The Broncos had one of the NFL's better special teams units last season, but their group has struggled mightily so far this year. Darren Rizzi rejoined Sean Payton in Denver after a stint in New Orleans that culminated in being an interim head coach last season. The issue for the Broncos, however, has been in how poorly Rizzi's unit has played.
The Broncos have been a mess on special teams all year. Six games in, you can name an issue on special teams from each game, highlighted by an undisciplined leverage call that cost them a victory in Indianapolis in Week 2, and now an inability to cover the Jets' return team in Week 6.
Denver needs to find a way to fix their special teams issues before too long this season. The major piece to this issue isn't just penalties, missed kicks, blown coverage, or any specific issue. The major snag for the Broncos is that their special teams is struggling in every aspect of their game, and it is going to cost the Broncos a win before too long. Special teams and the poor play of Matt Peart sunk several Broncos drives in London, both offensively and defensively.
Darren Rizzi's special teams unit has been a mess through six games this season
The first issue for the Broncos came on Will Lutz's first kickoff of the game. Lutz put it into the landing zone. Dondrea Tillman seemed to have the returner wrapped up, but Kene Nwangwu broke free and took the return for 72 yards. Big returns happen fairly often in the new rules, but the Broncos have been consistently allowing them more than the league average.
On just returns, Denver allowed Nwangwu to amass 91 total return yards to start his day. His next opportunity, On his next chance, Nwangwu brought one back for 22 yards, giving the Jets a start on the 36-yard line. Ultimately, the Jets' return group was able to do basically whatever they wanted to against the Broncos, and it was the major factor behind Denver's groggy second and third quarters of play.
If the Broncos want to make noise in the AFC this year, especially a season in which the division appears to be wide open for the first time in a decade, the Broncos are going to need their special teams play to improve. Denver got brutalized in the field position game on Sunday, due almost completely to the poor special teams coverage led by Rizzi and his coaching staff. If it weren't for the legs of Will Lutz and Jeremy Crawshaw, Rizzi would firmly be on the hot seat already.