Tag: Defense

Broncos vs. Ravens will be a must-watch offense vs. defense matchup

The Broncos ranks 3rd in yards allowed (282.6) and points allowed (15.0). The Ravens rank 1st in yards (452.1) and 2nd in points (30.3).

The Denver Broncos‘ defense is playing at a historic pace this season.

Vance Joseph’s unit ranks third in points allowed per game this fall (15.0). That’s currently the 20th-best average this century and better than the team’s elite 2005 defense that allowed 16.1 points per game.

Additionally, Denver’s squad ranks third in total yards allowed per game (282.6) and second in sacks (30). Despite the impressive numbers, Broncos coach Sean Payton wasn’t impressed after the team’s 28-14 win over the Carolina Panthers last week.

“I wish we would’ve finished better,” Payton said after the Panthers game. “I said this, it’s not a good offense we played. It’s just the truth. So we expected that, and we’re going to see a lot better teams.”

Payton’s right.

On deck is a huge matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, who rank first in total yards (452.1) and second in points per game (30.3) in 2024. It will be a strength vs. strength showdown in Week 9.

CBS Sports pointed out earlier this week that the Broncos have allowed the fewest yards per play (4.4) this season while the Ravens have gained the most yards per play (7.1) in 2024.

Something’s got to give.

Sunday’s game will be regionally televised on CBS (TV broadcast map). Playing on the road, Denver is considered a big underdog in Week 9.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid praises All-Pro player’s run defense: ‘It helps everybody’

Kansas City #Chiefs head coach Andy Reid praises All-Pro Chris Jones’ run defense: ‘It helps everybody’ | @EdEastonJr

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media on Monday for his weekly Zoom press conference. He expressed his appreciation for the work All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones has done against the run.

“We understand that if you take care of business up front, it helps everybody. Chris Jones not only did it in the pass game but he did it in the run game,” said Reid. “People always say, ‘Wow, how is he in the run (game)?’ Well, he’s making tackles behind the line of scrimmage here, so that’s a positive thing.”

The Chiefs, entering Week 9, have the second-best defense against the run, holding teams to 576 yards, second to only the Baltimore Ravens.

“For us, being able to stop the run, that’s the primary goal every single week,” said Karlaftis during Sunday’s postgame press conference. “As the front seven as a defense, you know, we keep them, we make them one dimensional; that’s what we want to be.”

The ongoing dominance from defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s group has contributed heavily to Kansas City’s undefeated start to the season. The recent addition of Joshua Uche from Monday’s trade with the New England Patriots will only strengthen the unit for the postseason run.

Another NFL team just took this ignominious title from the Saints

Silver linings are hard to come by a losing stretch. The Lions scored 52 points in Week 8, so the Saints have no longer allowed the most points in a game this season:

There was one good thing that came out of Week 8 for the New Orleans Saints, and it happened far away from Los Angeles. The Saints no longer hold the honor of allowing the most points in a single game this year.

New Orleans allowed 51 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was an ugly game that feels like the kick-starter for the current temperament in town, despite not being the beginning of the losing streak.

Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis can send a thank-you card to Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions. Detroit absolutely demolished the Tennessee Titans and hung 52 points on the board. It’s just a one-point difference, but the Saints are off the hook, at least in this stat. They won’t be remembered for allowing the most points in a single game this year.

There are still 10 weeks left in the season, and someone could go higher than 53. Two teams scored 60 or more points last year, but the most important thing is that someone has surpassed 51.

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Chiefs trade with Patriots for LB Joshua Uche

Kansas City #Chiefs acquired LB Joshua Uche in a trade with the New England #Patriots on Monday after their Week 8 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. | @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to add options for their undefeated roster ahead of the trade deadline as they set their sights on a three-peat.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kansas City is acquiring linebacker Joshua Uche from the New England Patriots. Uche is a former Patriots 2020 second-round pick from Michigan who will now be expected to make an impact for the Chiefs during their stretch run to the postseason.

The 26-year-old has had two sacks in six games this season with the rebuilding Patriots and 20.5 sacks in his career. The fifth-year outside linebacker is another pass rusher for the Chiefs, who are fresh off of five sacks in the Week 8 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

 

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid addressed the breaking news of the trade during his weekly Zoom press conference on Monday.

