Broncos Defense Carries Denver in Win over Chargers

The Denver Broncos defense carried Denver to the win over the San Diego Chargers in Week 15. After the Week 11 loss to the St. Louis Rams, Denver seems to have a new formula for winning football games.

Now, they’re going to run the ball and play strong defense. Last year, this team won games with an aerial attack for the ages—but their defense wasn’t as strong. This year, the Broncos defense is stuffing the run, pressuring the quarterback and creating turnovers.

This recipe has led to the team’s current four-game winning streak.

Let’s take a look at how the Broncos were able to win with defense against the Chargers.

Shutting Down the Run

Harry How/Getty Images

The Broncos entered the week as the second-best rush defense in the league. They allow an average of only 72.8 rushing yards per game, and they had an even stronger performance in Week 15. On Sunday, they held the Chargers to 20 carries for 56 yards (2.8 yards per carry) on the ground.

Cornerback Aqib Talib succinctly summed up the team’s plan for handling the Chargers. “Stop the run and create a couple of turnovers. We felt like if we could do that we would be alright.”

Quarter	Att	Yds	YPC	YBC/Rush	YAC/Rush
1st	3	10	3.3
2nd	6	26	4.3
3rd	6	2	.3
4th	5	18	3.6
Total	20	56	2.8	1.45	2.1

The Broncos were more than alright. Their run defense forced the Chargers to become one-dimensional on offense.

Free Safety Rahim Moore feels great about the direction of the defense.

“The turnovers and play-making ability are showing. It all starts with Aqib Talib. He’s our ringleader. We got T.J. Ward who’s our second ringleader. Then you have Chris Harris and me. Those guys are playing outstanding.”

Moore continued, “I’m proud of us because never once were we selfish. We always stay together. I’m very happy about our communication and that’s why we play great defense today. Everybody is hitting on all cylinders.”

Now is the right time for the Broncos to be building momentum for the postseason. They are doing a good job of doing just that on the defensive side of the ball.

Harassing Philip Rivers

USA TODAY Sports

Denver didn’t sack Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers on Sunday, but they were able to get pressure on him at times.

The Broncos don’t blitz that often. While the league average of blitzes per dropback is 30.3 percent, Denver checks in at 21.0 percent on the season. This mark ranks the fifth-lowest in the NFL.

Against Rivers, Denver blitzed even less.

They only went after Rivers with extra pass-rushers on a paltry 7.1 percent of his dropbacks. Despite the lack of blitzing, Denver was still able to get pressure on Rivers on 19.0 percent of the Chargers passing plays.

Moore knows how important it was for this team to keep Rivers in check.

“He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. He knows the game. He’s smart, articulate and he makes plays. Today we did a good job of containing him.”

Rivers was uncomfortable for most of the game, and it showed through in his play. The Broncos were able to snare two interceptions on Sunday. Rivers came into the game with only 12 interceptions on the year, but he was pressured into forcing certain throws downfield—and the Denver defense took advantage.

Cornerback Chris Harris had nothing but praise for his teammates in the secondary after the game.

“It was huge. We knew that Philip Rivers was throwing the ball at that time and we knew that we would have chances to get picks. Rahim Moore made a great play undercutting the dig route. We were in control of the game but that clinched it.”

The Chargers were trying to come back late in the game, but the Broncos defense stopped them short. They did so by stuffing the run, forcing the Chargers to abandon a balanced offense and pressuring Rivers into bad decisions.

Playing Through Injuries

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

“Next man up” is a saying you’ll hear a lot out at Dove Valley. This is the Broncos' philosophy when dealing with injured players on either side of the ball. The next man on the depth chart must be prepared to go in the game (and perform) at a moment’s notice.

Linebacker Brandon Marshall left the game with a foot injury, and he did not return. Fox talked about the play of reserve linebacker Todd Davis.

“We’ve had issues at linebacker all season. Brandon Marshall left the game. Todd Davis we just acquired a few weeks ago. You have the next man up. With only 46 guys suited up, you have to rely on guys. Chris Clark came into the game for Ryan Clady. You do that all the time. That’s the NFL.”

Future Hall of Fame defensive end DeMarcus Ware knows the defense must keep things together, even when injuries strike.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is that our second string is just as good as our first string. It’s all about 11 guys playing together. It’s not a one-man show. Everybody stays together. We do everything together so we are always on the same page.”

With the injuries at the linebacker position, the Broncos were forced to play a bit more in their dime package. Talib explains, “We went with our dime package. We really had to because we had limited linebackers out with injuries. It’s next man up with us. We weren’t really worried about who was up.” Talib concluded, “We just knew that we had to win the game.”

Summary

With a victory over the Chargers, the Broncos won the AFC West for the fourth year in a row. Talib explains where that goal ranked for the team at the beginning of the year.

“It was a playoff game for them. It was a championship game for us, and we definitely played like that. It’s the first goal we were trying to accomplish for the season.” Talib exclaimed, “We got our first championship of the season.”

Winning the division was the first step for the Broncos. Next, they are trying to get home-field advantage through the playoffs and secure a much-needed first-round bye.

So long as the defense keeps playing the way it has been over the last few weeks, the Broncos should be able to snare at least the second seed in the AFC playoff bracket.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via email from the Denver Broncos unless otherwise noted. Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by ProSportsTransactions.com.