The Denver Broncos’ defensive stars did not come to play
We already talked about Chris Harris Jr.’s performance on Sunday, but he wasn’t the only big-name player to have their worst game of the year; both Von Miller (-2.6) and DeMarcus Ware (-1.8) were almost completely ineffective, finishing with a combined one quarterback hit and two hurries.
As PFF’s No. 2 pass rush and the league leader in sacks, that’s a disappointing performance in a game the Broncos absolutely needed to close out.
And it’s not like the Broncos didn’t try to get to Ben Roethlisberger; they blitzed 33 times (57 percent of all drop backs), but only pressured Big Ben 16 times, amounting to three sacks. And on those blitzes, Big Ben completed 62.5 percent of their passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, though the Broncos did come away with two interceptions.
Actually, one of the few players who had a good game was David Bruton, who, once again, was playing with a broken leg! With 81 defensive snaps, more than any other Broncos defender, Bruton’s 2.9 grade was higher than Harris (-7.0), Miller (-2.6), Aqib Talib (-2.1), Sylvester Williams (-2.0), Ware (-1.8), Derek Wolfe (-1.4) and 10 other defenders.
Bruton may have flown under the radar for years in Denver, but they sure are going to miss him the rest of the way. If this defense is going to keep the Broncos in championship contention, something they’ve been doing all season, then they need to forget this performance as quickly as possible and move on to Cincinnati.
For now, I’m hoping this one was no more than a fluke.
