Sunday was not easy for Russell Wilson. The veteran Seahawks quarterback constantly found himself staring down the barrel of Denver’s dangerous pass rush, which looked nearly unblockable at times.
Von Miller was definitely the MVP of the game, but the rotation of Bradley Chubb, Shane Ray, and Shaquil Barrett looked unstoppable in the victory as well. Miller recorded a career-high three sacks, had seven tackles and also forced two fumbles Sunday afternoon. Simply put, Miller was a man on a mission and that mission was to disrupt Seattle’s offense.
While Miller racked up the majority of the standout stats, the entire front seven played a part in causing mayhem in the Seattle backfield. Guys like Chubb, Ray, Barrett, and Derek Wolfe may not always stand out on the stat sheet, but it is clear that their efforts help impact players like Miller get to the QB.
When the Broncos had the infamous Super Bowl 50 run, Denver’s defensive front seven constantly wrecked havoc by disrupting offenses at the line of scrimmage. In the victory Sunday, the defense resembled that 2015 unit and it ultimately made the difference. The Broncos recorded six sacks as team and Miller recorded his first multi-sack game since Denver won the World Championship in February, 2016.
The scary part is that Denver’s pass rush should only continue to improve-though it will be hard to match Sunday’s statistical output-as the defensive chemistry gets better and Chubb develops.
Chubb started his NFL career on the right path, finishing his first regular season game with half of a sack. It would be his only sack of the game, but despite not filling the stat sheet up, Chubb made his presence felt.
Along with Chubb, Ray and Barrett played fantastic in their rotational roles for Week 1. The duo has been very consistent when healthy and each has an incentive to perform with their respective futures in Denver in question. It will be interesting to see how the two perform for the rest of the season with new contracts being on the line.
