DENVER (AP) \u2014 Look past the clunky offense and the persistent special teams gaffes and you’ll see the exact same thing that carried the Denver Broncos to a tickertape parade the last time they started a season 8-2.<\/p>\n
A suffocating defense that erases just about all the warts.<\/p>\n
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It was Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and the \u201cNo Fly-Zone\u201d secondary in 2015 that carried Peyton Manning and a doddering offense across the finish line in Super Bowl 50.<\/p>\n
This time, it’s Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Alex Singleton and, when healthy, Pat Surtain II, that’s leading the way through all those three-and-outs by scuffling second-year QB Bo Nix and the sputtering offense along with the weekly goof-ups in the kicking game.<\/p>\n
The Broncos edged the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7<\/a> Thursday night for their seventh straight win thanks to another stellar performance by Vance Joseph’s defense. They sacked Geno Smith a half dozen times, pushing their total to 46, more than any team’s had in its first 10 games since at least 1990.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n They’re on pace for an NFL-record 78 sacks.<\/p>\n They allowed just one score in 13 possessions by the Raiders (2-7), of which seven straight featured zero first downs. Eight ended in punts, one of which was blocked by J.L. Skinner, which led to Wil Lutz’s game-winning field goal. Dondrea Tillman had an interception and Hufanga sacked Smith on fourth-and-5 from the Denver 38 for a turnover on downs.<\/p>\n \u201cOur defense was fantastic,\u201d coach Sean Payton said.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n And their offense was abysmal again.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, cool we\u2019re 8-2 \u2026 (but) the defense is winning us the games and we\u2019re not helping them, we\u2019re not doing them any justice,\u2019\u2019 running back J.K. Dobbins said. \u201c I feel bad the way we play on offense and the way they play on defense because they\u2019re doing so great and we\u2019re doing so bad. They\u2019re our brothers, too, and it just (stinks) because they\u2019re just out there so many plays, playing their butts off. We can\u2019t keep doing this to them.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The Broncos realize the way they’re playing now won’t cut it against the league’s elite, beginning next week with a showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> (5-4), who have won the AFC West nine years in a row.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThis is probably the best team I\u2019ve been on and we owe it to the fan base, we owe it to ourselves to stop playing how we\u2019re playing,\u2019\u2019 Dobbins said. \u201cWe got to do better, we just have to do better. Eventually it\u2019s going to bite us in the butt.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Said Nix, “At some point we\u2019ve got to start moving the ball and scoring some points. Between penalties and sluggish football we\u2019re just not playing very good. It starts with me, I\u2019ve got to be better \u2026 we\u2019ve got to find some juice.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Right tackle Mike McGlinchey suggested the offense can’t keep relying on the defense to bail out the Broncos.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do our part,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n What\u2019s working<\/p>\n Denver is on track to obliterate the franchise-record of 63 sacks they collected last season and eclipse the NFL record for most sacks in a season (72 by the Chicago Bears in 1984).<\/p>\n What needs help<\/p>\n Nix’s offense was stuck in neutral much of the night and was flagged eight times. Like the Raiders, the Broncos had more penalties (11) than first downs (10). The last time both the Broncos and their opponents had fewer first downs than flags was back in 1971.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Stock up<\/p>\n Bonitto had 1 1\/2 sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits to go with five tackles. According to NextGen Stats, Bonitto has generated 28 pressures in under 2.5 seconds this season, seven more than the next closest pass rusher entering the rest of the Week 10 slate.<\/p>\n Stock down<\/p>\n Rookie P Jeremy Crawshaw regressed from a solid start to the season with three shanked punts. The first one traveled 30 yards to the Denver 41, setting up the Raiders’ only touchdown. The second traveled 36 yards and bounced out of bounds at the Las Vegas 29. And the third one, which followed AJ Cole’s second coffin corner punt for the Raiders, went 38 yards to the Denver 48. Tack on a penalty and the Raiders started at Denver’s 43.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Injuries<\/p>\n The Broncos haven’t missed star cornerback Surtain (pectoral muscle) nearly as much as they’ve missed WR\/KR Marvin Mims Jr. (concussion). They’ve muffed two punts in his two-game absence. RG Quinn Meinerz left Thursday night’s game after getting sick in the second half.<\/p>\n Key stat<\/p>\n The Broncos have outscored their opponents 96-36 in the fourth quarter so far, and over their seven-game winning streak, that differential is 86-20.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Next steps<\/p>\n The Broncos get a mini-bye week before they return to work Monday to begin preparing for a visit from Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs<\/a>, who are on their bye week. It’ll take a much better all-round effort to beat KC and build a big lead over the team that’s owned the division since 2016.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n