Broncos pass rush looks like it might be best in the NFL following Week 3 win

The Denver Broncos dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road at Raymond James Stadium, and are in the win column for the first time in the season. It was not a close game, as Denver won by a 26-7 score. They destroyed the Bucs on both sides of the ball.

A key to Denver's defensive success against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the amount of sacks they piled up. They finished the game with 7.0 sacks on Mayfield (Tillman - 2.0, Cooper - 1.0, Bonitto - 1.0, Allen - 1.0, Franklin-Myers - 1.0, and Key - 1.0), which is their season-high so far, as they had two against Geno Smith in Week 1 and two more against Justin Fields in Week 2.

Denver's pass rush unit is second in the NFL so far in sacks through the Week 3 games, just behind the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants units, who had 8 against the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns respectively. The Broncos had more than triple the number of sacks they had in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Could the Denver Broncos have the best pass rush in the NFL right now?

Their game-high in sacks during the 2023-24 season under Vance Joseph, the same defensive coordinator Denver has this season, was six against the Los Angeles Chargers in their Week 14 win at SoFi Stadium. In their third game of the 2024-25 season, the Broncos already surpassed that amount of sacks in the same game.

Not only did Denver have seven sacks against Tampa Bay during their dominant Week 3 win, but there was also good secondary coverage that made Baker Mayfield hold the ball for a long time, and his offensive line could not resist much, which led to the sacks. The Buccaneers were without one of their starting offensive tackles, Luke Goedeke, and the Broncos took advantage of that. Also, the good pressure and coverage made Mayfield throw a bad pass that ended in a defensive interception for Denver, specifically from free agent acquisition Brandon Jones. The interception helped the Broncos extend their lead in the first quarter and gained positive momentum throughout the game.

The Broncos placed Baron Browning on injured reserve, which means that he will miss at minimum four games, his absence was not noticeable in the field, as Dondrea Tillman, the former UFL star, who was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's game had a massive debut and was a bright spot for this unit, he was dominant.

Besides the seven sacks on Mayfield, Denver had nine QB hits, a category led by Dondrea Tillman with three, who once again, had an impressive NFL debut. If the Broncos continue to pressure quarterbacks like they did against Tampa Bay, they can give an advantage to the offense if they can force punts and turnovers.

When you have a rookie quarterback, your defense needs to play well to avoid having Nix in this case trying to come back in the game, like they did today, with consistent pressure and coverage.