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Tag: nik bonitto

  • Broncos-Patriots scouting report: How will Sean Payton, Jarrett Stidham handle tricky New England defense?

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    Patriots (16-3) at Broncos (15-3)

    When: 1 p.m. Sunday

    Where: Empower Field at Mile High

    TV: KCNC-4

    Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM

    Broncos-Patriots series: There’s some great, not-so-ancient playoff history here, between two franchises that will forever be tied to the names Manning and Brady. The last time Denver and New England faced off in the playoffs was the AFC title game after the 2015 season, as a fading Peyton Manning mustered just enough — 176 yards and two touchdowns — to put the Patriots away 20-18. Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby picked off a 2-point conversion try from Tom Brady to Julian Edelman to seal the win. Denver’s also 27-23 in all-time regular-season matchups against the Patriots.

    In the spotlight: Patriots defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr ‘keeps the dial spinning’

    Two weeks ago, after New England made Pro Bowler Justin Herbert look like a Pop Warner flameout in a 16-3 win over Los Angeles, Chargers players came up to linebacker Robert Spillane and told him they had “no clue” what coverage the Patriots were in all game. At least, by Spillane’s own admission.

    Now, the Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman a couple of days later, so that might’ve had something to do with it. But this is the evident genius of New England defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr.

    “He keeps the dial spinning,” Spillane said after New England’s wild-card win. “He keeps offenses guessing. All year, he’s been doing that.

    “For him just to be able to build those packages throughout the week, our back-end players to know how to disguise the different defenses, really keeps quarterbacks guessing,” the linebacker continued a few words later.

    Enter Jarrett Stidham, a quarterback with four career NFL starts who has Patriots defenders now guessing as to what exactly he’s capable of.

    “Nothing,” said New England defensive tackle Milton Williams in the Patriots’ locker room this week, when asked what he knew about Stidham. “Nothing. I ain’t gonna lie, nothing. We’re gonna watch the tape on him and figure out what he like to do, but, they didn’t like him over Bo, so.”

    Shrug.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Position coach Isaac Shewmaker is the young mind behind Broncos’ edge-rusher success

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    The youngest coach in Dove Valley also looks the most out of place, by sheer physicality. This isn’t Isaac Shewmaker’s fault. It’s a compliment, more than anything.

    On Thursdays, the 29-year-old Shewmaker bends down to mimic a snap and leads one of the best pass-rush units in football in get-off drills. Luminaries bend before him: 6-foot-2, 246-pound second-year reserve Jonah Elliss tenses; 6-foot-3 All-Pro Nik Bonitto waits; 257-pound Jonathon Cooper, whose muscles have muscles, toes. They all snap forward at Shewmaker’s bark. At his beck.

    At a Broncos outside-linebackers coach who stands five-foot-something, and played a little high school ball back in Kentucky. No college.

    “Obviously, God gave me the brains to do it,” Shewmaker says, sitting on a bench after the Broncos’ Thursday practice. “But not the body to do it.”

    But ah, those brains. They have a knack for making the complex seem easy, in a Vance Joseph defense that presents a lot that’s complex. Elliss calls Shewmaker “just super smart.” Practice-squad reserve Garrett Nelson raves about the coach’s “high-level IQ.” Rookie Que Robinson says the young Shewmaker is “smart as hell.”

    “You’d probably walk past him in the grocery store and wouldn’t think he coached, probably, one of the top outside-linebacker groups,” Robinson cracks. “But yeah, shoot, man, he gets it done for us. And he’d probably give us the shirt off his back, at the end of the day.”

    You know Joseph, the defensive coordinator primed for a head-coaching gig. You know 30-year-old quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, who’s on the fast-track to a play-calling job soon enough. Meet Shewmaker, the most promising mind in Denver’s building who you probably have never heard of.

    Just ask reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II.

    “He’s got a brilliant football mind,” Surtain says. “And he’s gon’ get one of those job promotions … like a D-coordinator, or something like that, very soon.”

    Quietly, Joseph’s defense experienced a large and partly unexpected turnover in leadership this offseason, after Denver fired inside linebackers coach Greg Manusky in January — and then fired outside linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite a month later after Wilhoite was charged with a now-dropped felony assault of a police officer. The young Shewmaker was waiting in the wings, fresh off just two years in defensive quality control in Denver. And in his first season as an NFL position coach, Shewmaker has presided over the driving group in a pass-rush that just broke its own franchise record for sacks (64).

    That room is chock-full on talent, of course. The Broncos are set to pay Bonitto and Cooper over $160 million in the next few seasons for their services, and Elliss is a 2023 third-round pick. The room’s also chock-full on personalities. Bonitto hosts impromptu dance-circles in the middle of group drills, and Cooper bleats loud and often.

    “I know it’s kind of a big ask to kinda wrangle our room” Nelson says.

    Shewmaker is a young shepherd. Really, though, he has been building for this since he could walk. At 6 years old, he announced at his kindergarten graduation that he intended to become the head football coach at the University of Kentucky.

    He loves the game — particularly defense — because it is a chess match. And Shewmaker teaches it as such.

    “If they understand why they have to be here because of who it affects, then they buy into it more,” Shewmaker says. “When you just say, ‘Well, you have to set the edge because that’s what the piece of paper says,’ they have a harder time buying into it. So part of my whole thing is, ever since I started was – learning it on a level where I can teach all 11.”

