Vic Fangio made a Chicago Bears defense great. He should be able to do the same for the Denver Broncos.
When the Denver Broncos hired Vic Fangio to be their head coach, everybody knew where he was coming from: a Chicago Bears defense that was almost unstoppable.
He led a Bears defense that finished the 2018 regular season with 50 sacks, 27 interceptions, and 19 forced fumbles.
In comparison, the Broncos had 44 sacks, 17 interceptions, and 13 forced fumbles.
Chicago’s leading interceptor was cornerback Kyle Fuller, who had seven. Safety Eddie Jackson had six throughout the year. Pass rusher Khalil Mack had a phenomenal season with 12.5 sacks.
For the Broncos, Von Miller and rookie pass rusher Bradley Chubb had 14 sacks and 12.5 sacks respectively. From an interception standpoint, cornerback Chris Harris Jr and safety Justin Simmons had three apiece.
Don’t get me wrong. Personal stats aren’t exactly what makes a team great. That is only part of the equation.
The Bears defense looked to be in great position a lot of the time. They made plays left and right. The team gave up the least amount of rushing yards per game, while the Denver Broncos gave up the 11th most.
This Broncos team has a lot of potential, but I feel like they were just put into some horrible situations, starting with the previous coaching regime.
It is going to be so interesting to see what Fangio is able to cook up with the great players on the Broncos defense, such as Miller, Chubb, Chris Harris Jr, Shelby Harris, Derek Wolfe, Justin Simmons and many more.
The team does have its problems on offense, but if they are able to fix some issues on the defensive side of the ball, the offensive issues would likely be bailed out.
That’s not to say that the offense won’t get better. There are going to be many changes for the 2019 regular season in terms of coaches. It all will take some time for the new offense to click.
I do anticipate the defense to step up their game tremendously from 2018 to 2019 because of our new defensive-minded head coach, Vic Fangio.