Broncos’ defense is on pace for an NFL sacks record, but can their broken offense get fixed?

By Canadian Press on November 7, 2025.

DENVER (AP) — 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.

A suffocating defense that erases just about all the warts.

It was Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and the “No Fly-Zone” secondary in 2015 that carried Peyton Manning and a doddering offense across the finish line in Super Bowl 50.

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.

The Broncos edged the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7 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.

They’re on pace for an NFL-record 78 sacks.

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.

“Our defense was fantastic,” coach Sean Payton said.

And their offense was abysmal again.

“Yeah, cool we’re 8-2 … (but) the defense is winning us the games and we’re not helping them, we’re not doing them any justice,’’ running back J.K. Dobbins said. “ I feel bad the way we play on offense and the way they play on defense because they’re doing so great and we’re doing so bad. They’re our brothers, too, and it just (stinks) because they’re just out there so many plays, playing their butts off. We can’t keep doing this to them.’’

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 (5-4), who have won the AFC West nine years in a row.

“This is probably the best team I’ve been on and we owe it to the fan base, we owe it to ourselves to stop playing how we’re playing,’’ Dobbins said. “We got to do better, we just have to do better. Eventually it’s going to bite us in the butt.’’

Said Nix, “At some point we’ve got to start moving the ball and scoring some points. Between penalties and sluggish football we’re just not playing very good. It starts with me, I’ve got to be better … we’ve got to find some juice.’’

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey suggested the offense can’t keep relying on the defense to bail out the Broncos.

“We’ve got to do our part,’’ he said.

What’s working

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).

What needs help

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.

Stock up

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.

Stock down

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.

Injuries

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.

Key stat

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.

Next steps

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, 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.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press

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