    He gave up playing for good after high school, when he suffered a variety of concussions in football and then got drilled by a 92 mph fastball to the noggin his senior year playing baseball. Doctors told him he should stop. (“I was like, ‘That’s probably fair,’ ” Shewmaker acknowledges.) So he went to Kentucky and became an equipment manager, resolving to simply do anything he could to get in the building.

    Within a month, the program assigned him to help out with defensive backs. Within a year, ex-Kentucky defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley took a DBs job at Alabama and convinced Shewmaker — a student — to transfer. Shewmaker became a defensive assistant on Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s staff as a college sophomore in 2016. The rest is recent history.

    In Denver, now, this Broncos edge-rusher group has answered the call at nearly every bell, down to the depth. Elliss has waded through an injury-muddled season to rack up 1.5 sacks and a couple of tackles for loss in his past three games. Reserve Dondrea Tillman has rounded into a legitimate star in his role, with four sacks and two interceptions in his last 10 games. Robinson, a 2025 fourth-round pick who was thought of as a mostly developmental prospect, contributed two quarterback hits in rotational reps in a Week 16 loss to the Jaguars.

    Shewmaker, Robinson says, helps his group focus from not getting “scatterbrained” inside the detail of a formation.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos-Chiefs scouting report: Banged-up Denver contends with Patrick Mahomes, desperate Kansas City team

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    Chiefs (5-4) at Broncos (8-2)

    When: Sunday, 2:25 p.m.

    Where: Empower Field at Mile High Stadium

    TV/radio: CBS, 850 AM/94.1 FM

    Broncos-Chiefs series: Here we go again. The Broncos endured a long period of futility in this matchup — 16 straight losses from November 2015 to early October 2023 — before finally toppling the Chiefs 24-9 on Oct. 29, 2023. Denver split this series 1-1 last year, drubbing Kansas City 38-0 in the final game of the regular season as the Chiefs rested their starters. The Broncos are 56-73-0 against the Chiefs all-time.

    In the spotlight: Can Nik Bonitto and company take down Patrick Mahomes?

    On Monday night, the Broncos’ 26-year-old edge rusher stood in a parking lot in Federal Heights, depositing box after box of Thanksgiving meals into the trunks of families pulling through a makeshift drive-thru in Thrive Church.

    Bonitto wore a hoodie, sweats and a large black brace on his wrist. He has been wearing the brace since hurting his wrist in the Broncos’ Week 1 opener against the Titans. The splint didn’t much hurt his ability to pick up turkeys. And it certainly hasn’t hurt his ability to gobble up opposing offenses, as Bonitto put together another dominant performance against the Raiders last Thursday with eight pressures and 1.5 sacks.

    But the greatest challenge of Bonitto’s career year — first in the NFL in QB pressures (51), third in sacks (9.5) — will come Sunday, when the Chiefs and one of the NFL’s most elusive quarterbacks come to Empower Field.

    “That’s the guy that everybody looks to when it comes to sacking the quarterback,” Bonitto said Monday. “He’s one of the best in our game, so, for sure — it’s going to be exciting.”

    The Patrick Mahomes of the last three years is not quite the same game-breaker the NFL saw in his mid-20s. He has dropped from the league’s undisputed top quarterback to just arguably the top dog. He lingers tied for 10th in yards per attempt (7.4) and a distant 12th in passer rating (98.2) through 10 weeks. The Chiefs are more vulnerable than at any point since the Mahomes Era began in 2018, sitting at 5-4 and a distant third in the AFC West.

    First-round rookie tackle Josh Simmons has missed the last four weeks while dealing with a family matter. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit has been typically excellent but has sagged on third down and in the red zone. And yet, Kansas City is still as complex to navigate as a laser maze because of the 30-year-old Mahomes, who’s playing a shiftier brand of football than ever.

    Mahomes’ sack rate the past two years has been the highest of his career. Still, the Chiefs rank ninth in the NFL overall in sack rate allowed. And Mahomes has gotten the ball out at an average rate of 2.69 seconds in 2025 — more than 0.2 ticks faster than any season of his NFL career. He is a shapeshifter under center, capable of adjusting his style and timing with each passing season in Kansas City. And this year, with a shaky situation at tackle between Simmons and backup Jaylon Moore, Mahomes is either punishing teams on quick intermediate routes or with his legs.

    Opposing defenses fear Mahomes much more than running back Isiah Pacheco or Kareem Hunt, as the Chiefs have faced one of the highest rates of defensive-back-heavy formations in the NFL when running the ball, according to the league’s Next Gen Stats. Pacheco and Hunt haven’t been able to take much advantage against a light box, both averaging less than 4.5 yards a carry on such attempts. But Mahomes has feasted: 7.8 yards a carry and 266 yards with his legs when defenses go with seven or less near the line of scrimmage.

    His one weakness? Pressure. Mahomes is 28-of-71 passing when under duress, according to Next Gen Stats. Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has done an outstanding job of throwing pressure at Mahomes across the Broncos and Chiefs’ last three meetings, and held him to a total of two touchdowns in that time.

    “It’s more about getting them covered, and making them hold the ball enough until we can get there,” Joseph said Thursday.

    Denver will need another monster effort from Bonitto and company at Empower Field on Sunday in a game that could assert them as the new class of the AFC West.

