A year ago at this time, every Denver Broncos fan in the world was questioning whether or not what they had just witnessed was even real life or some kind of nightmare. The Broncos took a road trip to Miami to face off against the Dolphins in Week 3 of the 2023 season, and it ended up being one of the most embarrassing individual games in franchise history.
And the Broncos have given up 55 points in the Super Bowl before.
The Broncos went to Miami and had 70 points scored on them by the Dolphins. It was one of the lowest points in franchise history and one of the worst defensive performances anyone had ever witnessed. The Dolphins even let up at the end, presumably for gamesmanship, when they were in position to set the NFL record for points scored in a game.
It's hard to believe that the Broncos were able to rebound from that during last season, much less put forth the type of defensive effort they did from that point forward.
Staggering stat shows off stark contrast in Broncos defense from 2023 to 2024
To illustrate just how great the Denver Broncos' defense has been through five games this year, take a look at this stat posted by CBS Sports:
Points Allowed by Broncos
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 9, 2024
2023 Week 3 70
2024 Week 1-5 73 pic.twitter.com/mSwUsnn2Ff
The glow-up of the Denver Broncos' defense from 2023 to 2024 is unreal. The Broncos are so substantially improved on that side of the ball, and you have to spread the credit around to a lot of different people.
The Broncos have done a masterful job of improving the overall personnel defensively, which is a credit to the front office and coaching staff. But the way the players are being deployed defensively is a huge credit to Vance Joseph and that defensive staff in Denver. The Broncos have legitimate studs at all three levels of the defense when there were folks out there who felt like this team was completely devoid of talent and upside.
The biggest difference between last season and this season is the performance of the defensive front. The Broncos hoped that veterans Randy Gregory and Frank Clark could be significant contributors to the team last year and both are out of the NFL completely this year. They brought in the likes of John Franklin-Myers, Malcolm Roach, and Jonah Elliss, and we've also seen a number of other players have shown drastic improvement.
Through the first five games of the 2024 season, the Broncos' defense has been one of the biggest stories across the league. Hopefully, they can keep it going and keep this team in the thick of the AFC/AFC West playoff race.