Last Sunday, the Denver Broncos’ defense put on a show against the Dallas Cowboys, holding one of the league’s best offensive units to only 17 points in the team’s dominant win.
While the headlines focused mainly on the Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s career-low eight yards and his inability to get traction against Denver’s stout front seven, the Broncos also paved their way to victory with a relentless pass rush, led by their talented outside linebackers — perennial Pro Bowler Von Miller and rising star Shaq Barrett.
According to Pro Football Focus, Miller and Barrett both finished first and second in the NFL in total quarterback pressures for Week Two among outside linebackers. Miller finished the game with 12 total quarterback pressures while Barrett notched nine for himself.
Compared the rest of the NFL, the only two pass rushers who came close to those numbers were the Buffalo Bills’ Jerry Hughes and the Minnesota Vikings’ Everson Griffin, who both pressured the quarterback six times each.
To say that the Broncos’ outside pass rush is playing at a high-level is an understatement. Miller, in particular, is playing on another level — he had double the amount of quarterback pressures than Hughes and Griffin, and shattered his five-game sack-less streak with a pair against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ top-tier offensive line.
With former mentor and future Hall-of-Famer DeMarcus Ware in attendance to watch both of his former teams face one another, Miller accumulated a handful of penalties early on before seemingly getting in a groove.
Once Miller found that groove, he was close to unstoppable, consistently collapsing the pocket on Prescott, and corralling him for a pair of sacks.
Barrett, who missed most of the team’s offseason programs with a lingering hip injury, didn’t waste much time regaining midseason form, tying inside linebacker Brandon Marshall for the most tackles on the team with seven (four solo and three assists).
Barrett has played exceptionally in the absence of outside linebacker Shane Ray, who suffered a torn ligament in his thumb. Ray was placed on injured reserve earlier this month, meaning that Barrett will continue to see extensive play throughout the first half of the season.
The entire Broncos’ pass rush has been stellar throughout the early stages of the 2017 season, making life exceedingly difficult for San Diego’s Philip Rivers last week and Prescott on Sunday; both of whom are considered among the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
When Ray returns, an already dominant Broncos’ defense could become even more lethal; Ray adds not only his formidable skill as pass rusher, but his presence also helps to keep Miller and Barrett fresh throughout the game.
Next week, the Broncos hit the road to take on the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Tyrod Taylor, whose combination of athleticism and scrambling ability is reminiscent of Dallas’ Prescott. After seeing what how the Broncos harassed Prescott on Sunday, however, a similar performance by Miller, Barrett and their ball-hawking, run-stopping teammates would certainly make Taylor’s Sunday a long one, indeed.