    “This division’s been run by the Chiefs for so many years now,” Bonitto said Monday. “So, I mean, if we’re going to want to be that team to win the division and reach the goals that we said we want, we’re gonna have to go through them and beat them.”

    Who has the edge?

    When Broncos run: Denver will play without bell-cow J.K. Dobbins for the first time this year, in some truly horrendous timing. Suddenly, rookie RJ Harvey will be thrown to the wolves against Chris Jones, Nick Bolton and company. Harvey has only gotten 10-plus carries once this year, and is averaging 3.3 yards a carry outside of a 50-yard pop in Week 1. Kansas City has a top-12 rushing defense through nine games in 2025. Edge: Chiefs

    When Broncos pass: Bo Nix has been a bottom-tier NFL quarterback this year outside of the fourth quarter. The clutch gene helps. Against the Raiders last week, the script actually flipped. Nix was in rhythm in the second quarter before completely falling out of it in the second half. Denver will need juice from Nix early and late against Kansas City with Dobbins out and an untested Harvey in the run game. This is the kind of matchup where the Broncos start to determine if he’s the guy for a long-term extension after 2026. Edge: Chiefs

    RELATED: Broncos analysis: To unleash Bo Nix and unlock offense, Sean Payton must start at the beginning

    When Chiefs run: The key here is Patrick Mahomes. Lead back Isiah Pacheco’s health is up in the air after a sprained MCL in Week 8, and backfield mate Kareem Hunt has averaged 3.6 yards a carry across his last four NFL seasons. But Mahomes is on pace for the best rushing season of his career, and has put up 123 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in his last two games. The Broncos have handled dual-threat QBs with aplomb this year, but Mahomes is a different kind. Slight edge: Broncos

    When Chiefs pass: The Broncos still don’t have cornerback Pat Surtain II (pec). The Chiefs have Mahomes, even if coordinator Vance Joseph has proven effective at containing him. WR1 Rashee Rice has been back for three weeks, too, adding a much more dangerous element to Kansas City’s attack. Slight edge: Chiefs

    Special teams: Chiefs punter Matt Araiza has pinned the second-highest percentage of boots inside the 20 (54.5%) of any punter in the NFL this season. Broncos rookie Jeremy Crawshaw now sits below league-average in that category, and the punting differential in Raiders-Broncos nearly swung a game for Las Vegas. The Broncos do get a huge lift with the return of All-Pro Marvin Mims Jr., and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been iffy this year. Edge: Even

    Coaching: The Andy Reid-Matt Nagy-Steve Spagnuolo trio is as proven as any in the NFL. Joseph is one of the highest-regarded defensive coordinators in the NFL at the moment, but Sean Payton has plenty to prove with his play-calling and offensive execution after the past two weeks. Slight edge: Chiefs

    Tale of the tape

    Broncos Chiefs
    Total offense 334.6 (13th) 370.1 (7th)
    Rush offense 128.6 (9th) 121.2 (12th)
    Pass offense 206.0 (18th) 248.9 (5th)
    Points per game 23.5 (17th) 26.1 (9th)
    Total defense 270.7 (3rd) 291.8 (6th)
    Run defense 91.2 (4th) 104.6 (12th)
    Pass defense 179.5 (6th) 187.2 (7th)
    Points allowed 17.3 (3rd) 17.7 (4th)

    By the numbers

    1,908: Patrick Mahomes’ passing yards this season when he isn’t pressured, the most in the NFL.

    8: Chiefs All-Pro Chris Jones’ quarterback hits through nine games this year, on pace for his fewest total since 2017.

    28: Broncos All-Pro Zach Allen’s quarterback hits through 10 games this year, the most in the NFL.

    8: Difference between Allen’s QB-hit total and second-place Nik Bonitto’s (20), the same difference between Bonitto’s total and 19th-place Leonard Williams.

    4: Bo Nix’s game-winning drives in 2025, the most in the NFL.

    18%: Percentage of snaps Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw has played where he’s recorded a tackle.

    X-factors

    Broncos: LB Justin Strnad. He’s stepped up for two years in the face of injuries, and Strnad will step back into the limelight against Kansas City after starting ILB Alex Singleton revealed Monday he’d had surgery to remove a testicular tumor. Strnad said Monday the Broncos will be playing for Singleton, and this Kansas City matchup will put Strnad’s skills in coverage and pass-rush on full display as Vance Joseph tries to disrupt Patrick Mahomes.

    Chiefs: WR Xavier Worthy. He’s one of the fastest players in the league, but — much like the Broncos’ utilization of speedster Mims — Worthy’s usage comes and goes with each passing week. Andy Reid said this past week that Kansas City isn’t “down on Xavier Worthy,” and the Broncos will need to account for Worthy on every single snap without defensive leaders Pat Surtain II and green-dot captain Singleton.

    Post predictions

    Parker Gabriel, Broncos reporter: Kansas City 23, Denver 21

    The Broncos are 6-2 in one-score games. The Chiefs are 0-4. And yet K.C. is a 4-point road favorite against the team with the NFL’s longest home winning streak. Sean Payton will readily remind anyone listening that you are what your record says you are, but your record does not necessarily forecast what you’re expected to be going forward. The West tightens by one turn.

