Tag: Alex Singleton

Broncos’ leading tacklers from 2023 season

Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton led the team with 177 tackles in 2023, setting a new single-season franchise record.

We’re continuing our look at the Denver Broncos’ statistical leaders from the 2023 season today with a list of the team’s leading tacklers.

Broncos inside linebacker Alex Singleton led the team with 177 tackles, setting an official single-season franchise record. It should be noted that Singleton has the benefit of playing in the 17-game era, but he holds the record nonetheless.

It’s also worth noting that it’s an official record because unofficially, the team credits Randy Gradishar with 2,049 career tackles. Gradishar played 10 seasons so if that total is accurate, he would have averaged more than 200 tackles per season. The NFL did not begin fully tracking tackles until after Gradishar retired, so stats from his era can be unreliable and even if they are accurate, they are not official.

With all of that said, here’s a quick look at Denver’s leading tacklers from the 2023 season. Check out previous lists of the team’s passing, rushing, and interception leaders.

Broncos 2023 season awards: MVP, ROY and more

Who was Denver’s MVP in 2023? Check out Broncos Wire’s team awards from the 2023 season.

Every year, the NFL hands out its annual awards before the Super Bowl for both offensive and defensive excellence.

At Broncos Wire, we’d also like to recognize several Denver Broncos players who would be considered for those awards on a team level in 2023.

10 players who might play their last game for Broncos on Sunday

The Broncos will need to get out of a salary cap hole in 2024, and these players might become cap casualties.

The Denver Broncos will wrap up their 2023 NFL season on Sunday when they face the Las Vegas Raiders on the road in Week 18.

Once the final whistle blows, the offseason will begin immediately for the Broncos, and coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton are poised to have a busy spring with many challenging decisions.

Denver is projected to be $18 million over the salary cap in 2024, according to an estimate from OverTheCap.com, and that’s before potentially releasing quarterback Russell Wilson and creating an even bigger cap mess.

The Broncos will have to dig out of a salary cap hole this offseason, forcing the team to make some tough decisions. To become cap-compliant, Denver will likely have to part ways with multiple players either through cuts, trades or free agency.

Ahead of the team’s season finale, here’s a quick look at ten players who could play* their final game for the Broncos on Sunday. (*We’ve also included a few injured/benched players who could depart in 2024.)

Alex Singleton could break Broncos’ single-season tackle record on Sunday

Alex Singleton is six tackles behind the NFL lead and seven tackles away from breaking the Broncos’ single-season record.

Alex Singleton is a tackling machine.

The Denver Broncos’ inside linebacker has averaged more than 10 tackles per game this season, with 12 double-digit tackle games in 2023. Singleton has tied a post-1999 record with a dozen double-digit tackle games — Zach Thomas and Foyesade Oluokun accomplished the same feat in 2005 and 2021, respectively.

Singleton has 164 tackles through 16 games and if he continues his average of 10 tackles a game with another double-digit performance on Sunday, the linebacker will break the all-time franchise record for tackles in a single season.

Right now, Michael Brooks (170 tackles in 1992) holds the franchise record. Singleton needs six tackles to tie that record and seven to break it. He recorded 11 tackles last week and 12 the week before that.

While individual records are notable, Singleton is simply focused on getting a win in Week 18.

“[The focus is] go beat the Raiders,” Singleton said. “That is pretty much it. To kind of get payback for that first game [of the season] and finish 4-2 in the division is huge for where you want to go and everything you want to do. We want to go play a good game to roll into next year.”

Singleton ranks fourth in the NFL in tackles this season, third in the AFC. The 30-year-old linebacker is signed through the 2025 season.

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Studs and duds from Broncos’ 24-7 win over Chargers

The Denver Broncos put on a defensive clinic against the Los Angeles Chargers for their seventh win of the season. These players stood out.

The Denver Broncos bounced back in a big way after a tough loss last week to the Houston Texans with their best all-around effort of the year against the Los Angeles Chargers, beating their AFC West rivals 24-7 on Sunday.

We look at the studs and duds of the big divisional win.

Broncos Wire podcast: Is there still reason for optimism?

On this week’s Broncos Wire podcast, Ryan O’Leary and Jon Heath discuss Alex Singleton’s penalty, Denver’s playoffs chances and more!

Following a heartbreaking 22-17 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, the Denver Broncos are now 6-6 going into Week 14.

On this week’s Broncos Wire podcast, I joined host Ryan O’Leary to react to that loss (with emphasis on Russell Wilson and Alex Singleton) before diving into whether or not the season is lost. We also look ahead to the Los Angeles Chargers game on Sunday.

You can listen to episode No. 97 below:

Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Our notes for this week’s pod can be seen below.

