing true dual threats like Rodgers and Smith while also sustaining a heavy pass rush and containing elite RBs like Charles and Peterson. A big reason balanced offense is so appealing is because it's hard to cover the whole field indefinitely, but that's pretty much what we do on most downs. It's only possible because the D's solid EVERYWHERE, with good depth nearly everywhere (not sure who's rotating with Sly when Kilgo's deactivated, but we don't miss a beat.)