“I mean, it helps the secondary. Any pressure that you can put on the quarterback, we’re gonna add another guy in here,” said Reid. “(Brett) Veach has made a trade with (the) Patriots, so that’ll be a nice addition going forward, but we understand that you take care of business up front. It helps everybody.”

Uche’s addition to an already dominant Chiefs defense is another reason the team fully trusts general manager Brett Veach and the front office’s decisions.

Bryce Young explains what it was like facing Broncos’ defense

“Credit to the Broncos and their defense, they did a really good job,” Panthers QB Bryce Young said after Sunday’s game.

The Carolina Panthers benched quarterback Bryce Young after two games this season, turning the offense over to Andy Dalton.

After Dalton injured his thumb in a car accident last week, the Panthers went back to Young for their game against the Denver Broncos in Week 8. It was a tough matchup for Young to return to the lineup as Denver’s defense ranks near the top of the NFL in most major categories.

Considering the circumstances, Young had a decent performance. The second-year QB completed 64.9% of his passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. He was also sacked twice and threw two interceptions.

Young led a 10-play, 49-yard scoring drive to begin the game. After that, Carolina’s offense struggled to get things going until late in the fourth. Young was asked after the game what happened after the opening drive.

“Just execution,” the QB said. “Credit to the Broncos and their defense, they did a really good job. Especially at the beginning, we felt like we were just one play away. Whether it was self-inflicted or just execution stuff.

“In the second half, we just got to do a better job of stringing along drives and executing. Credit to them they did a good job. For us, we have to watch the film and then see what we have to do to get better.”

Young was later asked what Denver’s defense did to take away the Panthers’ deep passing game on Sunday.

“They did a good job of mixing things up,” Young explained. “Giving a lot of different presentations, especially third down, doing different things. Same on base down, too. Again, credit to them.

“For us, we don’t want to let the defense dictate what we’re able to do or not able to do. We have to do a better job of executing. There was one that I missed. There was stuff left out there that I have to wear. We just got to watch the film and then see how we can be better.”

Carolina dropped to 1-7 following a 28-14 loss to the Broncos, who improved to 5-3. Up next for the Panthers is a home game against the New Orleans Saints (2-6). Denver will go on the road to take on the Baltimore Ravens (5-3) in Week 9.

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Chiefs DE George Karlaftis reflects on goal line stop vs. Raiders: ‘We take pride in working together’

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis reflects on goal line stop vs. Las Vegas Raiders: ‘We take pride in working together’ | @EdEastonJr

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis was one of the many heroes on defense in the 27-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. In his post-game press conference, he opened up to reporters about the game-changing stop at the goal line by the defense to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard at that moment.

“We worked that all week. We worked that all season. And you know, we’ve come short a couple of times, like, if you go back to Cincinnati and stuff like that. So, put it all together. It’s great.” said Karlaftis. “We take pride in working together as a group, front end, back end, everything like that. So for our morale, for our defense, it is huge.”

The goal line stand was set up after Patrick Mahomes’ pass was intercepted deep in the Chiefs’ side of the endzone. Head coach Andy Reid expressed his thoughts on the situation after the game.

“Unbelievable. Offensively, we put the defense in a bad position, but we held up as a defense,” said Reid. “We came out and put our foot down and did a nice job there. That was important.”

Mahomes praised the defense while taking responsibility for the turnover, although the ball was tipped as he was throwing it.

“Those guys stepped up to the challenge. Obviously, it put them in a terrible position off the tipped pick,” said Mahomes. “Not only them getting that stop, I think it just flipped the momentum of the entire game. They kind of came back in that second half and were firing on all cylinders, and so for them to get that stop, then for us to have that long drive, it ended in a field goal, but it kind of switched the momentum, and then we were able to get the win from there.”

Steelers’ safety is ranked 1st by PFF in run defense

Steelers’ safety DeShon Elliott has been great through seven games of football. PFF has recognized him as the best run defending safety.

Pro Football Focus has decided to give Pittsburgh Steelers safety DeShon Elliott his flowers. The former Raven was acquired in free agency by Pittsburgh during the 2024 offseason and has made his presence felt immediately. While Steelers free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick hasn’t had his usual success this season, struggling to record any splash plays, Elliott has played at an elite level thus far. 

PFF has an interesting reputation in Pittsburgh, as the polarizing grades of Steelers players have sometimes left a lot to be desired. However, Elliott is currently being graded by the organization as the best safety in the 2024 NFL season against the run. 

