Denver, CO
How Atlanta Falcons can Attack Denver Broncos Defense
The Atlanta Falcons head west with their collective feathers between their tails after a rough Saints loss. However, it’s time to lock in on the Denver Broncos defense. Surprisingly, a team coached by an offensive-minded coach in Sean Payton actually deploys a balanced defense at all three levels.
The Broncos have the No. 4 scoring defense and the No. 5 overall defense in the NFL heading into Week 11. That unit is a big reason why Denver is a surprising 5-5 with a rookie quarterback and an NFL-high $82 million in dead money on their salary cap.
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The Falcons need to leave Colorado, avoiding a two-game slide, heading into late-November. On paper, Atlanta can match up well with Denver. Now, let’s see how that could look on the field on Sunday.
Hit the Boundary
The Broncos utilize the 3-4. Vance Joseph, the defensive coordinator/former head coach wants to disrupt at all costs. He believes in heavy blitzing and man coverage behind it. As aggressive as you will find, Denver will throw caution at the wind and get upfield. The stats bear that out as they rank in the top ten league wide in several defensive categories including No. 2 in sacks.
The outside linebackers leave the sideline-to-sideline pursuit to the inside ‘backers. The edge rushers, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper want to bend the corner, leaving the spots they vacate empty. As a result, swing passes to Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier force matchups versus Justin Strnad and Cody Barton.
Both Strnad and Barton play well in space but lack the explosion to prevent the Atlanta backs from gaining the perimeter. Meanwhile, faking a jet sweep will draw the defense away from the far side of the first few yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Misdirection could help Atlanta open up the offense early.
Safety Unconcerned
For as stellar as cornerbacks Pat Surtain and Riley Moss played so far in 2024, the same does not apply to safeties P.J. Locke and Brandon Jones in pass coverage. Jones has replaced Justin Simmons well and leads the team in tackles, but he’s not as strong against the pass (when the Broncos aren’t sacking quarterbacks). Tight end Kyle Pitts in games like this, must see the majority of the targets not intended for the running backs.
Intermittently, Pitts shows the skillset that made Atlanta select him in the first place. Too often, he vanishes into thin air. Now, against a team with strong corners but safeties and linebackers that allow roughly seventy percent of opponent targets completed, the best answer remains the simplest.
Allowing Pitts to climb the route tree in the intermediate to deep areas benefits the Falcons. On top of that, using the crossing routes to pick or wash the defender away will work as well.
Overview
Make no mistake, the Atlanta Falcons will line up versus a top-10 defense in the Denver Broncos. This is the best defense, by some distance, that they will have played since Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Yet, holes exists and prosperity will arise all over the field. Granted, Denver thrives against the run and possesses two excellent corners on the outside.
Yet, a veteran like Kirk Cousins can find a seam, a sliver of daylight to move the ball. While this may not end up a high scoring affair, the Falcons possess the talent to not only succeed but win the game.
Provided that they do not fall prey to playing into the Broncos; strengths, Atlanta can escape with a quality road win.
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The Denver Broncos are about as healthy as any team in the second round of the playoffs can hope to be. The Broncos have had their casualties this year, namely running back J.K. Dobbins, safety Brandon Jones, and center Luke Wattenberg, but they’ve managed to avoid the worst of the injury bug.
The Buffalo Bills can’t quite claim the same. The Bills were already banged up entering last week’s Wildcard Weekend.
While the Broncos rested, the Bills had to go into a tough environment and take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in their house. It was a physical game, and while the Bills prevailed, it came at a cost, with several players suffering serious injuries — including wide receivers Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers, both of whom were lost for the season.
Adding insult to injury (literally), the Bills have to travel on a short-week turnaround to play the Broncos on Saturday at 2:30 pm MDT. As a result of the Saturday kickoff, both teams had to start their practice clocks a day early, so Wednesday was Day 2 of the preparation week.
Let’s examine how things stand with both teams’ practice report.
Broncos’ Wednesday Practice Report
Defensive end John Franklin-Myers practiced in full once again, making it back-to-back days. He missed the season finale, so he’s had a good rest period to get ready for this game.
Limited in Wednesday’s practice were linebackers Dre Greenlaw (hamstring) and Drew Sanders (foot), along with tight end Lucas Krull (knee). Both Sanders and Krull are still on injured reserve, but the Broncos designated both to return on Tuesday.
I wouldn’t read too much into Greenlaw being limited on Tuesday and Wednesday, even if it’s the same on Thursday. The Broncos don’t want to tempt fate with him. He’s needed for this game against the NFL’s No. 1 rushing offense.
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Bills’ Wednesday Practice Report
The Bills had four injured players practice in full: quarterback Josh Allen (foot/knee/finger), safety Damar Hamlin (pectoral), kicker Matt Prater (quad/calf), and wide receiver Curtis Samuel (elbow).
Limited
- Terrel Bernard | LB (Calf)
- A.J. Epenesa | DE (Neck)
- Ed Oliver | DT (Bicep)
- Dalton Kincaid | TE (Knee/Calf)
- Matt Milano | LB (Ankle)
- Greg Rousseau | DE (Back)
- Shaq Thompson | LB (Neck)
It’s worth mentioning that Thompson went from not participating on Tuesday to being limited on Wednesday.
