Vance Joseph is once again having the time of his life with Broncos

There he is, you see him on the screen. Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is once again having the time of his life! 

It seems after getting a 70 burger dropped on him against Miami last year, something has awoken Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. This season, the Broncos are in the top 10, if not the top 5, in most passing defensive categories. They rank 5th in sacks with 11, 3rd in yards per attempt, and have allowed the fewest passing yards in the entire league so far with 451. To top it off, cornerback Riley Moss was the highest-graded cornerback in the NFL last week according to PFF with a grade of 91.1. So what exactly has sparked this remarkable turnaround? 

Denver Broncos defense has been elite so far in 2024

A big reason for the turnaround is a simple case of “Out with the old, in with the new”. Longtime safety Justin Simmons was let go from the Broncos in the offseason and subsequently signed with the Atlanta Falcons, leaving room for PJ Locke to stake his claim as the number one safety. The departures of elder pass rushers like Randy Gregory and Frank Clark made way for Baron Browning, Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto, and others to emerge as pass rushers. And against the Bucs this past weekend, we saw that tenfold. We saw six different pass rushers get a sack on QB Baker Mayfield, led by rookie Dondrea Tillman. When you have so many players getting pressure from so many directions, it really makes opposing QB's lives nightmares. 

The pressures are coming from all areas, as well. Joseph was even employing man stand-up blitzes where the rushers stand until the ball is hiked over the guards, then once the ball is hiked the rushers rush the edges.

Not to mention, only one completion of over 20 yards, a 44.7% pressure rate, and a 56.9% blitz rate, both of which are first in the league. We’ve never seen Joseph get this creative with his blitz packages until this year. It’s hard to believe this is the same coordinator that got 70 dropped on him just a year ago, a fireable offense for many. Sean Payton decided instead of the instant, and probably justifiable reaction at the time to fire Joseph, to stick with him and is now reaping the benefits of what is now one of the league’s best pass-rushing teams. 

This of course opens up the question of will Joseph get a second chance to head coach again? Well if he keeps it up with this defensive unit, getting elite pass-rushing production out of multiple defenders, many of whom are late-round picks, then call up Sergio Dipp because Joseph will be getting the call to be a head coach again sooner than later.