(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
This season has been a long one for the Broncos defense. They have to answer questions about how good they are. They have to deal with the criticism when the Broncos lose. They had their manhood challenged. They have to deal with doubts.
Even after being effective in the Broncos’ 24-17 divisional playoff victory over the Chargers, everyone questions how good that unit will be on Sunday in stopping Brady. The doubts won’t go away until the Broncos hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
The defense understands that. They know they haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt.
The Broncos defense can go a long way if they can limit Brady the way they did with Rivers on Sunday. It won’t be easy, though. The Patriots quarterback is one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and even if the defense does a good job of keeping him under wraps, he can burn the defense.
It’s unrealistic to think they have to play 60 minutes of great defense. It’s hard to do in a league that is pass-oriented. It’s impossible to do against Brady. What the Broncos need to do is not let the Patriots quarterback be on the field as long as his counterpart in Peyton Manning.
The way to get to Brady is blitzing. Even if he gets by those blitzes, the Broncos can’t deviate from that game plan. It’s the only way he will get rattled. Playing cover-to-cover and prevent defense isn’t going to work, especially with Chris Harris Jr. not playing after he torn his ACL in last week’s playoff game.
The Patriots had success starting the game by blitzing Philip Rivers endlessly, and they had success with it. He had a hard time throwing, and he could not be the mobile quarterback he normally in making plays.
Rivers figured it out when Harris Jr. left the game with an injury. He connected to Keenan Allen in the second half as Quentin Jammer was burned often after filling in for the Broncos cornerback. That said, the Broncos did get away from blitzing in the second half for whatever reason.
The Broncos have the players to blitz in Terrance Knighton, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan and Shaun Phillips, so it’s feasible to execute.
When the Giants won the Super Bowl against the Ravens couple of times, their formula to get to Brady was giving him a steady diet of blitzes. He eventually rattled. They had the players to do it in Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan in their first try, and in their second try, they had Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul.
The Ravens were blitzing Brady whenever they play the Patriots, and they have had success. They can point out to last year’s AFC Championship Game.
Fox and Del Rio should realize this after watching endless tapes of Brady’s struggles in the playoffs. Video do a good job of exposing a player’s weaknesses. With the Patriots quarterback, his weaknesses may not mean much since he can overcome it with his ability to find an open player.
To the Broncos credit, they are not shying away from the challenge. What choice do they have? They feel their defense is rounding into form after being effective against the Texans and Raiders. Now it’s hard to tell how good they were after beating two bad teams, but to beat an effective Rivers is something they can cite.
If the Broncos can do a good job of getting to Brady, then everyone can say the defense can get it together. We will figure out how good that defense is when they have to finish him off in the final drive.
For all the talk about Brady vs. Manning, this game is about how the defense goes up against Brady. If there is a party that should talk about being an underdog, it’s the Broncos defense. Unlike Brady, they don’t feel the need to cry about it. They are going to let their play do the talking.
We can talk about how Manning must deliver on Sunday, but it won’t mean much if he plays well and the defense lets Brady torch them all day. The unit must make the Broncos quarterback’s job easy.
The defense is going to have to answer questions if they are ineffective after Sunday’s game. They haven’t complained about the criticism they have received.
But if they do their job, they earned the right to brag and rip anyone that ever doubted them.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter.
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
