Secondary Grade: B+
The last biggest piece of the Denver Broncos’ secondary was missing from Sunday against the San Diego Chargers: Aqib Talib. Talib is a shutdown corner that is on a possible track to a Hall of Fame career. The team did not miss his step as Bradley Roby assumed the role of replacement.
Roby turned a Phillip Rivers’ deflection into a pick-six making his presence felt for the first interception of the season. Chris Harris played the entire game eliminating the threat of a big play. A lucky play by Travis Benjamin drew the Chargers closer, but the defense never felt threatened once they had the lead. The Broncos secondary stole three throws from Rivers, who flirted with trouble all game on deflection after deflection.
This could become an important performance for the secondary, but despite the success in coverage, the position group is graded a B for allowing over 250 passing yards. The pass defense still averages less than 200-yards a game. Teams still fear the secondary, since the depth of the team is unmatched.
The next opponent for the Denver Broncos is the Oakland Raiders. Derek Carr threw for 500-yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he will have a hard time duplicate such task against the Broncos secondary.