Wade Phillips Promises An Aggressive Broncos Defense
When the Denver Broncos’ pursuit for a defensive coordinator ended with Wade Phillips, you pretty much knew what they were going to get. What Broncos fans wanted was someone who is aggressive, and Phillips certainly knows how to do that. He also vowed that that would be the product on the field in 2015.
“I think people will be excited about this defense and how they play and how aggressive they play.”
Phillips was phenomenal with the media in his session, and even took some (possibly inadvertent) jabs at former defensive coordinator and now Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio with some of his comments.
“I’ve always said, ‘Hey, if he can rush well, if he’s a really great rusher, let him rush.’ It seems simple but sometimes people want to drop them in the pass and all that stuff. It’s also the cornerbacks, what they can do; It’s what [Chris] Harris [Jr.] can do, what [Aqib] Talib can do. It’s whatever they can do really well, then we’re going to utilize that,” Phillips said.
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So many questioned the Broncos’ game plan against the Colts, and it was becoming an ugly pattern over the course of the year. As talented of a defense as the Broncos have, there was no reason they should not have been a force in the postseason with the potential they have in terms of pass rush and taking the football away. The Broncos had the third ranked defense in the NFL in terms of yardage, but also were in the top 10 in the NFL in sacks and interceptions.
What the Broncos needed was to go on a postseason run, and there were plenty of players who voiced their opinion after the fact that they were not happy with the game plan. Phillips claims that his system is player-friendly, and again took another slight jab at Del Rio with these comments:
“Defensive players, they’re aggressive by nature. I think you take something away from them when you don’t let them be,” he said. “And aggressive doesn’t mean blitzing all the time, but it does mean coming off the football—everybody coming off the football. You won’t see a square stance from a defensive lineman, so to speak for people who know football, where you’re reading. This is an attack defense, and that’s the way players like to play.
“You get the best results out of that and I think you play the best that way so we’ll be that way.”
With Del Rio, it seemed the players fit the scheme. With Phillips, I think the scheme is going to fit the players, and it will be a lot more aggressive in terms of putting pressure on the opposing team in a variety of ways. Whether that’s a more potent pass rush, playing more aggressive man-to-man coverage, or blitzing, it will be exciting to see.