The Broncos defense has been having trouble recently getting off the field as quickly as they’d like. Other teams’ offenses have seemed to figure out how to move down field on this dominant group.
After losing their last two games against the Falcons and Chargers, the defense is beginning to realize they need to change up their game, just like their opponents have done; it’s time to give them a new look.
“I think we could come out and switch it up a little bit,” Chris Harris Jr. told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports Radio. “Teams are coming out with a good grasp of what we do. I think it’s us, too; we could bring some more effort. We could be a little more aggressive and start changing it up on teams. Give them a couple different looks. We always adjust pretty well. Give them something new in the beginning, like the other teams have given us.”
With the veteran presence this defense has, Harris knows they can make the switch that needs to be made.
“We can do a lot of different things,” Harris said. “Give the quarterback different coverage and then switch up to something different. We’re a veteran group in the back end, so we can try to disguise a little better. We have just been standing still out there, stagnant, and have made it a little easier for the quarterbacks.”
In the first four games of the season, the Broncos were playing as if they demanded respect from their opponents. That has seemed to go away the last two games, but against the Texans this Monday, this defense will be playing with a new-found hunger.
“Everybody will play with that chip,” Harris said. “It will be great having Coach Kubiak back this week. We will get back in that winning column.”
The Falcons were able to rush for 122 yards in Week 5, which was frustrating for the Broncos’ defensive line. They seemed to improve slightly against the Chargers, only giving up 99 yards in the run game. As the weeks go on, this team will continue to improve on stopping the run.
“Against the Chargers, we felt like our runs per carry were pretty good,” Harris said. “We have some new guys up front, and as the season goes on we feel like those guys will get better and better. I have faith in those guys, especially the linebackers. Those guys will just continue to get better. The secondary has to continue to make those plays and that’s going to change the game.”
It all comes down to coming out with a new look teams haven’t seen from the Broncos. Once they make the game harder for the quarterback, the defense’s dominant success will start to come back.
“It’s something we can correct easily,” Harris said. “We can come out and switch up some looks on coverage. Once we do that and give these quarterbacks a harder read, to throw the ball, we’re gonna be right back to getting off the field at the start of the game.”
To listen to the whole interview with Chris Harris Jr, including his thoughts on playing Brock Osweiler, click the podcast below…
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/10-17-16-chris-harris-jr-joins-eric-and-les-and-says-they-want-a-piece-of-brock-osweiler
Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro Monday-Friday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.