{"id":95974,"date":"2025-06-01T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/95974\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:43:08","slug":"broncos-vance-joseph-not-bo-nix-under-most-pressure-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/95974\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos’ Vance Joseph, not Bo Nix, under most pressure in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

All we are saying? Give pieces to Vance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a team that wants to just fly downhill,\u201d new Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga,<\/a> a heat-seeking free agent from the 49ers, told me after practice Thursday. \u201cFrom my knowledge of just watching it on tape, guys are very confident in what they do. And (Joseph) instills that confidence to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bo Nix was the fix<\/a> that gets the clicks. But 2025 will fly as far and as fast as Vance Joseph\u2019s defense can flutter.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Broncos gave up more than 21 points to the opposition just seven times over 18 games last season. They were 1-6 in those contests. Four of those defensive meltdowns transpired after Week 11.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Broncos D was to VJ what \u201cUlysses\u201d was to James Joyce, what \u201cThe Starry Night\u201d was to Van Gogh.<\/a> His moment. His masterpiece.<\/p>\n

Joseph stacked the NFL\u2019s best defensive player (Pat Surtain II) and a Jenga tower of pluggers into the league\u2019s No. 3-ranked scoring defense. His unit put up the most sacks (63) in Broncos history, no small feat for a franchise that gave us Von Miller, Karl Mecklenburg, Simon Fletcher and Tombstone Jackson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Vance is amazing,\u201d Hufanga, who\u2019s awfully good himself, said of his new coordinator. \u201cI think the way his passion (is), his energy (is), the way he wants to coach you \u2014 he\u2019s going to coach you whether you\u2019re good or bad. He\u2019s going to make sure you know, \u2018Hey, this is what we want, and this is what we\u2019re going to get.\u2019<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also running low on excuses. Hufanga is here, in part, because the last chapter of VJ\u2019s \u201cUlysses,\u201d especially the paragraphs after Dec. 1, made for an awfully hard read.<\/p>\n

VJ\u2019s wrecking crew didn\u2019t just run out of bodies late. At times, they looked out of gas.<\/p>\n

Despite the pleas from Broncos Country to get Nix more help, three of Denver\u2019s four biggest offseason additions came on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n

If Sean Payton\u2019s offseason had a theme, it was this: He might not trust VJ any more than you do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy was Jerry Jeudy,\u201d you could picture Payton asking Joseph, \u201calways open?\u201d<\/p>\n

VJ: \u201cNo Riley Moss.\u201d<\/p>\n

SP: \u201cHow did James Cook rack up so many yards in Buffalo?\u201d<\/p>\n

VJ: \u201cNo Alex Singleton.\u201d<\/p>\n

SP: \u201cAnd Gus Edwards in L.A.?\u201d<\/p>\n

VJ: \u201cSame answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph has more answers now. If healthy, linebacker Dre Greenlaw is a sideline-to-sideline enforcer who was clocked at 22 miles per hour as a collegian.<\/a> Hufanga closes like Trevor Hoffman. First-round draft pick Jahdae Barron, a spry defensive back out of Texas, sports a 35-inch vertical and ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the combine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpectations always can change things,\u201d NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks said of the Broncos\u2019 D. \u201cHowever, every year is like a snowflake. You never know where it\u2019s going to fall, whether it\u2019s injuries or inconsistency.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 That said, you have a lot of confidence. The players have a lot of confidence, because they\u2019ve seen what they can do when everybody\u2019s on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the NFL grind almost always demands re-writes on the fly, doesn\u2019t it? With Moss either out or banged up at cornerback, the Broncos gave up 32, 13, 34, 30, 0 and 31 points over their final six games, including the playoffs.<\/p>\n

And the goose egg was to a Chiefs offense that willingly laid down its swords and trotted out backups. Which added up to 28 points allowed per contest against teams that were actually trying.<\/p>\n

The nitty gritty looked even grittier up close. Joe Burrow went wild. Josh Allen did what he wanted, when he wanted. Over those five games vs. \u201ctrying\u201d foes, the Broncos gave up an average of 309 yards through the air and allowed another 134 on the ground. Opponents managed seven third-down conversions per contest \u2014 at a rate of 46%. (Denver\u2019s season averages were 5.2 conversions allowed and 37%.) The Broncos went 3-3 after Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

Which way will the snowflakes blow? Fortunately, precedent says last Christmas was more of a dip than a harbinger. Joseph\u2019s third defense as coordinator with Arizona in 2021 was also his best in the desert. The Cardinals improved from 12th in the NFL in scoring defense (22.9 points per game) in 2020 to 11th (21.5) the next fall.<\/p>\n

If VJ wants another shot to be a head coach, this season and this defense afford him the chance to keep stacking good vibes. If Payton wants to cut bait, Jim Leonhard is waiting in the wings<\/a>. As sequels go, keep your popcorn handy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to see people have success, whether that\u2019s (VJ) being a head coach somewhere or (not),\u201d Hufanga said. \u201cYou want the best for people. I\u2019m very excited to work with (Joseph). Hopefully, I get to work with him for the rest of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully. Payton might forgive, but he doesn\u2019t forget. Moss and Singleton, knock on wood, are back in the fold. A lot of holes have been patched.<\/p>\n

The NFL blame game can be as cyclical as it is cynical. Yet one universal truth never wavers: Once you run out of fingers to point, the only man left is the one at the end of the thumb.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All we are saying? Give pieces to Vance. \u201cWe\u2019re a team that wants to just fly downhill,\u201d new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[3882,375,925,232,7244,5294,5748,564,231,258,2426,1160,7,1331,1006,2827,1577,872,25221,929,926,6,3267,1514,5295,25222,9,2833,3319,51,25223,2832,7958],"class_list":{"0":"post-95974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-alex-singleton","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-bo-nix","11":"tag-broncos","12":"tag-broncos-country","13":"tag-broncos-defense","14":"tag-broncos-takes","15":"tag-colorado","16":"tag-denver","17":"tag-denver-broncos","18":"tag-denverbroncos","19":"tag-dre-greenlaw","20":"tag-football","21":"tag-front-range","22":"tag-jahdae-barron","23":"tag-jerry-jeudy","24":"tag-joe-burrow","25":"tag-josh-allen","26":"tag-karl-mecklenburg","27":"tag-latest-headlines","28":"tag-more-broncos-news","29":"tag-nfl","30":"tag-pat-surtain-ii","31":"tag-riley-moss","32":"tag-sean-keeler","33":"tag-simon-fletcher","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-sports-columnists","36":"tag-talanoa-hufanga","37":"tag-texas","38":"tag-trevor-hoffman","39":"tag-vance-joseph","40":"tag-von-miller"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114608878665873728","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}