Mile High Report
According to Next Gen Stats, the Denver Broncos had the third highest tackling grade on defense in the National Football League in 2024.
Good morning, Broncos Country.
The Denver Broncos sported one of the best defenses in the NFL during the 2024 season. Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph switched things up and went to a more aggressive, blitz happy, attack-style defense that played a lot of man coverage than we are used to seeing.
The results? “Not too shabby,” as former Head Coach John Fox would say. They had the league’s best pass rush by a large margin [most sacks in the league] and were also much improved against the run. In virtually every facet imaginable, they were markedly better than the year prior. But another reason for their top-notch play last season was due to a large improvement in their tackling efficiency.
During their 2023 season, the Broncos struggled immensely in that respect. This season, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats told a much different story with the team ranking third in that category behind only the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Overall, the Broncos received a 92.0 grade (A-) for their defensive efforts tackling.
They were fourth in tackling efficiency posting 88.5% in that metric. That was an enormous increase of over four percent and 26 spots higher than their 2023 efforts. The article above also mentions that the Broncos gave up the third least yards after a missed tackle in the league.
Patrick Surtain II was dubbed the team’s best tackling player with only one missed tackle over the course of the season. Additionally, they noted that free agents Justin Strnad and D.J. Jones had two of the lowest grades on defense in that regard. Perhaps we will see the Broncos look for upgrades at both linebacker and defensive tackle to get even better in this respect in 2025.
As always—thank you for reading. Here is today’s slate of articles for Horse Tracks.
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