Nothing about the play in particular would stand out to the casual observer.
Early third quarter at Tampa Bay in Week 3. Bucs out around midfield with the ball on second-and-6.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield felt pressure, moved up in the pocket to his right and dumped the ball off to running back Bucky Irving for a 4-yard gain.
The broadcast barely noted it. For most in attendance, it might not have sparked much reaction.
Not so for Jim Leonhard.
“Baker spit in the pocket and kicked it to the back and you’re like, ‘Oh man, we’re in trouble,’” the Broncos’ secondary coach told The Denver Post.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph dialed up two of the hallmarks of the 2024 Broncos defense so far: A blitz up front and man coverage behind it.
The coverage looked good, except for one mistake: Riley Moss trailed Jalen McMillan across the middle but Alex Singleton appeared to think he was going to hand the route off and both ended up on him.
Nobody ended up on Irving, who leaked out to the right hash.
No Broncos defender was closer than the left hash besides safety Brandon Jones, who was running with tight end Cade Otton and faced the opposite direction.
Jones, though, saw the throw, peeled off, got outside leverage on Irving and calmly dropped him.
A play that could have easily gone for 40 yards or a touchdown, instead ended in a 4-yard gain.
“It’s really impressive to see how fast and aggressive he plays,” Leonhard said.
The Broncos secondary so far this fall has been among the NFL’s best. Plays like this one tell the story of why as much as Pat Surtain II’s highlight reel or the emergence of Riley Moss.
As a group, they play fearless and aggressive. They’re capable of cleaning up mistakes on the fly. They revolve, quite literally, around Surtain’s elite talent, but the virtuoso doesn’t shine if the rest of the orchestra can’t play their parts.
The Broncos’ secondary can and the results so far have been nothing short of symphonic.
“I think that’s what makes us pretty special,” safety P.J. Locke told The Post. “Along with just the mentality of us and the mentality of ‘VJ.’ We put pressure on the quarterback, we keep the quarterback thinking and, when everybody in the secondary can play man, it just makes it that much harder.”
The building block
If Surtain’s ability hadn’t been thoroughly appreciated over his first three seasons in the NFL, he’s making sure so far this season.
A top-of-the-market contract was signed in early September. The erasure of four straight No. 1 receivers to open the season followed. Then the two-interception Sunday against the Raiders.
Denver’s relied heavily on Surtain before but this year they’ve built around him in the back end more thoroughly than ever.
When Joseph and the 2023 coaching staff were building their defensive plan, Moss was an unproven rookie who missed most of training camp with a core muscle injury. McMillian was down the depth chart and didn’t even start until about this point last season.
Now they’re core pieces.
They are the keys that unlock the door to using Surtain however Joseph wants week to week.
Brandon Jones (22) of the Denver Broncos reacts after Riley Moss (21) broke up a pass intended for Trey Palmer (10) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
If Surtain’s man lines up in the slot, the Broncos can play McMillian outside “and we don’t bat an eye,” Leonhard said. “Most teams can’t do that.”
Same with Moss, who has not only burst onto the scene playing opposite Surtain but has done so despite an underappreciated menu of responsibilities.
“He’s got to move a lot,” Leonhard said. “Because every time Pat’s working one way, he’s got to go opposite. He’s getting a lot of different looks, he’s covering a lot of different receivers and he knows — he expects the ball to come to him every play. That’s his mentality.”
Moss has handled it with aplomb. He scoffs at the notion that there’s a reason to worry about the fact that teams don’t want to try Surtain, so they look his way frequently.
“What are we scared about? It’s football,” he told The Post before logging his first career interception against the Raiders. “What’s going to happen? I get beat deep? OK. Come back the next play and get a pick or something. It’s not the end of the world, you don’t need to stress out about it.
“It’s just a game at the end of the day and I’m ready for it.”
Together they give receivers fits and leave quarterbacks without a place to consistently direct the football. They’ve played like one of the best trios in the game.
“The less tendencies you create with your personnel, the better,” Leonhard said. “Pat can go inside not only to play man but to play zone. Most elite corners can go in there for certain things but not others. So the versatility of that group is really impressive to me and that’s what’s allowing us to have a lot of success and keep quarterbacks guessing.”
Texas two-step
Perhaps no defensive position group for the Broncos faced bigger questions or more skepticism than the safeties.
Justin Simmons: Gone. Kareem Jackson: Gone. Caden Sterns: Cut during training camp. Newcomer Brandon Jones missed most of camp with a hamstring injury.
The Broncos didn’t quite know what the picture would look like with Jones and returning starter P.J. Locke.
Jones shared time with Devon Key in the opener, but since then he and Locke — former teammates at the University of Texas — have not only settled into their roles, they’ve also joined together to form a reliable, versatile pair.
