Denver Broncos 5 stock up, 2 stock down following huge comeback victory over Bears

Denver Broncos Stock Down:

Defense:

The defense continues to be a massive issue for the Broncos through the first four weeks of the season. While it's easy to point fingers, especially at defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, there is a lot of blame to spread around on the defense from top to bottom. The pass rush is lackluster outside of Nik Bonitto and half of Jonathon Cooper's plays and the secondary continues to jump out as an obvious weakness on the team.

Denver quickly went from one of the best secondaries in the league a year ago under former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to now arguably the worst in football. The run defense also continues to be a glaring issue and Denver's interior defensive linemen have been historically bad at stopping the run as well as the inside linebackers.

Joseph's play-calling in third-down situations were very concerning and ultimately indicative of the 28 points allowed to Justin Fields and the Bears offense. Chicago came into the matchup with one of the worst offenses in football and managed to look like a brand new group on Sunday against Denver's defense. Hopefully with key defensive players returning from the IR this week in S PJ Locke, CB K'Waun Williams, OLB Baron Browning, and possibly even S Justin Simmons, the Broncos can get back on track on that side of the ball.

OLB Randy Gregory

After losing his starting role to fellow edge rusher Nik Bonitto, Gregory has officially reached a new low. The $70M pass rusher has failed to reach any expectations this season as a high-potential athlete and has consistently been non-existent with pressure on the QB. Gregory has been a very poor run defender and is almost considered a liability when on the field. Broncos GM George Paton whiffed badly on this signing and it's hurting the defense as a result.