Denver Broncos stifle Marshawn Lynch with revived run defense

[Denver Native (Carol)]

DENVER -- They muted Melvin Gordon, erased Ezekiel Elliott and snuffed Shady, a.k.a. LeSean McCoy. So when the Denver Broncos suited up Sunday for a battle with the Oakland Raiders and their punishing, recently unretired running back, they were fairly confident they could blot out Beast Mode, too.

Nine carries for 12 yards later, Marshawn Lynch had been made painfully aware of a new reality in the Rockies: The Broncos, who last year seemed to be defending opposing runners with red capes and shouts of "Toro!" have called B.S. on that state of affairs. Four games into the 2017 season, it's clear that Denver is giving no ground -- and that's a major reason it looks poised to make some serious noise in the AFC.

In a battle of AFC West rivals coming off disappointing defeats, the Broncos (3-1) smothered the Raiders' offense in a 16-10 victory at Sports Authority Field, sending 76,909 fans home happy after safety Justin Simmons made a game-clinching interception at the Denver 8-yard-line with 1:46 remaining. And while the newest member of the No Fly Zone might have finished things, it was the No Room To Run crew which once again set the tone against suddenly struggling Oakland (2-2).

"We're gonna shut down everybody we play, I promise you," said inside linebacker Brandon Marshall, who had six tackles on Sunday. "We just have a different tenacity about us this year, a different mindset. A lot of guys came back stronger and more focused. We're just more aggressive, more confident."

rest - http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000855220/article/broncos-blot-out-beast-mode-with-revived-run-defense

[Denver Native (Carol)]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?

[NightTrainLayne]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?

No, I don't think that at all.

[Cugel]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?

Well, there's only two things an offense can do: run the ball or throw the ball. If they can't run it, they have to throw it. But, that makes them one-dimensional. If this continues, expect the Broncos defense to continue to be ranked #1 against the run, and mediocre against the pass, because teams are going to have to throw on them.

The problems are all on offense, where the Broncos are just sucking and failing to score points in the red zone. There's not much hope of fixing those problems unless the OL improves, and right now it's just as horrible as last year.

[Davii]

Well, there's only two things an offense can do: run the ball or throw the ball. If they can't run it, they have to throw it. But, that makes them one-dimensional. If this continues, expect the Broncos defense to continue to be ranked #1 against the run, and mediocre against the pass, because teams are going to have to throw on them.

The problems are all on offense, where the Broncos are just sucking and failing to score points in the red zone. There's not much hope of fixing those problems unless the OL improves, and right now it's just as horrible as last year.

I have no doubt that the "No Fly Zone" will turn back to dominant once our young safeties have some more experience under their belts. Yes, they both have more athletic skill than TJ possessed at this point in time, however, they aren't TJ, they still have some learning to do.

Also, once we Have Shane Ray back I think our pass rush will get an extra jump, and the longer Joe Woods is calling the D shots the better he'll get at it. I don't think because we're stuffing the run we'll be mediocre against the pass... We were bad against the run last year because we were bad against the run, not because we were the #1 pass D.

[MOtorboat]

They're only allowing 210 yards per game...they're doing just fine.

[DenBronx]

Is our run defense for real? We shut down Gordon, Elliot, McCoy and Lynch. Held them to a combined 50 rush attempts and 95 yards with 0 TDs?

Peko imo was our most needed offseason FA addition.

[topscribe]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?
Definitely. First, it helps to create third-and-longs, which makes it very difficult to get first downs.
We saw that last Sunday when Oakland never saw the red zone. It also allows the pass rushers
to pin their ears back on second and third downs, which not only creates sacks but, probably just
as important, pressures, which lead to incompletions and interceptions. The one-dimensional
effect on the offense makes it very hard for the opponent to win the game.

[wayninja]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?

I think to some degree it is. We are stacking more boxes which gives us a bit fewer resources in zone schemes. When you combine that with the fact that our pass rush isn't world beating like it was, you are giving a bit up to make sure you are stopping the run. Effectively we are daring teams more often to throw the ball.

It hasn't really been super exploited, but we saw Buffalo basically move the ball nearly at will in the air. The short amount of yards allowed, was more a testament to the short fields than it was to some great performance by the secondary.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

I think to some degree it is. We are stacking more boxes which gives us a bit fewer resources in zone schemes. When you combine that with the fact that our pass rush isn't world beating like it was, you are giving a bit up to make sure you are stopping the run. Effectively we are daring teams more often to throw the ball.

It hasn't really been super exploited, but we saw Buffalo basically move the ball nearly at will in the air. The short amount of yards allowed, was more a testament to the short fields than it was to some great performance by the secondary.

Actually, VJ talked about it saying that we're playing more zone than before. Our pass defense lives for man-under coverage which allows our strength (DBs and pass rushers) to lock in. Zone, no matter how well it's played, creates gaps in the coverage that can be exploited if the pass rush doesn't get there. The benefit of zone is that everyone is looking at the QB and RB and they can't break out and get big gains because the defense's backs are to them. If we continue to play more zone, passing yardage will be higher. If we revert back to more man coverage, passing yards will go down but most likely at the expense of rushing yardage.

[wayninja]

Actually, VJ talked about it saying that we're playing more zone than before. Our pass defense lives for man-under coverage which allows our strength (DBs and pass rushers) to lock in. Zone, no matter how well it's played, creates gaps in the coverage that can be exploited if the pass rush doesn't get there. The benefit of zone is that everyone is looking at the QB and RB and they can't break out and get big gains because the defense's backs are to them. If we continue to play more zone, passing yardage will be higher. If we revert back to more man coverage, passing yards will go down but most likely at the expense of rushing yardage.