    Luca Evans, Broncos reporter: Kansas City 24, Denver 20

    This is not the week to be missing J.K. Dobbins, Pat Surtain II and Alex Singleton, who are among the 10 most important players on this Broncos roster. Kansas City is vulnerable. So is Denver, suddenly, with a rash of injuries and absences. Let’s circle back to this matchup in Week 17 on Christmas.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos’ Jonathon Cooper not fazed by Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart: ‘Ain’t nothing we haven’t seen’

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    The kings of New York are here, and they are 22 and 23 years old. In the span of three short weeks, a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back have revitalized the downtrodden Big Blue with sheer frat-bro energy. They exchange vibrational communication by touching heads like baby elephants, and the quarterback sports a diamond necklace, and the running back does flips in the end zone after touchdowns.

    Their names are Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo, and this New York Giants duo appears to fear nothing. Certainly not head trauma. Dart flung himself noggin-first into an Eagles defender in Week 5, and has been evaluated for a concussion three times in four games. Skattebo got himself ready for games at Arizona State by pounding his helmet against a brick wall. They have infused Jersey with a little Gen-Z flair, and their swagger was enough to bury the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles on Thursday Night Football last week.

    But a stable of Broncos await in Denver on Sunday, ready to kick. This is confidence on confidence. Denver’s locker room has “our Skattebo,” as defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers pointed, in Jonathon Cooper — a muscled-up 27-year-old former seventh-rounder who came out from the locker room at every training camp practice roaring at nobody in particular. And who just won the AFC Defensive Player of the Week. And is part of a Broncos pass-rush that fears nothing, either.

    Certainly not the Giants’ 22-year-old rookie quarterback with his reckless legs and golden flow.

    “I mean, he’s a young guy,” Cooper said of Dart, his nose curling up in a sneer. “He’s feeling himself a lil’ bit. He’s out there running around. He’s got the chain on. He’s dancing. I feel like everybody needs something, you know.

    “But we’ve went against QBs who have ran around in the pocket and who’ve tried to do stuff with their legs,” Cooper said. “So, ain’t nothing we haven’t seen.”

    Skattebo and Dart will bring a heap of earned chutzpah on the plane with them to Denver Sunday. But this Broncos’ defense’s own confidence at every level — and its play-caller’s — is as high as it’s been all season, after sacking Jets quarterback Justin Fields nine times last Sunday. The stat-sheet from London is still burning: -10 net passing yards for the Jets, a fact that prompted a hat-tip from Giants head coach Brian Daboll on Wednesday.

    “They’re just really good,” Daboll said. “They play good coverage, complement it with the front. They disguise well. I mean, they’re as good as it gets right now.”

    Since taking over from former Bronco Russell Wilson in Week 3, Dart has played largely excellent football in a 2-1 stretch, with wins over the Chargers and Eagles. The former Ole Miss QB’s legs have become a major engine to New York’s offense, with 167 rushing yards in that span. He’s escaped pressure with aplomb.

    The Broncos’ pass-rush, however, has seen two of the league’s best scrambling quarterbacks the past two weeks. They turned the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts into a thrower in Week 5 — two carries for three yards — and turned Philadelphia’s offense one-dimensional because of it. Then they turned the Jets’ Fields into, frankly, a shell of an NFL quarterback in Week 6.

    It’s one of head coach Sean Payton’s favorite sayings: Confidence is born from demonstrated ability. This Broncos front has it.

    “We play one of the best quarterbacks twice a year, every single year,” Cooper said Wednesday, likely referring to the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. “So once you go against that, you kinda get a feel of the game. And, you know what you need to do. You gotta make ‘em feel uncomfortable in the pocket.

    “So, you can’t let ‘em get that confidence and that ego going.”

    Their ego’s going, plenty. And deservedly so. The ability of the Broncos’ core four pass-rushers up front to win one-on-ones — Cooper, NFL sack leader Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, Franklin-Myers — and the secondary’s ability to win in man coverage on the back-end has given coordinator Vance Joseph the ingredients and the gall of a mad scientist.

    With Denver backed up in their own territory and up two late in the fourth quarter against New York, at the short end of the stick relative to the clock, Joseph sent the house on three of the Jets’ last four downs. Sack. Incompletion. Seven-yard completion. Sack. Ballgame.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Renck: In signature win for Sean Payton, Broncos prove they’re afraid of nobody with remarkable comeback vs. Eagles

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    PHILADELPHIA — The quarterback fought frustration. The tight end remained in witness protection. The cornerback got cooked.

    The penalties, each more ridiculous than the last, mounted. The Broncos were on the verge of getting skunked.

    Then something remarkable happened. They finished.

    They met the moment. At last.

    Trailing by 14 points against the defending champion Eagles, who had not lost a home game in 13 months, the Broncos rallied for a 21-17 victory, surviving a heart-in-a-blender Hail Mary pass.

    Broncos Analysis: In dominating trenches vs. Philly, Sean Payton’s team finally has road map to loftier goals

    This game threatened to become a blowout. Instead, it became the blueprint. You saw it. Run the ball. Convert third downs. Use the middle of the field. Turn Nik Bonitto loose (not sure if he showers after games or just licks his paws).

    As the football sat lonely in the corner of the end zone with time expired, safety Talanoa Hufanga taunted Philadelphia fans, raising his arms in the air for dramatic effect. The swagger and confidence were no longer just a locker room thing, but in the light for everyone to see.

    The Broncos are back in every January conversation.

