Washington\u2019s first possession of the second half Sunday lasted just five plays, but it showed a bit of several different problems the Broncos defense has encountered early on this season.<\/p>\n
When quarterback Sam Howell had nowhere to go with the ball on third-and-10, Randy Gregory flashed up the middle but couldn\u2019t get home. Howell escaped, caught Jonathon Cooper committing too far to the middle and bent toward the sideline. Then one of Denver\u2019s surest tacklers, Alex Singleton, took a rare bad angle and could only dive at Howell\u2019s feet as he scampered for 11 and a first down.<\/p>\n
To compound matters, Fabian Moreau got called for holding in the secondary — one of 12 penalties on the Broncos defense already through two games \u2014 tacking on five more yards.<\/p>\n
Then Brian Robinson powered up the middle for 11 yards. From the left hash, Washington\u2019s offensive line washed both of Denver\u2019s down defensive linemen plus Gregory past the right hash mark by the time Robinson scampered by and dragged Josey Jewell for a couple of extra yards.<\/p>\n
Then Denver got no rush against Howell and he threw a perfect ball to the post for Terry McLaurin, resulting in a 30-yard touchdown past struggling cornerback Damarri Mathis and reserve safety Delarrin Turner-Yell. Turner-Yell, a special teamer in Week 1, found himself playing 29 snaps of safety with P.J. Locke and Caden Sterns on injured reserve and Kareem Jackson ejected for his second concussion-inducing hit in as many weeks.<\/p>\n
Poor tackling. Penalties. Mental errors. An inconsistent pass rush. All on display on a drive that tied the game at 21 and was part of a stretch in which Washington scored on five of six possessions. The Commanders didn\u2019t need the red zone on this trip, but scored touchdowns all three times they got there, too.<\/p>\n
So what to make of this? Is the Broncos defense really this bad? Or is this just a blip on the early season radar?<\/p>\n
The early numbers aren\u2019t pretty. Denver\u2019s is tied for 30th in the league in expected points added per play, an efficiency metric, according to Sumer Sports data.<\/p>\n
The early vibe from those involved is less panicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tackling I\u2019m not worried about. I know the guys that are out there and we\u2019re going to clean that up,\u201d Singleton said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to work on it this week and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be a problem. I think it\u2019s one of those things, early in the season, every defense goes through it and it\u2019s just one of those wakeup calls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singleton also said the he expects the penalty problems and assignment issues to abate, too. During his Monday chat with reporters, Singleton repeatedly talked about cleaning up rather than overhauling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just still coming together,\u201d Singleton said, talking about the red zone in particular. \u201cNew staff, still learning what we like and don\u2019t like and all those little things. Like everything else, we have to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payton after the game called the defense\u2019s performance \u201cpoor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t help them with the field position, with the turnover, but our red-zone defense was poor,\u201d the head coach said. \u201cFirst-down defense, we\u2019re not fitting certain pressures. \u2026. I didn\u2019t think we played well, and we\u2019re going to see a lot better offenses than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting on Sunday, in fact, with a trip to Miami.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins lead the league far and away in offensive EPA per play, they\u2019re atop the NFL in yards per game (462.5) and passing yards per game (455) and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa looks like an early season MVP candidate.<\/p>\n
That means the improvement has to come quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we don\u2019t get many more weeks to (work on it),\u201d Singleton said. \u201cSo hopefully by Sunday we\u2019ve got it all figured out.\u201d<\/p>\n