Denver Broncos, Vance Joseph must figure out how to stop disturbing trend from becoming Deja vu

The Denver Broncos are starting to put some things together on offense, but this team is only going to go as far as its defense will allow. 

The Broncos got off to a quick start this season behind the strength of what many felt was the best defensive unit in the league. Does that sound familiar? It should. 

Last season, the Broncos had one of the best defenses in the league up until December, when it began to show cracks. That could be happening again this season. 

Over the team's last four games, the defense has shown little resistance and is prone to giving up way too many big plays. Against Jacksonville on Sunday, the Jaguars showed no fear whatsoever of the team's defense and went up and down the field against it, scoring 34 points and scoring four touchdowns in five red-zone possessions. 

Last December, the Broncos' defense was torched by the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals in back-to-back losses that threatened the team's playoff hopes. The Broncos got into the playoffs as the AFC's No. 7 seed, but the Buffalo Bills had their way with them in the first round, totaling 471 yards of offense, including rushing for over 200 yards. 

The Broncos are going to face some terrific offenses in the NFL and this defense is going to have to start looking like the one that began the season, rather than the one we have seen across the last several weeks. 

Denver Broncos' 2025 defense

It is a disturbing trend that seems to be resurfacing toward the end of the regular season, the same way it did a year ago, and the performance against Jacksonville was indicative of that. 

My biggest concern is that Vance Joseph’s defense has now faded down the stretch two years in a row.

Vance Joseph will need to get this figured out in a hurry, as the playoffs will start soon. He needs to get this defense playing aggressively and looking to put pressure on the quarterback and create turnovers in order to give the offense a boost. The Broncos are not a team that wants to trade scores and get into a shootout, like it attempted to do on Sunday against Jacksonville. 

The defense needs to be much sharper, better with tackling, and stingy on both third downs and in the red zone. During Sunday's broadcast, color commentator Daryl Johnston noted multiple times during the game how easy it was for Jacksonville to put points on the board. The Broncos' defense showed almost zero resistance and let the Jaguars dictate the game to them, similar to that playoff game against the Bills last season. 

READ: Denver Broncos' remaining schedule still sets up quite favorably to reach top goals

Joseph needs to get this under control and have the defense come out with much more fire going into the postseason. 

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