Russell Wilson’s worst game of the season
  • I think that was probably Wilson’s worst game of the season. Right from the very first drive he was not connecting on deep passes. He could have had a TD to Marvin Mims if he didn’t underthrow it by a mile.
  • After no interceptions during the five-game winning streak, Wilson tossed three interceptions on Sunday. Trailing by five, he drove Denver down to the 8-yard line and I thought he was going to complete yet another game-winning drive, but he was flushed out of the pocket and threw a game-sealing interception (terrible protection by Garett Bolles on that play).
  • I think Sean Payton threw Wilson under the bus a little bit for his performance (understandably so). Denver was 0-of-11 on third down. After the game, Wilson said they needed to get into third and manageable. Here’s what Payton had to say about third down: “It’s not good enough. Obviously, it’s frustrating. It’s a combination of a handful of things — protection, guys open and us not making a play. I felt like the yardage and the distances were what we wanted.”
  • Wilson also missed Jerry Jeudy wide open multiple times, including on what could have been a game-winning touchdown. Payton: “If you watch all of [the film], holy cow, there are about two or three of those plays.
Alex Singleton’s bonehead play 
  • In the first half, a play was blown dead for a Texans false start on 4th-and-2. That would have created 4th-and-7, presumably a distance that would have made Houston kick a field goal instead of going for it.
  • Singleton ran to C.J. Stroud after the whistle had blown, though, and pushed him. Stroud then headbutted Singleton and then Singleton shoved him again and was penalized, giving the Texans a first down. (I think it should have been offsetting penalties, but Singleton has to be smart enough to not retaliate in that situation.)
  • Houston ended up scoring a touchdown and again, I’m guessing they would have kicked a field goal if it was 4th-and-7. That’s a four-point swing from Singleton’s dumb penalty. If not for that penalty, Denver could have been trailing by 1 point instead of by 5 points on their final drive of the game and a field goal would have been good enough to get a win at the end.
Why I still feel optimistic about the state of the team 
  • Denver’s offense was bad for most of Sunday’s game and the Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion in a game that could have greatly helped their playoff standings, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet.
  • It’s not like this was an easy game — we both picked the Texans to win. Houston is a good team and Denver battled back and had a chance to win it at the end but a dumb blown play sealed the loss. If Wilson hits Jeudy on 2nd-and-goal and the Broncos win 24-22, we’d feel a lot different right now.
  • It will be harder to make the playoffs now with a 3-5 conference record, but it’s still possible. Depending on how other teams do, Denver might need to win out, but I think 10 wins (one more loss) could still be enough. Either way, the Broncos need to focus on themselves and take it one game at a time.
Chargers game 
  • Playing at home, Los Angeles is listed as a 3-point favorite.
  • Chargers are coming off an ugly 6-0 win over the Patriots.
  • Sweeping L.A. would really help Denver’s playoff chances. Can they get a win on the road this week?

Ryan and I will return each week during the season to react to every game.

If you enjoy this podcast, you can check out previous episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on your podcast service of choice. Please consider giving the podcast a positive rating and review!

You can listen to every past episode below or at this link.

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Twitter still can’t believe Alex Singleton’s penalty against the Texans

Maybe C.J. Stroud should have gotten an offsetting penalty, but Alex Singleton has to know to not retaliate in that situation.

In the first quarter of Sunday’s game, the Houston Texans lined up to go for it on 4th-and-2 before being penalized for a false start just before the ball was snapped. The play was blown dead and Houston would have faced a 4th-and-7 if not for a penalty called against Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton.

Singleton continued his route to Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud after the whistle had blown and he reached the QB and gave him a slight push. Stroud then smacked his helmet against Singleton’s helmet, and the linebacker then pushed the QB again and was penalized.

Regardless of whether or not Stroud should have been penalized for his own actions, Singleton should not have retaliated.

“We let a rookie bait us into a personal foul,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said during his conference call with reporters on Monday.

That penalty gave Houston a first down and they went on to score a touchdown in a game that was eventually decided by five points. Singleton’s penalty likely ended up being a four-point swing, and Denver had the ball within field goal distance at the end of the game.

So it’s probably not unfair to say Singleton’s penalty essentially cost the Broncos the game, or at least cost them a potentially game-winning field goal attempt at the end of the game.

Here’s a sampling of how Twitter/X reacted to Singleton being penalized on Sunday.

WATCH: Brian Baldinger breaks down key plays from Broncos’ Week 12 win

Brian Baldinger was impressed by the performances of Russell Wilson, Alex Singleton and P.J. Locke in the Broncos’ win on Sunday.

For the third week in a row, Brian Baldinger has highlighted the performance of several key players in a Denver Broncos win.

The NFL Network analyst took to Twitter/X earlier this week to highlight plays by Russell Wilson, Alex Singleton, P.J. Locke and Denver’s rushing attack in a 29-12 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 12.

Check out Baldinger’s videos below.

Breaking down why the Vikings called a toss sweep to Josh Dobbs

The Vikings called a trick play on the third play of the game and it didn’t work. Tyler Forness breaks down why it didn’t

On the third play of the game, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell called a unique play that didn’t end up working.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs ended up fumbling after cornerback Kareem Jackson speared him, forcing the fumble. The play itself was a gutsy call that has been criticized for not working.

That’s the frustrating thing with play calls. They get criticized when they don’t work and praised when they do. What doesn’t get dissected nearly enough is what the play was designed to do and if the execution is to blame rather than the play call itself.

That’s what we are going to do here. What was the play designed to do and how was the execution?

Alex Singleton says Broncos have ‘everything in front of us’ after bye

“We have everything in front of us,” Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton said after the team upset the Chiefs in Week 8.

The Denver Broncos upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and are now on a bye week. It was a crucial win for the Broncos that could prove to be a turning point in their 2023 season.

Following the 24-9 win over Kansas City, Denver is now 3-5. It will be an uphill climb to get back into the playoff hunt, but it feels more feasible after defeating the Chiefs in convincing fashion.

“It builds momentum,” linebacker Alex Singleton said after Sunday’s upset win. “I think going into this week — you’re going into a bye week in the position we’re in — you win this game, we have everything in front of us. You lose it; you’re kind of out of luck. I think we all knew that and came out and played the game we did.”

A midseason bye might be perfect timing for the Broncos, who now have time to rest and recovery ahead of a big Monday Night Football showdown with the Buffalo Bills in Week 10.

“It’s huge,” Singleton said of the bye. “We get the nice, right in the middle of the season break, so [you can] get guys healed up and come back and keep this momentum. … Everybody enjoy it and come back and be ready to play the Bills.”

Singleton, 29, leads the team with 73 tackles through eight games this season. He also has three tackles behind the line, two pass breakups and one quarterback hit in 2023. After the bye, Singleton will look to build on those totals in the second half of the season.

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