“For our defense, safeties are almost like hybrids,” Joseph said Thursday. “Some corner, some safety, some nickel. Those two guys fit our profiles as far as their range in the pass game, open-field tackling, their blitz ability, their ball skills.
“It’s a certain profile for safeties and both guys fit it well.”
From left to right, Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II, safety P.J. Locke (6), safety Brandon Jones (22) and cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian (29) celebrate after Locke sacked New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on fourth-and-10 late in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
In addition to sharing an alma mater, Locke and Jones have another commonality. In fact, it’s something they share with McMillian and Moss, too: They faced doubts about what they could be as players in the NFL.
Jones carried a reputation as a blitzer and box safety only. Locke was a special teams specialist. McMillian: Too small. Moss: Oh, he’ll have to play safety at the pro level.
But what’s made all four so good this year is that the opposite has unfolded. They all handle multiple things and do it on the fly.
“We don’t even classify ourselves as somebody is the free safety and somebody is the strong safety,” Jones said. “We’re honestly left and right. Whatever happens on the left I’ll do and whatever happens on the right he does. And I think having that flexibility and being able to do stuff like that really, really grows your game.”
To hear Leonhard describe the benefit is to understand why the Broncos wanted Locke back and wanted to pair him with Jones. It’s why head coach Sean Payton expressed confidence in the position group from Day 1 of the offseason program despite persistent questions about the decision to cut Simmons in the spring.
“The more that you can be left and right and not have to worry about ‘this guy needs to get down to cover’ or ‘this guy needs to get in the box for the run game,’ it really frees you up to disguise and communicate a lot more calmly,” Leonhard said. “… The ability of them to just be able to play off each other and it doesn’t matter who’s high, who’s low, in the box, tackling, there’s no hesitancy from the staff to put either of them in those positions. It just makes things a lot easier.”
The designer
If Vance Joseph is leaning on an old quote or football philosophy, there’s a good chance it’s from Wade Phillips.
The pair worked together in Houston from 2011-13, they share unique Broncos history — each was the team’s head coach, got fired and later returned as defensive coordinator — and Joseph considers Phillips a football mentor.
One of the mantras: Players before scheme.
“I think it’s a simple concept,” Phillips told The Post this month. “… But coaches sometimes get too much, ‘We have to do it this way and that’s the only way to do it.’ It’s about the players. It’s what they can do.”
With this particular group, Joseph has shown the confidence to be right at the top of the NFL in both man coverage rate and blitz rate. He believes if the Broncos defenders across the board get one-on-one matchups, they’re going to win them at a high rate.
That’s been the case so far.
“I give VJ a lot of credit for creativity,” Leonhard said. “He’s moving pieces around, playing multiple coverages. That’s where you’ve got to put it on the players to be able to digest all the different things we do because otherwise you’re not doing it (any justice). It might look great, but it’s not going to work out.”
Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph watches the action on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana on Aug. 11, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
The Broncos disguise. They simulate pressure. They play games and throw exotic looks.
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Jones picked Mayfield in Tampa on a curveball. The Broncos showed pressure and man across with Surtain pressed on Evans in the slot. But they bailed into an eight-man zone coverage at the snap and Jones was waiting when Mayfield launched a corner route.
Mostly, though, this is a group that’s going to try to force the issue through aggression.
“The really good offenses that you play against? You know what they run well and you know what they’re good at but they do it well,” Phillips said. “Even if you know they’re in it and you know they’re going to run that play, they (can do it). Same thing defensively. Well, we know they’re going to run this on third-and-long, but there’s nowhere to throw it because they play it so well and they have a good enough rush that you can’t execute.”
That’s been Denver’s defense generally this year and the secondary specifically. Teams try to stay away from Surtain, but they’re not finding success elsewhere. They know the Broncos will bring extra guys and leave the quintet alone on coverage behind, but they haven’t consistently been able to win so far.
Surtain is the foundation of this design from Joseph and Leonhard, but the results are powered by how all five pieces fit together.
“The talent across the board, the ability to communicate and adjust off each other, Leonhard said, “That’s what we’re able to do every week right now and that’s what makes it fun.”
Broncos CBs in coverage
Player
Cov. snaps
Targets
Catches
Yards
TD-INT
QB rating
Pat Surtain II
189
15
10
109
0-2
48.3
Riley Moss
185
34
19
191
1-1
69.6
Ja’Quan McMillian
148
31
19
145
0-0
72.6
Source: NFL Next Gen Stats
(Can’t see charts in mobile? Click here.)
Broncos passing defense
Metric
Broncos
NFL Rank
Yards/attempt
5.8
T-2
Adj. net yards/attempt
3.7
1
Yards/completion
8.9
2
EPA/pass
-0.39
T-1
Avg. WR separation (yards)
3.2
T-3
Opp. passer rating
75.5
5
TD allowed
4
T-7
INT
7
T-6
Sources: Pro Football Reference and Next Gen Stats
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