DENVER — It is a gratifying yet pompous drill among NFL players when they identify each season’s roughest, toughest, bad-ass division.
The Broncos have that Super Bowl feeling again
The road to the Super Bowl runs through the AFC West, and the Broncos defense is going to have a big say in who gets there.
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Each NFL player always egotistically wants to pick the one in which he resides, but truth is the king division annually, clearly surfaces. Its level of play elevates, and its teams become dominant in production, personality and style.
The Raiders and the Broncos do not lock arms on much, but both survived some brutally hard knocks here on Sunday and exited with this common mantra in tow: The AFC West is the roughest, toughest, bad-ass division in pro football.
The Broncos won, 16-10, knocking out Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (back spasms) in the third quarter and knocking silly Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch (nine carries, 12 yards) all afternoon. This Broncos mauling on Sunday at Sports Authority Field made the Raiders look cloudy, cluttered, stressed.
You cannot say that this AFC West quartet has the flashiest quarterbacks. You cannot say with the Chargers at 0-4 that this division is dominant from top to bottom.
But you can say the games are fast, the play is physical, the scheming is interesting, the players are fascinating, the coaches are exceptional, and the overall fan base in this division is fervent.
“It’s a juggernaut,” Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe said of the AFC West, which also describes the tenacity of his play in both run and pass defense and his on-field howling after sacks. “I honestly believe the winner of our division is going to win the Super Bowl this year.”
That’s bold.
But he has believers.
“You go to these teams in this division, they come to you, you get familiar, you stay competitive and it gets a little raw sometimes,” edgy Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said. Talib knows raw, and he knows rough. He knows what Super Bowl teams look like.
“The games become sort of their own dramas, full of a lot of little things going on inside the big things,” Talib said. “This division is no joke. It has the power to produce the Super Bowl champion.”
The Chiefs started fastest this season, the Broncos have been steady, the Raiders maintain high hopes dulled by two straight losses and the Chargers have lost a handful of close games late.
A quarter of the NFL season is complete, and we do not know which team is tops in the AFC West. We do know, however, that the AFC West has the best teams.
“It is the best division in football and I’m telling you that [the Chargers are] a really good team, a lot better than that record, and they are going to make some noise, too,” Broncos clear-eyed, perceptive linebacker Todd Davis said. “All four of these teams are physically tough. Most of them have very good offensive lines. You meet in these games in this division and it becomes a toss-up. Man, you’ve just got to play. You’ve got to be ready.”’
It was impressive just how ready the Broncos (3-1) were for the Raiders (2-2).
It started and ended with their defense, a unit that believes stopping the run is the precursor to all eventual success. This is new head coach Vance Joseph’s emphasis and it was on full display against the Raiders.
Denver leads the league in rushing defense and against four consecutive Pro Bowl backs has held each to these stunning rushing numbers: 54 (Chargers Melvin Gordon), 9 (Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott), 21 (Bills LeSean McCoy) and 12 (Lynch).
When the Broncos led 10-0 late in the first quarter, the Raiders had gained no first downs and 20 total offensive yards compared with their 45 penalty yards.
Yet, in the end, with Raiders quarterback E.J. Manuel in for Carr and driving the offense, it took a high leap and aggressive interception by Broncos safety Justin Simmons to assure victory. He swiped it from Raiders receiver Amari Cooper (eight targets, two catches, 9 yards) in another instance where Cooper is getting outplayed and beaten in the Raiders recent slide.
Joseph calls Simmons “athletic and intelligent.”
Simmons play on that pick at the Denver 8 with 1:46 left illustrated both traits.
“We had a feeling that the safeties needed to be deep, that they might try something a little deeper there,” Simmons said. “When the ball is in the air like that, it’s 50-50. I just made sure I attacked. I made sure I came down with it.”
For all of the Broncos amazing run defense and their own impressive 143 rushing yards, despite the solid play of quarterback Trevor Siemian and their effective special teams, it was their pass defense in the final moments — The No Fly Zone, the Broncos call it — that finally won it.
After all, the Raiders only touchdown surfaced on a second-quarter 64-yard bomb from Carr to receiver Johnny Holton that was reminiscent of the Raiders vertical passing game of old: of the Al Davis and Ken Stabler and Daryle Lamonica and Cliff Branch Raiders. Former Raiders head coach Tom Flores was at the game and said: “I’m always happy to see the ball go far in the air and we catch it. That is very pleasing. It’s always been a part of us.”
But that was just a one-shot wonder on this day against this Broncos defense.
With all of his bluster about the Broncos big, burly run defense, even Joseph admitted this: “The pass game is where you make your chunk yards and where you score points.”
So the Broncos wicked run defense is simply the appetizer.
Nothing lasts without a torrid pass rush and that back-end, buttoned-down pass defense.
The team that presents those two skills in abundance will win the AFC West.
“I do think the AFC West winner is going to come down to being disciplined and preventing big plays,” Wolf echoed.
Davis said: “And I do think that will be us.”
Broncos linebacker Von Miller dressed quietly in the Broncos locker room and said softly:
“I have that feeling. I’m getting that itch like we did when we won our last Super Bowl. I’m feeling good about this. The chips are about to fall in the AFC West. It’s a great division. I’m really beginning to like our chances in the division and with much more beyond it. This division gets you ready for all of that.”
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