Sean Payton says the Denver Broncos defense isn’t fading, despite the stats in recent games.
On Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars went up and down the Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, there were many missed tackles, and the away team scored on 4-5 red zone drives.
But the head coach isn’t worried.
Sean Payton says Denver Broncos defense isn’t fading
“I don’t buy it,” Payton said on Monday after the 34-20 loss to the Jaguars. To wit, the 34 points was the most any opponent has scored on the Broncos defense all year long. On top of that, the 4-5 scores in the red zone was enough to drop Denver to No. 2 in red zone defense, now allowing scores on 43.2% of drives.
“Our defense played pretty well last week,” Payton continued, speaking about the Packers game. “You look for those trends, and I think our defense has been outstanding this year. They [Jacksonville] played a good offense yesterday, and look, they struggled. We didn’t play well yesterday defensively. But certainly, the week before against a good offense, we played well and had a big win. So I don’t see it.”
Despite going 3-1 over the last four games, the defense has allowed 25.8 points per game, nearly a touchdown higher than their average for the year (19.7 PPG). They’re also giving up 339 yards of total offense to opponents, which is 47.4 yards more per game than average.
“We didn’t tackle,” Pro Bowler Zach Allen said after the loss on Sunday. “We didn’t execute on defense. When you do those two things you aren’t going to be in a great spot. But again, fixable things and move on.”
Denver also had three penalties called on the defense last week for 41 yards. Including the ticky-tack pass interference in the end zone that set up a Jags touchdown.
“I mean, it is what it is,” Pro Bowler Nik Bonitto said of the flags. “We just have to find ways to not create those penalties for us. A lot of those times, it’s keeping drives alive and giving teams scoring opportunities. So we just have to be better.”
One bright spot as of late has been the rush defense. They allowed a season-low 40 rush yards to the Raiders, and then kept the Jaguars to 81 rushing yards, their 3rd-lowest total of the year.
Another bright spot is the wounded Chiefs are on the schedule next. Denver faces 6-9 Kansas City who just lost their second string quarterback Gardner Minshew to an MCL injury. The Broncos (12-3) face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Christmas Night, with a 6:15 p.m. MT kickoff time.
It’s an opportunity for a get-right game for both the defense and Bo Nix, who struggled at times against the Jaguars.
“I mean, we are a close team,” rookie cornerback Jahdae Barron said. “We are very family-oriented, so just coming together to clean up mistakes. Also hitting on the things you do well too. So just hitting on the mistakes and the things that you do well, and just bring it all back together on a short week, go out there and play Kansas City.”