    They are 3-2 and should be favored in their next seven games. In a remarkable final 15 minutes, they transformed the lingering narrative that they were frauds into a story inspiring fear.

    These players, who were the equivalent of a clenched fist after walk-off losses to the Colts and Chargers, punched back.

    Enough was enough.

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    Troy Renck

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  • LB Justin Strnad believes Broncos’ struggles to cover RBs are ‘miscommunication,’ not a lack of ability

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    Justin Strnad has seen the discourse.

    By this point, it’s no national secret that the Broncos’ current linebacker corps has produced less-than-stellar results in coverage. In two losses this season, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor and the Chargers’ Omarion Hampton left Denver’s defense dizzy on wheel routes. And the public’s assumption on such plays, Strnad acknowledges, is that it’s automatically the fault of him or fellow starting ILB Alex Singleton. Sometimes it is.

    “But then there’s also times,” Strnad told The Denver Post in the locker room Thursday, “where it’s like, I don’t really know what they’re talking about a lot of the time.”

    Remember when Taylor flared out of the backfield and whizzed away for a 43-yard gain in the Colts’ win in Week 2? Remember when Hampton got free on a fourth-quarter screen and sped for 22 yards in the Chargers’ win in Week 3? Both plays, specifically, were “100% miscommunication,” as Strnad told The Post.

    Would free-agent add Dre Greenlaw — stuck on injured reserve until at least Week 7 — be great to have right now, heading into this matchup with the Eagles and reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley? Of course. But Denver’s dropped coverages on running backs are more a matter of overall defensive communication, Strnad believes, than a lack of ability in current ILB personnel.

    “You get people get wrapped in like, ‘Oh, he’s this in coverage, he’s that in coverage,’” Strnad told The Post. “Like you said, I think Dre was great — has been great in his career all-around, as a player. But I think all our ‘backers can cover, to be honest with you.

    “A lot of the stuff that you see on TV where a guy’s wide open, that might be more communication (than) it is to someone’s coverage ability.”

    Regardless of the reason, the fact remains: There were back-to-back losses where head coach Sean Payton pointed to coverage breakdowns against running backs. The result was a combined 109 receiving yards for Taylor and Hampton across two weeks. Denver can’t afford such mistakes against Barkley, who didn’t feature heavily as a pass-catcher in his first season in Philadelphia but has caught 14 balls through four weeks in 2025.

    The Broncos cleaned up their underneath coverages against a thoroughly inept Bengals offense in Week 4. Still, Bengals back Chase Brown had three catches for 31 yards. Sunday’s matchup against Philadelphia could be a major precedent-setter for the Broncos’ ability to shadow a mismatch back, one of a specific few phases that’s vital to Denver’s improvement.

    “I don’t even think it’s anything about ability of the DBs, linebackers,” outside linebacker Nik Bonitto told The Post in late September. “I feel like it’s more of just mental errors of them being open, more than us having to actually guard them.

    “So I feel like that’s just something we gotta look at the film room and see, and just being able to correct those type of things. Because obviously, more and more teams are going to start doing it if we don’t have an answer for it.”

    The answer, as Strnad broke down, is simple in concept and complicated in execution. Some defenses rely heavily on spot drop coverages, a type of zone where defenders backtrack to a specific area and read the quarterback’s eyes. Vance Joseph’s defense in Denver, though, contains heavy doses of match coverage — a blend of zone and man-to-man — where defenders match to specific skill players in their areas. It’s key for defenders to communicate motion by opposing offenses, Strnad explained, and to tag over mid-play on receivers.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos-Chargers report card: Bo Nix, Sean Payton’s offense can’t connect late

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    In the second straight Sunday with a gut-wrenching loss, the Broncos fell three games to the back of the pack of the AFC West with a 23-20 loss to the Chargers. Here’s The Post’s report card from the loss.

    OFFENSE — C-

    Where to even begin? The Broncos’ first three drives Sunday went for three straight three-and-outs, a haunted house of penalties, ineffective run-blocking and personnel scattering on and off the field like lab rats. Up until a two-minute drill to end the first half, Denver had exactly 42 yards of offense. And then Sean Payton cast magic.

    Bo Nix’s 52-yard touchdown bomb to Courtland Sutton on a fourth-and-2 opened the floodgates, and J.K. Dobbins got rolling in the second half after finishing with negative yardage in the first. But Denver bungled five — five — chances to extend their lead to two scores in the second half after taking resounding control of the game in the second half. The final one was a killer: Nix overthrowing Sutton streaking down the right sideline on a third-and-10 by a few fingertips. An image that’ll live in Broncos fans’ heads for a long time.

    DEFENSE — B+

    The demise of the Broncos’ pass-rush was greatly exaggerated.

    Denver had three first-quarter sacks and never let up on Justin Herbert all day, even when the Chargers’ offense got going. It takes a significant amount of force to keep the 6-foot-6, 236-pound Herbert on the turf, and yet Dondrea Tillman popped him so hard in the fourth quarter that Herbert lay for a few beats after a third-down completion. The Chargers’ offensive line seemed to be simply waving feathers at the Broncos’ front in the second half, with Nik Bonitto blowing up star Los Angeles tackle Joe Alt all afternoon. But Herbert’s iron-clad frame kept firing, and the Chargers’ quarterback diced up the Broncos’ secondary on a couple of fourth-quarter drives to finish with 300 yards on the day.

