5 reasons the Denver Broncos have the best defense in the NFL

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Denver Broncos, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb

Oct 14, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb (55) celebrates with linebacker Von Miller (58) after a sack against the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth quarter at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The pass rush duo of Von Miller & Bradley Chubb

The photo at the top of this page is evidence that Von Miller and Bradley Chubb have, in fact, taken the field together for regular season action.

The last time they did that was early in the 2019 season prior to Chubb suffering a season-ending torn ACL. Ironically, through their first four games together in 2019, the major storyline was that the duo of Miller and Chubb was struggling to get sacks on the quarterback.

The expectations in 2020 were high for Miller and Chubb even with Chubb coming off of his injury, but then Miller suffered a season-ending injury in the days leading up to the opener against the Titans.

With both Miller and Chubb back and healthy for the 2021 season, the Denver Broncos will feature the best pass rush duo in the NFL which the NFL has not seen on the field together for a long period of time since 2018 when Vance Joseph was still Denver’s head coach.

What cannot be overstated here is just how critical these two are to making the Vic Fangio defense tick. The Denver Broncos were actually still one of the best teams in the NFL in 2020 at sacking the quarterback despite not having Miller, and we saw Fangio blitz quite a bit more than he did in his first season in Denver.

The Broncos ranked near the middle of the NFL last season with a blitz percentage of just under 28 percent. In 2019, the Broncos were in the bottom 10 of the NFL in blitz percentage at 24.1 percent.

With Miller and Chubb at 100 percent (hopefully), the Broncos’ front four or five will be expected to get home at a high rate.

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