A different kind of beast:
The reason why this Broncos defense is so much more dynamic and impactful than the other great defenses we’ve seen over the years is because each and every man on that unit works together in perfect unison. And that may sound like a dumb cliche or a grand generalization, but it’s true.
In football, a secondary’s best friend is an outstanding pass rush, and conversely, a pass rush’s best friend is a shut-down secondary; the Broncos have both, and it’s a combination few offenses have ever seen.
Between Von Miller, Shaquil Barrett, Shane Ray, Malik Jackson, Derek Wolfe and a newly healthy DeMarcus Ware, the Broncos have at least two Pro Bowl-caliber pass rushers they can send at a quarterback on any given play; when Wade Phillips calls a blitz, that brings guys like Danny Trevathan, T.J. Ward and Bradley Roby into the equation, too.
That makes Chris Harris‘ and Aqib Talib‘s jobs a lot easier; something that offensive coordinators don’t like to hear.
And against these Steelers, particularly Antonio Brown, the Broncos cornerbacks may be more suited to lock them down than any other duo in the league. Honestly, if you were to craft the perfect cornerback to cover Antonio Brown, it very well might be Chris Harris.
Harris, like Brown, is extremely versatile, able to play inside, outside, right, left, right side up, upside down. And when you’re covering Brown, you need to be great at everything, because he knows every trick in the book and then some.
More importantly, though, when the Steelers throw the football, they don’t dink and dunk; they chuck that ball down the field like the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offenses of old, and that takes time. Brown and Bryant may be fast, but they’re going to have to be lightening quick if they plan on getting open before the Denver pass rush reaches Big Ben in the pocket.
There are a lot of things the Steelers do very well, but unfortunately for them, those are the same things the Denver defense is most adept at stopping.