Did Not Participate
- Maxwell Hairston | CB (Ankle)
- Ty Johnson | RB (Ankle)
- Jordan Poyer | S (Hamstring)
- Tyrell Shavers | WR (Knee)
Shavers is still listed on the practice report but he’s headed to injured reserve with a torn ACL. The trio of Hairston, Johnson, and Poyer are all key players, so it’ll be interesting to see if they progress at all on Thursday.
Looking at the limited Bills players, there’s every reason to expect they’ll play on Saturday. But they won’t be at full strength. At what point do the mounting injuries reach critical mass, split Buffalo’s differential, and tip over the this team’s playoff hopes?
The reigning MVP can cover a lot of holes. But Allen is only one guy and his receiving corps is quickly falling prey to this war of attrition.
If the Broncos shut down Buffalo’s rushing attack and put the game on Allen’s shoulders, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, that’s the path to victory. Aside from James Cook and Kincaid, Allen is running out of help at the skill positions.
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Every team in the NFL has injuries every season. It is part of the game and to be expected.
In having a dominant regular season that secured the #1 seed in the playoffs, the Broncos have allowed themselves to get healthy by and large at the right time.
The one glaring link missing is going to be Brandon Jones, who is going to be missed on defense. He’s a versatile, physical safety who has played exceptionally well in the Broncos’ defense.
But getting back inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw is a big deal. He’s an enforcer over the middle and is capable of covering backs and tight ends in the passing game (which is what the Bills love to target).
With Brandon Jones out, the news of P.J. Locke returning is welcome news. The Broncos are thin at safety, and he’s been the #1 backup for the safety group all season long. Hopefully, he’s learned from last year’s playoff game and won’t let Josh Allen pick on him as he did in last year’s playoff game.
Another key player getting healthy is Jonathan Franklin-Myers, who is an absolute beast of an interior lineman and a pass-rushing nightmare. With the style of pass rush that the Broncos employ on mobile quarterbacks, Franklin-Myers and compatriot Jared Allen could have big games up front.
At the end of the day, the Broncos have no excuses for this game. They are healthy, prepared, and playing at home. Now they just need to go out there and execute on Saturday.
Denver, CO
‘I can only imagine what it’s going to be like’: Broncos eager to play in front of home crowd as postseason football returns to Mile High City
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — By the time Bills quarterback Josh Allen steps to the line of scrimmage, that’s already too late.
The noise — the deafening roar of more than 76,000 fans at Empower Field at Mile High — must start earlier.
The yells, the stomps, the claps and the screams, as Head Coach Sean Payton emphasized Tuesday ahead of the Broncos’ first home playoff game in a decade, must start when Allen and the Buffalo Bills enter the huddle.
In the leadup to Denver’s playoff opener, Payton has touched on the importance of the noise coming earlier. He’s pointed to the difficulty of the quarterback communicating the play call in the huddle — and how the communication breakdowns could provide an advantage for Denver’s defense.
“There’s a stress that goes with that, too,” Payton said in mid-December. “That’s stressful. Creating that stress is a big advantage.”
Payton pointed to Empower Field at Mile High as one of just a handful of stadiums in the league with a potential to be truly deafening, and he called for that level of noise again when Denver hosts the Bills. The request, too, is simple enough. In 10-second bursts, when the Bills are in the huddle and as they line up to snap the ball, the noise should boom through the stadium. And then again. And then again. And again, for each of the Bills’ offensive snaps.
As Denver looks to book a trip to the AFC Championship Game, Payton knows that would be “a huge advantage” for the Broncos.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who is poised to play in his first career home playoff game, said he is eager to see how Broncos Country shows up for a long-awaited postseason matchup.
“I’ve been saying since I got here that we needed to get a home playoff game back in the city,” Sutton said. “The way that the fans have been showing up, Broncos Country has been bumping.
“… I can only imagine what it’s going to be like, first [postseason] home game since 2015. It’s well overdue, and I’m excited to see Broncos Country show up and show out.”
Cornerback Pat Surtain II said he’s also ready for a raucous environment that could help push the Broncos to a win.
“I know the atmosphere is going to be crazy,” Surtain said. “The stadium is going to be rocking at [Empower Field at] Mile High, and I’m looking forward to it. … I can already feel the magnitude of it and how electric that stadium is going to be. It’s going to be exciting.”
Playing a postseason game at home, of course, is not enough on its own to guarantee a win. During Wild Card Weekend, four of the six road teams earned victories.
“We have to be ready to play our best game,” Payton said.
In key moments, though, the Empower Field at Mile High crowd could help swing the game in Denver’s favor, whether via a miscommunication in the huddle or a pre-snap penalty. And in a battle that could come down to the very end, that could help the Broncos improve upon their 17-5 home postseason record.
“I expect it to be extremely loud,” quarterback Bo Nix said. “I expect it to be a great environment.
“… Something tells me it’ll be kicked up a notch, just because it’s got ‘playoffs’ on it.”
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