KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2014 Back home in Denver, the beating heart of Dove Valley is the Ugly Cona. Small. In reality, it is the cubby home to Broncos nose tackle D.J. Jones. In theory, it is a sort of club, with amorphous boundaries. Fellow D-lineman Eyioma Uwazurike, a couple lockers down, is a member. So is defensive tackle Malcolm Roach.<\/p>\n
The name comes, as Jones explained one afternoon in October, from Florida rapper Kodak Black. Specifically, one line from one 2016 single \u2014 \u201cThere He Go\u201d \u2014 that Black dropped a few weeks after being released from jail in December 2016.<\/p>\n
Ugly corner where we smile with you and we don\u2019t like you.<\/p>\n
\u201cAin\u2019t no \u2018R\u2019 in \u2018Cona,’\u201d Jones said, in October. \u201cIt\u2019s Cona.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ugly Cona travels from locker room to fields across the nation with Jones, Roach and Uwazurike, the grunt-work technicians of Vance Joseph\u2019s defense in Denver. They are paid handsomely for their services; Jones signed a three-year extension this past offseason, and Roach re-upped with the Broncos in November<\/a>. But they receive little love, on a team with enough pass-rushers to officially snap the franchise all-time sack record Thursday against the Chiefs.<\/p>\n They work in the trenches, pouring muck in the ditches of opposing run games. They don\u2019t play pretty. They play ugly, down in the Ugly Cona.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get so much attention hearing about the rushers and all the things like that,\u201d Roach told The Post, toweling off after the Broncos\u2019 20-13 win at Arrowhead. \u201cBut like we always say, somebody gotta do the dirty work. For us to get all them sacks, we gotta be stopping the run pretty good.<\/p>\n \u201cSo those numbers get looked over a little bit,\u201d Roach continued. \u201cBut we know what we get paid to do. And I think we do a pretty good job at it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Broncos needed the muck, on Christmas night. More than ever. A thick layer of fog descended across the overhead LEDs a couple hours before kickoff, a natural smoke-machine effect in enemy territory, turning Arrowhead into a sort of winter-themed haunted house. This was not the same Chiefs of a healthy Patrick Mahomes and a younger Travis Kelce, no. But this was still a franchise with a \u201cheart of a champion,\u201d as Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Thursday. And that franchise intended to run the ball directly at Denver\u2019s own heart on Christmas.<\/p>\n Instead, there was Jones, shedding Kansas City blockers to wrap up Chiefs running backs Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt for a yard or less on three separate one-on-one tackles. There was rising reserve Uwazurike, teaming with Jones to stand up Hunt on a late-quarter 2nd-and-4. There was Roach, stuffing Hunt on one fourth-quarter first down and then wrapping up Chiefs back Brashard Smith on a short pass short of the sticks two plays later.<\/p>\n After a month of slowly-sagging defensive performance, the Broncos had two objectives Thursday. Contain Kansas City\u2019s Chris Oladokun, the Chiefs\u2019 Mahomes replacement, from escaping the pocket. And stop head coach Andy Reid from bleeding the clock on the ground.<\/p>\n Check. Check. The Chiefs ran for 82 yards on 19 carries as a team, lost the time-of-possession battle by nearly half, and were largely swallowed by Jones, Roach and Uwazurike up front.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you got guys like that \u2014 tenacious, but understanding their standard, upholding that standard \u2014 I think it\u2019s huge,\u201d cornerback Pat Surtain II told The Post Thursday night. \u201cAnd I mean, always winning the fight, no matter what teams be throwing us. Always coming out and executing at a high level. I think that\u2019s what they stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n A month ago, they didn\u2019t meet their own standard. Coming off a bye, the Broncos snuck past the Commanders in overtime in Maryland. Washington ran for 143 yards, and paralyzed the Broncos\u2019 front one too many times on zone-read keepers by backup quarterback Marcus Mariota.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were real mad,\u201d Roach said, \u201cthe way we performed.\u201d<\/p>\n The NFL, as Roach described, is cyclical. And copycat. If one team\u2019s game plan works, others will follow. The defensive-line group has stayed on DL coach Jamar Cain about keeping up run-stuff drills in practice. This front is well aware, as Roach described, that teams can shorten games and kill clock by trying to attack Denver on the ground.<\/p>\n And with the Chiefs down Mahomes and backup Gardner Minshew, the Broncos knew heading in that Kansas City would give them a \u201cheavy dose\u201d of Hunt and Pacheco, as Roach said. Denver also knew Oladokun had sneaky wheels. The Broncos, facing a depleted Chiefs offensive line and a reserve quarterback who took three sacks in his last four dropbacks against the Titans on Sunday, could\u2019ve thrown caution to the humid air in Kansas City and gone for the NFL\u2019s all-time sack record on Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, they finished with all of one sack. They now sit at a total of 64, and in all likelihood now won\u2019t get to the 1984 Chicago Bears\u2019 all-time mark of 72, with one game left.<\/p>\n Shrug. The game plan was to cage Oladokun in the pocket. He ran twice for 11 yards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be rushing for sacks tonight,\u201d Payton said.<\/p>\n Instead, they rushed to muddy up any possible escape lanes. And muddied up most gaps in the run game. And trapped the Chiefs inside the Ugly Cona.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say, \u2018Somebody gotta do the dirty work,’\u201d Roach repeated, postgame. \u201cSo we the dirty workers.\u201d<\/p>\n