Denver Broncos inside linebacker Cody Barton turned in one of his best performances of the season in Thursday Night’s win against the New Orleans Saints. In our latest Denver Broncos Film Room, we take a look at some of the key plays he made and how it fit in with what the Broncos defense was doing.
Denver Broncos Film Room highlights Cody Barton’s big day vs. Saints
Denver Broncos inside linebacker Cody Barton had one of the best performances of the season in the team’s win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football. In a game where the Broncos defense had to play without Patrick Surtain II, who missed the game due to a concussion, Barton and the rest of the Denver defense found a way to step up.
Barton finished the game with a team-high eight tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery for a touchdown, and one pass defensed. He also would have had another defensive touchdown on another strip-sack, but an offsides penalty on Denver’s defense negated the play.
One thing that stood out on Thursday and in the film room you see above is Barton’s high energy and high effort. On one play, he is walked up to the line of scrimmage showing a blitz look, and then when the ball is snapped he gets to his drop depth of about 8-10 yards to play coverage, but when nothing opens up for Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, Barton chases in pursuit and stops him one yard shy of the first down marker on third down.
On his strip sack play that was recovered by Kwon Alexander, Barton does a great job of not showing blitz presnap, and then proceeds to time it perfectly, getting home on Rattler and forcing the turnover. His touchdown play saw Denver send seven men on a blitz look, with Ja’Quan McMillian strip sacking Rattler and the ball falling perfectly into the hands of Barton who took it the distance.
Cody Barton was the energizer bunny for the Broncos defense against the Saints and this film room review highlights that and so much more.