ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos' defense has already faced its share of tests in the opening weeks of the 2026 season.
Denver opened the year against two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes before battling Trevor Lawrence, who entered the game after posting a league-best passer rating in Week 1. The challenge doesn't stop on "Sunday Night Football," as reigning MVP Matthew Stafford leads a potent offense — one that led the NFL in total offense and scoring offense in 2025 — into Denver in Week 3.
"I think it's every week in this league," Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday. "… It's been three weeks of explosive offenses, very well-coached offenses, quarterbacks that are playing good football. It's a good mix of run and pass. Just playing honest and stopping the run. Obviously, not giving up explosive plays. That's the key with these offenses. For us, it's the norm. It's been our third week, so our approach is the same. It's to stop the run and keep the big ones off of us and win third downs and win red zone and rush the quarterback the right way and just play good ball. That's the sell this week."
Joseph said the Broncos will continue to prepare as if they'll face Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, who caught a league-leading 129 passes for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025. Even if Nacua — who did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday — does not play, the Broncos will still face a test against three-time first-team All-Pro Davante Adams. The veteran receiver caught eight passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2, and Joseph called him and Stafford "Hall of Fame players" as the game approaches.
"Our coverage has been really good for two weeks," Joseph said. "I thought our rush got better this week with more opportunities to rush. The first week, not stopping the run, not tackling well, we had very few rush opportunities. But I thought last week, stopping the run and tackling better, we got more opportunities to rush the passer. Rush and coverage was there last week, and in the back end, it's an experienced group. We've played a lot of ball together. So, I expect those guys to play well again Sunday night. That's the key, obviously, to winning third down.
"… Guys like Stafford and Adams — I mean, they're Hall of Fame players. So, if we're not playing good football, they will expose us."
In addition to slowing Adams, Joseph said the challenge of facing the Rams lies in their proclivity for 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends).
"It's not just Adams, it's the run game," Joseph said. "This 13 personnel stuff, it forces you to play big and also play small on some passing downs. It's kind of brilliant. The three tight end sets with one receiver, it can look like 13 or 11 or 10 [personnel]. He has the ability to obviously make you play big. And if you do play big with extra linemen, extra 'backers, he can spread you out and play small. That's the first challenge for us, is stopping the 13 personnel run and pass game and then obviously getting them in known passing downs and rushing the right way and covering their main guys. That's the key. But it starts with stopping the run game."
As Joseph and the Broncos' defense prepares for a Rams offense that recorded nearly 500 yards of total offense on "Monday Night Football" in Week 2, Denver's defensive coordinator did highlight the potential benefit of facing multiple teams in a row that use a similar offensive system. Five consecutive Broncos opponents — the Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers and Seahawks — all employ a variation of former Broncos Ring of Fame head coach Mike Shanahan's West Coast wide-zone scheme, which only enhances the schematic battle between Joseph and offensive play callers over the coming weeks.
"I think it's helpful," Joseph said. "It was definitely helpful in the offseason. I knew we had the same family of coaches for five straight weeks. I've played them a ton in the past. It was definitely helpful for the offseason, but obviously every week is going to be different. I think it [also] helps those [opposing play callers] to see what their counterparts did vs. us the week before and kind of adjust. If something was good for them, add to that. That's the challenge. It's a cat-and-mouse game schematically every week, but I think it becomes interesting when it's the same family of coaches for five straight weeks. It's who has the pen last and having the ability to adjust the during the game. Last week, they hit a big one on us in the high red, and that coverage wasn't working anymore, so we flipped the entire thing at halftime. That's NFL football. Just nail what you know from the film study, but have the chance to adjust quickly in the game without losing the game. If you don't fix it quickly, you can lose games by the third quarter. Our job is to fix it quickly."
On Sunday night against the Rams, the Broncos' defense will face its next test.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
Broncos Offensive Coordinator Davis Webb's playing career as a quarterback has been well-documented, and he said Thursday that the same calmness that can benefit a quarterback also translates to play calling.
"I would say so, especially on the headset probably the most," Webb said. "I know what Bo [Nix] would like to hear. I know what I would've liked to have heard back in the day, and then a few of my friends. So, I think just [having] a clear line of communication, using those experiences back in my playing days has definitely been beneficial in that role. On the sideline, I think it's very similar to being a backup quarterback, always kind of being near the bench and communicating with the receivers, running backs, offensive linemen and coaches. So, I think all of those translate."
Webb helped the Broncos to 17 consecutive second-half points against the Jaguars, but he said his excitement was more related to being able "to win our first game as a team."
