Who would have predicted this a few weeks ago?
About a month after being blasted by the Miami Dolphins 70-20, the Denver Broncos upset the Kansas City Chiefs 24-9 in Week 8.
The driving force behind that turnaround: defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
“‘VJ’ has been nothing but outstanding,” Broncos safety Justin Simmons said after holding the Chiefs to nine points on Sunday. “I can speak for the defensive room when I say this: We’ll go to war for ‘VJ.’ Week-in and week-out. He never flinched, he never wavered. He knows how good we can be and how well we can execute. Today I think kind of showed that.
“In so many ways … it wasn’t perfect … but that was almost the standard — getting some takeaways, setting our offense up to get the ball, obviously, leaving the game with no touchdowns is huge — and ‘VJ’ was the driving factor of that. The attention to detail, the film study, the communication, talking to us in and out of the offensive plays when the offense is out on the field, on the sideline letting us know what he’s thinking, how plays are going to go so we aren’t shocked or surprised by any calls — I think all that plays a big role into it. I can’t say enough good things about him. We’re going to just keep this ball rolling.”
Many fans and pundits were calling for Joseph to be fired a few weeks ago, but he has undeniably gotten the unit back on track. If Denver’s defense continues playing like it did on Sunday, Joseph might not return in 2024, but not because he’s been fired. Joseph might get back into head coach conversations this offseason if the defense continues this trend.
Granted, that’s certainly not guaranteed. It’s a small sample size right now. The Broncos will have to show consistency in the coming weeks, but Sunday was an example of what they’re capable of under Joseph, and that’s a very promising step in the right direction.
