Thread: How Bad Was the Broncos Defense in 2014?

Forget the fluff stats like yardage. The Broncos defense was horrible in 2014. They were 16th in points allowed despite playing a bevy of bad offensive teams. The Broncos only played a total of 5 teams during the regular season that ranked in the top 15 in offense. Only one of those teams was a top 5 offense. Here are the results of those games.

Indianapolis (6th)- 24 points allowed
Seattle (10th)- 26 points allowed
New England (4th)- 43 points allowed
Miami (11th)- 36 points allowed
Cincinnati (15th)- 37 points allowed

That's an average of 33.2 points/game allowed. Pitiful. Personnel-wise, this was one of the most talented defenses the Broncos have ever fielded. 3 pro bowlers in the secondary, 2 elite pass rushers, and a pro bowl caliber nose tackle. This season was a coaching abortion. Von Miller in coverage during passing downs half the game, Talib playing 10-15 yards off of his man, etc. etc. I thank JDR for his service, but I can't wait to see what an aggressive defensive coordinator does with this talent.

Give me a guy, any guy that can use players in the role that they are most effective in and this is a top 5 defense in both yardage and points allowed. Watch what Von Miller can do when he's actually rushing the passer on passing downs. Watch TJ Ward blowing people up like he did in Cleveland and return to being the intimidator that the Broncos signed him to be. Watch Talib neutralizing receivers when he's allowed to play physical with them at the line of scrimmage. It's going to be fun boys and girls. Whoever they hire, you can bet on one thing. It will be a coach that can get the most out of his players, and adapt their scheme to fit their strengths. It's already done on the offensive side of the ball. Elway will hire a defensive coordinator that can get it done on the defensive side as well.

Not only were we 3rd best in yards allowed and 2nd in rushing yards allowed, we were 8th best in rushing TDs allowed and led the league in forcing three-and-outs. However, that doesn't disprove your main point, especially since we gave up a shocking number of 3rd and long conversions through the air, which frequently nullified all the good things we did to stuff opponents on 1st and 2nd down. Sprinting all over the field and laying wood at the start of a series doesn't do anything but tire defenders out unless they finish the job on 3rd down, and if it keeps up they find themselves exhausted at their own goal line.

That's actually my sole reservation about bringing Wade or Joseph: While they took Kubiaks Houston D from worst to a-step-below-first in a single season, they remained vulnerable to deep balls in much the same way. Some of that was a 12-4 team holding big second half leads that forced opponents to pass, but not all of it.

A case in point was their Week 16 trying to clinch homefield against and Indy team they'd beaten two weeks earlier: The Colts LED late by 5 late in the 4th qtr, but that was still less than a TD and Houston had a great chance to pull out the win after they pushed Indy out of FG range on 1st and 2nd down to leave them facing 3rd and 23 against guys like JJ Watt and Jonathan Joseph—but the 70 yd TD bomb that followed effectively ended the game and Houstons hopes of a bye, while virtually clinching a wildcard spot for Indy. That's Rahim Moore level D Kubes and Phillips/Joseph couldn't afford in Denver either.

This rather selective. Three of those games were on the road, one of which as an overtime loss in Seattle. For the year they gave up average 22 points per game. The defense wasn't bad through the coarse of season.

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

This rather selective. Three of those games were on the road, one of which as an overtime loss in Seattle. For the year they gave up average 22 points per game. The defense wasn't bad of the coarse of season.

It really was. And this isn't selective. It's showing how bad this team was against better offenses. Not top 5 offenses. Decent offenses. The numbers were skewed because Denver played so many weak offenses. This defense had no chance in the playoffs. I'm glad that Del Rio has moved on. Watch this defense fly up into the top 5 in points allowed this season. The talent is there. The coaching wasn't.

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

This rather selective.

That's the thing: Nearly ALL our defensive stats are selective, because we were either great or terrible in EVERYTHING, no in between: http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/den/2014.htm

The Good
1st in three-and-outs
3rd in total yds
2nd in rushing yds
4th in rushing yds/att
8th in rushing TDs
1st in net passing yds/att
7th in Ints
9th in passing yds

The Bad
14th in turnovers forced
14th in passing 1st downs
16th in points allowed
23rd in fumbles recovered
24th in scoring drives
25th in passing TDs
26th in in drives ending in turnovers

How can ANY team lead the NFL in three-and-outs but be 14th in passing conversions and 24th in scoring drives? That means nearly every opposing drive either punts IMMEDIATELY or scores; we're only a bit above average in forcing turnovers, so they're not ending that way. The fact we DID force immediate punts more than any other team shows we've got the talent and CAN make stops, because we have—just not CONSISTENTLY, and that's about leadership, maintaining focus, execution and game planning. In other words, coaching.

Denver was great at 3& out but gave up a lot of long drives for TDs. Too often did I see miller in coverage on 3rd and long with only 3 DL. IMO coaches were not aggressive enough with this D

Coaching staff was dependent on talent alone, but under achieving coaching, poor adjustments and bad schemes were holding the D back IMO.

Originally Posted by Ziggy

It really was. And this isn't selective. It's showing how bad this team was against better offenses. Not top 5 offenses. Decent offenses. The numbers were skewed because Denver played so many weak offenses. This defense had no chance in the playoffs. I'm glad that Del Rio has moved on. Watch this defense fly up into the top 5 in points allowed this season. The talent is there. The coaching wasn't.

I disagree Denver one of the toughest schedules in League.

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

I disagree Denver one of the toughest schedules in League.

I'm not talking about the teams they played as a whole. I'm talking about the offenses they played. As I said in my original post, Denver only played one offense that was in the top 5, and 5 offenses in the top 15.

The most frustrating thing for me was watching Miller/Ware rushing the passer vs mobile QBs, very conservative, seemed like their main objective was to keep QBs from scrambling out of the pocket. Denver had the 4th lowest blitzing percentage.