Arrowhead Pride
The Broncos enter Week 10 with one of the best pass rushes in football.
The Kansas City Chiefs will play the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday — a matchup that will pit the undefeated Chiefs against the 5-4 Broncos.
The Broncos are having their best season in quite some time, and their defense has been a big part of that. The Broncos rank second in the NFL in yards allowed per play at 4.7, and they are also second in sacks at 31, as well as fourth in pressure percentage at 12.7%.
The Broncos don’t have a true star pass rusher, but they have a diverse committee of players that can execute defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s game plans and find ways to win matchups.
The Broncos' two best edge rushers are Nik Bonitto, who leads the team with 6.0 sacks, and Jonathon Cooper, who is second with 5.5. The pair of rushers provide a yin and yang effect to their team pass rush, with Bonitto using speed and bend to rush the passer, and Cooper using power.
Bonitto is on his way to a breakout season during his third year in the league and has the bend and agility to give offensive tackles problems.
Cooper also appears to be on his way to a breakout season, and he uses his compact frame to beat tackles with power from both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Both players are interchangeable across the left and right sides, so Chiefs' offensive tackles Wanya Morris and Jawaan Taylor must be ready for each. Morris struggles more against longer and quicker edge rushers so it would make sense for Denver to line up Bonitto against him for the majority of his pass rush snaps. Taylor can usually handle speed rushers but has had trouble in the past against power rushers, which means there is a good chance he will see plenty of snaps against Cooper.
Both edge rushers can wreck drives and games, so the Chiefs' tackles must show up on Sunday.
Denver also boasts an impressive duo of interior pass rushers, including John Franklin-Myers and Zach Allen. Much like Bonitto and Cooper, both are pacing for career years and provide the same “speed and power” combo along the inside of the line that their teammates do around the edge.
Myers has emerged as a strong interior rusher for Denver this season, and he has used his quickness to beat slower interior linemen.
Allen is more of a power rusher, using his large and long frame to bully his opponents along the interior.
Denver runs a high percentage of twist and stunt looks with both players and their skill sets allow them to play off each other and open up mismatches along interior offensive lines.
Allen and Myers will be matched up against the best interior offensive line in the NFL, and the Chiefs elite trio will have their hands full. Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and...
