![\"Nik](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2192555676-e1780864286119.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Denver Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto. <\/p>\n
The Denver Broncos<\/a> and their record-setting defense might need to actually win a Super Bowl to end this debate once and for all.<\/p>\n Bleacher Report\u2019s Gary Davenport<\/a> put the Broncos\u2019 defense at No. 3 in his NFL<\/a> defense power rankings, behind the Houston Texans<\/a> at No. 1 and the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> at No. 2 following their blockbuster trade for 2-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and edge rusher Myles Garrett<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Broncos have led the NFL in sacks each of the last 2 seasons and earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs in 2025 after going 14-3 in the regular season \u2014 a record that included 2 early-season losses in which the offense fell flat and the Broncos lost on last-second field goals.<\/p>\n The Broncos\u2019 defensive prowess was on full display all the way to the bitter end \u2014 a 10-7 home loss to the New England Patriots<\/a> in the AFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a ranking that will probably ruffle some feathers,\u201d Davenport wrote. \u201cTo be clear, the Denver defense is in the conversation as the best in the NFL. Last year the Broncos were second to the Houston Texans in total defense, giving up just 278.2 yards per game. Denver was seventh in the NFL against the pass \u2026 Denver almost made the Super Bowl a year ago\u2014and the defense did the majority of the heavy lifting.\u201d<\/p>\n Broncos Defense Stacked on Every Level<\/p>\n The Broncos\u2019 defense is led by a dominant pass rush that includes 2 of the NFL\u2019s elite players when it comes to getting to the quarterback, with edge rusher Nik Bonitto<\/a> and defensive end Zach Allen<\/a>, along with another edge rusher who might be most teams\u2019 dream at the position in Jonathon Cooper<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the secondary, the Broncos are led by the NFL\u2019s dominant cover cornerback in Patrick Surtain II<\/a>, the 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the year, along with 2-time NFL All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga<\/a>, along with 2 players who should\u00a0receive massive contracts in the near future \u2014 cornerback Riley Moss<\/a> and slot cornerback Ja\u2019Quan McMillian<\/a> \u2014 as well as cornerback and 2025 1st-round pick Jahdae Barron<\/a>.<\/p>\n The only position where the Broncos don\u2019t have a true blue star is at inside linebacker \u2014 the least important position on the defense. That\u2019s also where the Broncos re-signed a pair of starters with Alex Singleton<\/a> and Justin Strnad<\/a>, and released high-priced free agent Dre Greenlaw<\/a> after just 1 disappointing season.<\/p>\n Off-Field Issue Could Hurt Broncos in 2026<\/p>\n One disturbing recent off-field issue could impact the Broncos\u2019 defense in a big way in 2026 after Cooper and his girlfriend were both arrested on June 4<\/a> after his girlfriend alleged Cooper grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.<\/p>\n Cooper, who signed a 4-year, $60 million contract extension with the Broncos in November 2024, was arrested on 2 counts of domestic violence and 1 count of criminal mischief.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Cooper posted an apology on his Instagram stories, preceded by several passages from the Bible.<\/p>\n \u201cI realize posting a bible quote right after something very serious happens does not just mean everything is okay,\u201d Cooper wrote. \u201cI apologize to my family and my friends and my community \u2026 and so many others. Sincerely. I apologize. This situation is not who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Denver Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The Denver Broncos and their record-setting defense might need to actually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":721887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-721886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}