    SPECIAL TEAMS — B-

    Darren Rizzi’s follow-up to a Week 2 disaster started with … more disaster. As the defense got off the field on the Chargers’ second drive of the day, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto somehow lined up in the neutral zone in punt coverage, giving the ball back on an offsides penalty. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw’s first boot fluttered outside the 20. Chargers punt returner Demario Davis reversed a second-quarter punt for 33 yards, too.

    But Rizzi’s units pulled together nicely over the course of Sunday — and had a massive third-quarter swing on a strip-fumble by Jonah Elliss. Marvin Mims Jr. continued to feel out lanes in the return game, finishing with 56 yards on two punt returns, and Crawshaw had a banner day with a 47.1 average on seven punts.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Keeler: Broncos won’t just be playing in Super Bowls. Thanks to Burnham Yard, we’ll be hosting them

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    Second stadium down, one Yard to go.

    Before you blow your top over the lid at Burnham Yard, the prospective home of the Denver Broncos starting in 2031, did you know that, since 1990, the average temperature of a playoff home game in the Mile High City was 40 degrees?

    And that of the Broncos’ last 15 postseason games in Denver, eight of them — per Pro-Football-Reference.com — were played in temperatures 37 degrees or warmer? The last five Empower Field playoff temps: 43, 46, 40, 41, 63.

    Snow down, Broncomaniacs.

    Denver won’t just be playing in Super Bowls over the next decade.

    We’ll be hosting them.

    “The Broncos have been, since Day 1 of the franchise, an important fabric and part of the community in Denver,” Broncos CEO Greg Penner told The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel in an exclusive interview. “Finding a site of that size that we could weave into the downtown area and all that just was incredibly unique, combined with the historic nature of the site. …

    “We have the bones of the old railyard and a couple of buildings and a unique site that we think enables us to create something unique and special, both with the stadium and the mixed-use development around it.”

    The Walton-Penner Group just raised the roof without raising taxes. Despite overtures from Lone Tree and Aurora, they’re keeping the Broncos in Denver. Where they belong.

    In other words, Penner and his wife Carrie Walton-Penner read the room the way Peyton Manning read defenses at the line of scrimmage.

    “We’re really thrilled that they came with that partnership mentality and not, like we’ve seen in other cities, ‘You give us a bunch of money or we’ll leave,’” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told The Post. “I think the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is deeply committed to Denver and deeply committed to the community.”

    No overt public money.

    No political campaign.

    No drama.

    No games.

    Well, except the big stuff. The biggest. For decades, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the College Football Playoff, the World Cup or WrestleMania had a reason to fly over the Front Range and wave to us while they were taking their respective parties elsewhere.

    Not anymore. You want a venue with 60,000-plus seats that can host Taylor Swift in March or April? Check. You want a venue where football fans can still feel the elements on an autumn gameday? Got that, too. Open that bad boy up and let the Colorado sunshine in.

    We don’t need the cool kids on the coasts to tell us Denver is the best darn sports city in America. But building a multi-purpose stadium at Burnham Yard gives the Front Range many more chances to prove it — and on the largest stages imaginable.

    New Orleans officials recently estimated that Super Bowl LIX was worth more than $1.25 billion in economic impact to the Crescent City. San Antonio boasted an economic bump of $440 million from hosting the Men’s Basketball Final Four this past April.

    You wouldn’t want a piece of that?

    The Penners do. And thank goodness.

    “The goal is to create something that is active on gameday,” Penner stressed to The Post, “but also (for) the rest of the year.”

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Dre Greenlaw misses another practice as Broncos try to keep linebacker healthy for ‘long haul’

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    As the days tick down until fans flood Empower Field again for Sunday’s home opener, the status of one of Denver’s free-agent stars remains in doubt.

    Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw didn’t practice on Wednesday, another bullet point in a concerning list of preseason developments. After signing a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Broncos this offseason to be a ceiling-raiser in the middle of Denver’s defense, Greenlaw’s spent much of the preseason watching them elevate from the sidelines.

    Fresh off finishing up rehab for a torn ACL that wiped out most of his 2024 season, Greenlaw tore his quad this summer. It flared up again in July. He’s missed wide swaths of camp and didn’t play any preseason snaps.

    “We’re being smart,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday. “We’re being conservative, relative to the approach. It’s a long season. So, most importantly, having him not only healthy early on, but for the long haul — is the goal.”

    That has taken a certain amount of buy-in and trust from Greenlaw, whom Payton said in mid-August was “chomping at the bit” to play.

    “To be real honest, Dre’s always going to want to go as hard and fast as he can go — that’s Dre’s mentality, and a little bit of it, too, is he’s just missed the game so much,” Greenlaw’s agent J.R. Carroll told The Post on Wednesday. “And so, there was a lot of, I think, holding back by the Broncos to try to keep him reined in so that he didn’t reinjure himself.

    “I think they did an excellent job of managing his expectations.”

    Greenlaw’s Wednesday DNP, though, makes his immediate future more complicated. Payton emphatically declined to comment on Greenlaw beyond the team’s league-mandated injury reports.

    If the linebacker does play in Week 1, it’s highly likely Greenlaw sees limited snaps, given the Broncos’ emphasis on his long-term health.

