Can the Broncos defense improve upon their 2025 performance?

Even with all of the advanced analytics, the most critical stat for any defense is points allowed. The 2025 Broncos defense finished third in points allowed behind the Houston Texans and the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos defense allowed 311 points, which worked out to be 18.3 PPG. Third is the best that the Broncos defense has finished in points allowed since 1989 when the defense finished first in points allowed.

In terms of per game, the 2012 defense was better with 18.1 ppg allowed, but that was 4th that season, behind the Seahawks, Chicago Bears, and San Francisco 49ers. The 1989 season was the ONLY time in franchise history where the Broncos defense finished first in points allowed

Oddly enough, the Broncos finished the season with the same PPG allowed in both 2024 and 2025, and the same 311 points allowed was third in both 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the Broncos defense finished behind the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles instead of the Texans and the Seahawks. So one way for the 2026 Broncos defense to improve upon 2025 (and 2024) is to finish first or second in points allowed. The Broncos defense has only finished second in points allowed twice in team history; those were in 1978 and 1984. Both of those defenses were elite.

Can the Denver Broncos defense improve in the 2026 season?

Prior to 2024, when the defense reset the franchise record for sacks with 63, the 1984 Broncos held the franchise sack record with 57. It's hard to know how many sacks the '78 Broncos defense had because the sack did not become an official stat until a few years after that.

While the Broncos defense was third in points allowed last season, they did lead the league in yards allowed per play at 4.46. The Seahawks were second at 4.56. The Cincinnati Bengals finished dead last at 6.18, but there were four teams that allowed more than 6.0 yards per play last season. The other three were the Bears, Washington Commanders, and Dallas Cowboys.

The average play from scrimmage in the NFL last season gained 5.33 yards.

The best YPP allowed post-merger was the 1970 Minneosta Vikings at 3.44. The only team from this century in the top 40 is the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers, who allowed 3.90. The 2025 Broncos were the 17th best this century in terms of YPP allowed. The 2015 Broncos were the 11th best this century at 4.39.

The 2025 season was a crazy good season for YPP, with both the Broncos and the Seahawks allowing fewer than 4.60 yards per play.

So let's take a look at how the Broncos defense ranked in some other stats.

Percent of drives that ended in a score: 34.6% (7th)
Passer rating allowed: 78.7 (6th)
Sacks: 68 (1st)
QB Pressures (SIS): 394 (1st)
QB Pressure rate: 30.5% (2nd)
Turnovers: 14 (26th)
Yards allowed per carry: 3.87 (2nd)
3rd down conversions allowed: 33.8% (2nd)
TFL: 82 (17th)
ANYA: 4.7 (4th)

So while the defense was elite in most areas, there are two areas where the defense could still improve relative to 2025: turnovers and tackles for loss. The Broncos defense was one of the worst in the league at forcing turnovers after being one of the best in 2024. In the modern NFL, forcing turnovers is NOT a viable and/or sustainable defensive strategy. Quarterbacks throw fewer and fewer INTs every season, and offensive players have gotten much better about protecting the ball over the last 20 years.

The Broncos defense did not have a strip sack until the final week of the regular season. That's despite leading the league in sacks. Some of that is luck, but some of that is opposing QBs being coached to protect that ball with a higher level of alertness against the Broncos defense than they would against a defense that sucks at rushing the passer. The 2024 Broncos defense had 15 interceptions and recovered 10 fumbles (with twelve forced fumbles). The 2025 Broncos defense had ten interceptions and only recovered four fumbles (with nine forced fumbles).

The other area where the Broncos defense could improve in 2026 relative to 2025 is tackles for loss. Nik Bonitto led the team with 14 while Jonathon Cooper was second with 8. The best defensive line guy was John Franklin-Myers with six. The inside linebackers who played for the Broncos in 2025 (Alex Singleton, Justin Strnad, and Dre Grenlaw) were all poor at diagnosing run plays and getting tackles for loss . Strnad led the group with five. Singleton had three. Three tackles on 1029 is amazingly bad, and it was his worst career season.

For comparison, an elite inside linebacker, Jordyn Brooks, had 13 tackles for loss last season. Myles Garrett led the league with 33 last season. The team's nickel cornerback, Ja'Quan McMillian, had 5 last season. Below is a table with Broncos defenders who had more than 3 TFL last season

Alex Singleton had the same number of tackles for loss as Riley Moss and Que Robinson. Cornerbacks generally don't have much opportunity to make tackles for loss. Robinson played 150 defensive snaps, or about one \-seventh of what Singleton did.

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