ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There is an industry-wide philosophy to blitzing.
It states that if you don’t have very good pass rushers, but you do have quality, man-to-man coverage corners, then the blitz is the way to go. Bring some heat from a fifth-man pass rusher, and hope the corners hold up.
Broncos head coach and defensive boss Vic Fangio was never much of a blitzer but he was starting to warm up to the scheme by the fourth or fifth game this season. But then the Broncos lost not one, not two, but three of their top three corners in Bryce Callahan and Essang Bassey to season-ending injuries and A.J. Bouye to a season-ending suspension. Fangio then lost two of his backup corners, Duke Dawson and Kevin Toliver, to season-ending injuries. Five cornerbacks down in a two-week span.
No coverage, no blitz.
Which was OK because up front, Broncos outside linebackers Bradley Chubb and Malik Reed have a combined 14.0 sacks and defensive linemen DeMarcus Walker (4.5) and Dre’Mont Jones (4.0) had also been applying pressure. But now Chubb, the team’s only Pro Bowl starter, has a sprained ankle that will keep him out of the game Sunday against the AFC West-rival Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
Chubb twisted his ankle late in the third quarter of the Broncos’ blowout, 48-19 loss to Buffalo last week. He returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday, but it must not have gone well as Chubb was declared out for the game and didn’t make the team trip to L.A. And has it been mentioned star pass rusher Von Miller suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the first regular-season practice of 2020?
So no coverage, no pass rush. Go get ‘em, coach.
With Chubb down, former Charger Jeremiah Attaochu, who has 4.0 sacks in limited snaps this year, will start. Seventh-round rookie Derrek Tuszka and veteran Anthony Chickillo should also get more playing time.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is the runaway candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors as he has thrown for 3,781 yards and 27 touchdown passes against just 10 interceptions. But perhaps he’ll just play like a rookie Sunday against the Broncos. A lot of zone coverage and keep bodies stacked to take on the run seems to be the way to go. But talent is still needed to play zone and stop the run. The Broncos are well down their depth chart on defensive talent. Drew Lock and the offense can help out the defense, of course, but putting together sustained scoring drives.
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