    “We gotta be smart and look at pitch counts and be ready to play some younger players and not just say, ‘Hey, Week 1, we’re throwing ‘em out there for 70 plays,’” Payton said last week of Greenlaw and fellow veteran Alex Singleton.

    And even with Greenlaw’s obvious desire to return to the field, his camp’s had no issue with Denver’s conservative approach.

    “Quite honestly, if it was a different organization, I may try to interject myself if I didn’t think that — or an organization has the reputation for not having the player’s best interest at heart, but have the organization’s best interest held first,” Carroll said. “But with the Broncos, they have done nothing but try to do what’s in the best interest of Dre.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos CB Pat Surtain II checks in at No. 10 on NFL’s countdown of best players

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    If Pat Surtain II were choosing, he’d have been nine spots higher.

    As it stands, though the Broncos’ star corner and reigning defensive player of the year is in heady company.

    Surtain checked in at No. 10 on the NFL’s countdown of the best players in the league.

    “If I had to write a text book on cornerback play, it’d be Pat Surtain,” Baltimore cornerback and fellow 2024 Associated Press first-team All-Pro Marlon Humphrey said of Surtain in a video published by the NFL. “… There’s very few people that move that smoothly at his height, his size. It’s like poetry in motion. It’s honestly beautiful to see when he’s in press man, which is what he’s best at. It’s really impressive.”

    Surtain was ranked No. 52 last year by fellow NFL players and vaulted up the list after putting together as dominant a season as a corner can author. Surtain regularly shut down opposing teams’ top receiving options and likely cemented his grip on the DPOY award when he went toe-to-toe with Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and held him in check while guarding him in a late-December matchup.

    “Having a guy that you can go out there and put on any receiver and you don’t hear about them the rest of the game, that does wonders for a D-line,” teammate Nik Bonitto, who himself was ranked No. 38 on the countdown, said in the video.

    Surtain’s part of a deep and talented Broncos secondary that added first-round pick Jahdae Barron and safety Talanoa Hufanga this offseason.

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    Parker Gabriel

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  • Broncos DL John Franklin-Myers focused on season after no extension: ‘We all just want to feel wanted’

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    NEW ORLEANS — John Franklin-Myers may not be thrilled, but he’s ready for regular-season football.

    The Broncos defensive tackle is entering the final year of a two-year, $15 million contract he signed after getting traded to Denver last spring.

    There’s been little sign of movement toward a deal, and sources told The Denver Post the sides did not negotiate this summer. That stands in contrast to veterans Courtland Sutton (four years, $92 million) and Zach Allen (four years, $102 million), who landed major long-term agreements. Fourth-year outside linebacker Nik Bonitto doesn’t have a new deal yet, but he said recently his team and the Broncos have had productive talks and that he thinks a deal “will get done.”

    Not so for Franklin-Myers, though he said any feelings he may have about his current status are now sidelined for the next several months.

    “We all just want to feel wanted, and I think when it’s time to play football, obviously money and stuff aside, I’m under contract,” Franklin-Myers said after Denver’s preseason finale. “So football is football. Obviously, we all want what we’re worth, but until then, shoot, I’m going to play football. It is what it is.”

    Franklin-Myers’ addition last year helped turn what was one of the NFL’s worst defensive fronts in 2023 into one of its best in 2024. His ability to rush the passer not only gave offenses fits, but it also kept them from being able to turn double teams toward Allen on a regular basis.

    Allen broke out with an 8.5-sack season and led all NFL defensive tackles with 67 pressures and 40 hits.

    “Zach’s my dawg. I said it from the jump,” Franklin-Myers said. “Man, (Jets defensive lineman) Quinnen Williams was a good friend of mine, played with him for a long time, and I was happier when he got paid than when I got paid. Zach Allen is no different. You talk about somebody who shows up every day. He earned the money.

    “He makes me better, makes the team better. He deserves his money. I’m all for it, and Zach deserves all of it.”

    Now, Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach appear poised to enter Week 1 without contractual security beyond this year. Roach laid out a straightforward approach earlier in camp in saying that if everybody plays well, everybody’s going to get paid. It’s just a matter of whether that’s in Denver or elsewhere.

    In the meantime, the defensive line has big goals.

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    Parker Gabriel

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  • Broncos training camp rewind, Day 1: QB Zach Wilson takes turn in rotation and fans join the party for the first time this summer

    Broncos training camp rewind, Day 1: QB Zach Wilson takes turn in rotation and fans join the party for the first time this summer

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    Attendance

    Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — S Caden Sterns (knee), S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) and LB Drew Sanders (Achilles). Non-Football Injury list — RB Blake Watson (muscle strain). Out — OLB Nik Bonitto, OL Nick Gargiulo. Dropped out — S Brandon Jones (hamstring)

    Payton told reporters after practice that Jones “tweaked” his hamstring and was being evaluated. He also expects Bonitto to be back to practice work Saturday.

    QB Race Today

    Zach Wilson did, indeed, get all the No. 1 reps during practice Friday, continuing the rotation that began earlier this week with Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday and Bo Nix on Thursday.

    The Broncos didn’t waste any time, getting a 7-on-7 period and three team periods in during their first full-length camp practice of the summer. Head coach Sean Payton said afterward that the team put a heavy emphasis on third-down situations.

    None of the three quarterbacks turned the ball over in team settings Friday, though Wilson and Nix were each almost picked by corners Riley Moss and Reese Taylor, respectively.