While many were aware of the talent Elliott possessed, no one could have truly predicted the impact the Pittsburgh strong safety would make when he signed his two-year, $6.0 million dollar contract back in March.

Elliott is a key component to this Steelers’ defense and why it has played at such an elite level in 2024, and will look to continue his dominance against the run when his team takes on the NY Giants in Monday Night Football, on October 28th at 8:15 PM EST.

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Steelers’ DT to make history in Week 8 matchup

Steelers DT Cam Heyward will make history on Monday Night Football when his team hosts the New York Giants in Week 8.

No Pittsburgh Steelers defender bleeds Black and Gold quite like DT Cameron Heyward has in his 14 seasons with the Steelers. Heyward represents the Steel City honorably and continues to show younger generations of Steelers players exactly what it means to represent the city of Pittsburgh.

Teammate and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt cemented his name in history this year when he became the second-fastest player to reach 100 career sacks, and now it is Heyward’s turn to make history.

Heyward will play in his 202nd game on Monday Night Football when his team hosts the New York Giants in Week 8, and that is more games played than any Steelers defender before him.

Heyward has played more games for the Steelers than all-time great Pittsburgh defenders ‘Mean’ Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, Troy Polamalu, Jack Ham, and L.C. Greenwood, just to name a few.

While Heyward will forever have his name in Pittsburgh sports history, he will look to accomplish for this city what all-time great Steelers’ defenders have done for Pittsburgh before him—bring a Super Bowl to the Steel City.

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Wisconsin defense enters top 10 of important metric after Northwestern win

Wisconsin defense enters top 10 of important metric after Northwestern win

Wisconsin’s defense continues to trend positively in almost every key metric and measurement.

The unit has been on a historic run over the last three weeks. It has allowed only 16 total points (six to Purdue, seven to Rutgers and three to Northwestern). That is the fewest the team has allowed over a three-game stretch in Big Ten play since 1998.

Related: Wisconsin’s defense among best in college football in key stats after 23-3 win vs. Northwestern

The recent dominance has Luke Fickell and Mike Tressel’s unit up to No. 18 nationally in scoring defense, No. 7 in pass defense and No. 14 in total defense. It’s hard the argue the Badger defense not being a top-15 unit in the sport at this stage of the season.

Another key metric shows the Badgers’ current strong standing: Stop rate.

ESPN’s Max Olson recently shared the metric’s updated rankings through Week 8. Wisconsin is up to No. 9 in the nation with a stop rate of 75%.

The statistic, as described by Olson, is ‘the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs.’ Or, in other words, ‘stops.’

Wisconsin has risen in the rankings after boasting a stop rate of 81% against Purdue, 93% against Rutgers and 91% against Northwestern.

The team scored a combined 117 points over those three games. But that defensive dominance has been at the center of the stretch that has turned around the team’s season.

Wisconsin’s defense will now face a true test on Saturday when No. 3 Penn State visits Camp Randall Stadium. Another dominant showing, and it may be time to consider the unit among the nation’s top 10.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Chris Harris gives his take on Vance Joseph’s punishing defense

“He’s always been aggressive,” Chris Harris said of Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. “We blitzed a lot when he coached me.”

Former Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris recently appeared on the Up and Adams show after the Broncos defeated the New Orleans Saints, and he had high praise for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit.

When host Kay Adams asked Harris if he thought that Joseph had changed his philosophies or defense since Harris was with the team, Harris said, “I don’t think he’s changed, I just think he’s getting better with his playcalling. He’s got a great d-line, with Zach Allen leading the way and he’s got guys just making plays,”

The cornerback continued: “A lot of times, it’s not — the players make the coaches. And guys just make the plays, right? You can call the same defense every time and if guys don’t make the plays, it’s going to make the coach look bad. Right now, they’re making him look good they’re getting a lot of pressure, I don’t think he’s evolved, because he’s always been aggressive. We blitzed a lot when he coached me, so I see him doing the exact same thing.”

Adams also asked Harris who should be getting more love on the defensive side of the ball. “Riley Moss,” Harris said without hesitation. “I think he’s playing great. He started a little shaky, you know, but this is kind of his rookie year. He’s improving every week.”

You can watch the entire interview with Adams and Harris below.

 

The Broncos will host the Carolina Panthers in Week 8 on Oct. 27.

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