I don't think we are saying different things. More zone and more stacked boxes, with less effective pass rush than last year means more yards in the air being allowed. So far, that trade off has been a good one.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Our pass rush hasn’t been as good so far. Hopefully that will change when Ray is up to speed.

[Freyaka]

Well, there's only two things an offense can do: run the ball or throw the ball. If they can't run it, they have to throw it. But, that makes them one-dimensional. If this continues, expect the Broncos defense to continue to be ranked #1 against the run, and mediocre against the pass, because teams are going to have to throw on them.

The problems are all on offense, where the Broncos are just sucking and failing to score points in the red zone. There's not much hope of fixing those problems unless the OL improves, and right now it's just as horrible as last year.

Well and the thing is, we're not even ranked mediocre against the pass. We're ranked 10th. The nature of the league today is that it's pass happy. 210 YPG is what we are averaging and that's good enough for 10th this year.

[Freyaka]

I mentioned this in my stats thread for the week, but we're not far from being on pace to set the record for fewest rushing yards allowed in a season. I doubt we hit it because we're going to start giving up more yards at some point, but what is craziest about the fact that we're even close to being on pace for it, is that it was set in a season that only had 9 football games played.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

The numbers alone are staggering, but they tell only half the story. Because with every mention of the Broncos’ stifling 50.8 yards rushing allowed per game, their NFL-low 260.8 total yards allowed per game or their 1.9-yards-per-carry average surrendered to a quartet of Pro Bowl running backs comes an inherent qualifier:

What if?

What if the Broncos (3-1) eliminated the deep passing plays that led to three touchdowns in the first four weeks of the season?

What if they continue to suffocate their opponents’ running game but also shut down their passing attack?

“That’s the scary part. From the outside looking in, is there is so much more that could be accomplished with this defense,” safety Justin Simmons said. “It’s scary because, all in all, we played pretty well (against the Oakland Raiders last weekend), lights out. But there are a lot of plays we left out there on the field, where they shouldn’t have scored at all.”

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/06/broncos-defense-ceiling/

[Cugel]

I have no doubt that the "No Fly Zone" will turn back to dominant once our young safeties have some more experience under their belts. Yes, they both have more athletic skill than TJ possessed at this point in time, however, they aren't TJ, they still have some learning to do.

Also, once we Have Shane Ray back I think our pass rush will get an extra jump, and the longer Joe Woods is calling the D shots the better he'll get at it. I don't think because we're stuffing the run we'll be mediocre against the pass... We were bad against the run last year because we were bad against the run, not because we were the #1 pass D.

I'd say you have it backwards. We were great against the pass because we were great against the pass with Aqub Talib & Chris Harris. But, the two things are interrelated.

Even if your secondary is great, you will NOT be #1 against the pass if teams can't run on your defense at all - like teams cannot run at all on the 2017 Broncos, because the DL with Gotsis, Wolfe, and Pecko is playing like so many werewolves. So, what are they going to do?

Test the no-fly zone. With what result? Mixed. If they throw more they will get more completions and more yards, but they're also taking more chances and will probably suffer more turnovers. But, the statistical ranking of the defense is based on passing yards allowed.

That's the official measure of being the NFL's #1 defense: you gave up fewer passing yards than anybody else. Well, they're unlikely to be that for the third year in a row. They're not close to #1 now.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I'd say you have it backwards. We were great against the pass because we were great against the pass with Aqub Talib & Chris Harris. But, the two things are interrelated.

Even if your secondary is great, you will NOT be #1 against the pass if teams can't run on your defense at all - like teams cannot run at all on the 2017 Broncos, because the DL with Gotsis, Wolfe, and Pecko is playing like so many werewolves. So, what are they going to do?

Test the no-fly zone. With what result? Mixed. If they throw more they will get more completions and more yards, but they're also taking more chances and will probably suffer more turnovers. But, the statistical ranking of the defense is based on passing yards allowed.

That's the official measure of being the NFL's #1 defense: you gave up fewer passing yards than anybody else. Well, they're unlikely to be that for the third year in a row. They're not close to #1 now.

That’s all true, but the fact is teams have more time to throw this year. Our pass rush isn’t as good as it was. Last year we had both Ray and Ware. This year we have neither.

[Cugel]

That’s all true, but the fact is teams have more time to throw this year. Our pass rush isn’t as good as it was. Last year we had both Ray and Ware. This year we have neither.

Ray is coming back and should be a serious factor in the second half of the season, assuming he can stay healthy. That is just huge because he forces teams to re-think automatically double and triple teaming Von Miller on every play, because Ray will hurt their QB if they leave him against a single OT.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Ray is coming back and should be a serious factor in the second half of the season, assuming he can stay healthy. That is just huge because he forces teams to re-think automatically double and triple teaming Von Miller on every play, because Ray will hurt their QB if they leave him against a single OT.

Agreed, which will also benefit Barrett who seems to excel in a rotational role.

[BroncoNut]

It is great that the defense is now shutting down the run. Does anyone feel that could mean that by shutting down the run, it is taking away somewhat from shutting down the pass?

most definitely it would have some positive impact for the defense in the secondary and at the LOS...
this is all I have at this time.