Broncos’ biggest positive from Week 1 win is impossible to ignore

The Denver Broncos escaped with an ugly Week 1 victory over the Tennessee Titans, and the biggest positive from the game is hard to ignore.

The Broncos won their first Week 1 game since the 2021 NFL Season, when Teddy Bridgewater was under center. Bridgewater quite literally retired and came out of retirement in the following seasons, so it was a while.

However, the game was rough, to say the least - the offense looked lost, Bo Nix played poorly, and the run game did not get going until the second half. Despite all the chaos, Denver won by eight points, and it felt like they played poorly enough to lose by that much. However, the biggest positive from this Week 1 win is truly impossible to ignore.

The Denver Broncos defense might be even better than we think in 2025

The defense was all over the place after a rocky start of their own, and newly-paid EDGE Nik Bonitto actually had one of the best games of his young NFL career:

Tennessee was held to just 133 total yards, 62 passing yards, and just 2.4 yard per play. They were a poor 2/14 on third down, 0/1 on fourth down, and punted eight times. Furthermore, they lose two fumbles and saw their QB, Cam Ward, get sacked six times.

Whether it was sharp linebacker play from Justin Strnad, pressure from Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto, or teach-tape cornerback play from Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss, the Broncos' defense put on a clinic. And sure, it was against a bad football team and a rookie QB, but the team cannot help who they play.

Going out there and having a dominating defensive performance and picking up right where they left off is a huge positive from what was otherwise one of the sloppier offensive games in the Sean Payton era.