    “There’s things you have to evaluate sometimes,” Payton said. “In other words, the pocket, was it broken down? There’s certain things that can take place that can affect their execution. So when you’re evaluating and breaking down the reps, you have to take all of that into account. I like the way they’re protecting the ball and I think they’re working through their progressions. … They’re getting a lot of looks.”

    Top Play

    On a Friday devoid of big, spectacular plays, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you preferred a pretty looking toss play to the left for Jaleel McLaughlin? Or a couple of nice plays on the ball by Moss, the second-year corner? Or the continued, consistent pressure that the defensive line generated? All come with caveats: It’s early and more to the point they’re not wearing pads yet.

    Thumbs Up

    Reynolds’ all-around addition: Wide receiver Josh Reynolds made a couple of plays Friday and is already showing the kind of versatility Denver coveted in free agency. He’s a tall, long receiver, a smooth runner and a willing blocker.

    “He’s flexible, he’s smart,” Payton said. “(Passing game coordinator) Johnny Morton worked with him in Detroit so we had a little bit more knowledge of the player. He loves playing. … He’s been a good addition.”

    Welcome, Bo: Not surprisingly, the rookie quarterback got a big cheer from the crowd on hand Friday. With fans in attendance for the first time since Nix was selected No. 12 overall in April’s draft, it’s no surprise he got a warm welcome considering it’s the highest Denver’s drafted a quarterback since Jay Cutler went No. 11 in 2006.

    Thumbs Down

    Safety net?: The Broncos’ depth at safety is already a question mark with Sterns on PUP. If Jones ends up missing substantial time with the hamstring issue, Payton and company will have to take a realistic look at whether they’ve got enough depth on the roster.

    Dink and dunk: The NFL’s not much of a home-run league these days. Not only that, but Payton talked about the situation-heavy work Friday, the still-early installation schedule and more that is all reality this time of year. Still, the Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks at some point is going to have to show the ability to attack down the field with the ball. That hasn’t shown up much yet this offseason.

    Odds and Ends

    • The evaluation changes dramatically for everyone when pads come on, but some positions more than others. One of the most interesting players to watch: Rookie RB Audric Estime. He’s a load and has looked good so far this week.

    • Early means early — and it’s early — but so far the center battle has not seen as much rotation as the quarterbacks. Luke Wattenberg so far has seen most of the top-group work. We’ll see as time goes along if he’s truly leading or if Alex Forsyth or Sam Mustipher makes a move.

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    Parker Gabriel

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  • Broncos like young core of cornerbacks, edge rushers, but there’s still room to add at both positions

    Broncos like young core of cornerbacks, edge rushers, but there’s still room to add at both positions

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    After Broncos general manager George Paton fielded nearly a dozen questions about the quarterback position during the team’s pre-draft news conference Thursday afternoon, he was asked about other areas of need.

    Throughout the draft process, many experts have had Denver drafting an edge rusher or cornerback with the 12th pick. And though Paton is confident in the depth at both positions, he didn’t shy away from the possibility of adding to either spot.

    “You are always looking at those types of positions,” Paton said. “If someone falls in your lap, you’re going to take them.”

    It’s hard to find quality edge rushers and cornerbacks, Paton reasoned. Players like Von Miller don’t walk through the doors every day. But at the same time, the talent the Broncos have at both position groups is young with room to grow.

    Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who is entering his third season in the league, had eight sacks in 2023 after recording 1.5 as a rookie. Jonathon Cooper had a team-best 8.5 sacks, while Denver should benefit from having Baron Browning at full strength entering the new year.

    At cornerback, Patrick Surtain II, 24, has established himself as one of the best in the league. Meanwhile, Ja’Quan McMillian played at a high level in the nickel spot during his sophomore campaign.

    But questions remain. How will Drew Sanders fare if Denver switches him from inside linebacker to the edge? Can Damarri Mathis bounce back after getting benched in the middle of last season? Will Riley Moss be able to live up to the team’s expectations after playing three snaps at outside cornerback as a rookie?

    In a division where the Broncos have to face two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert twice a year, they might not be able to afford to take that gamble, especially since they have the potential to draft a premier player at either position in the first round.

    “Whether it’s quarterback, edge or cornerback, you know what they are. They are a premium,” Paton said.

    When veteran Fabian Moreau took over as Denver’s starting cornerback, he held his own. But there were moments where he lacked the speed to keep up with certain wide receivers. Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell — who could be available at No. 12 — does, and he can make plays on the ball. He completed the 40-yard at the scouting combine in 4.33 seconds while recording 18 pass breakups in his final season with the Rockets.

    Denver used its last first-round pick to draft Surtain in 2021, and it traded up to take Moss in the third round of last year’s draft. But the possibility of having two lockdown cornerbacks could be intriguing for a defense that finished 22nd in passing yards allowed (233.6 per game) last fall.

    When it comes to edge rushers, NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in a conference call on Thursday that he thinks Alabama’s Dallas Turner, Florida State’s Jared Verse and UCLA’s Laiatu Latu are the top three players. Depending on how the top of the draft shakes up, either one could fall into Denver’s lap.

    Even though Bonitto and Cooper improved, the Broncos were 29th in pressure percentage (18.2%), 20th in sack percentage (6.8%) and tied for 21st in team sack totals (42), according to Pro Football Reference.

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    Ryan McFadden

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