Denver Broncos confounding Aaron Rodgers, opposing quarterbacks as sacks pile up

Aaron Rodgers is known for his elite vision, but what came at him last Sunday was often a blur.

In the Broncos’ 10-9 win at MetLife Stadium, the New York Jets quarterback was sacked five times. And Denver players barreled at him from all over the field.

On the first play, inside linebacker Justin Strnad, playing his first regular-season snap from scrimmage since 2021, stormed through to sack Rodgers. Later on, the Broncos got sacks from defensive linemen, an outside linebacker and one late in the game on a safety blitz, when P.J. Locke earned a free path to Rodgers.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Locke dumped Rodgers in 2.88 seconds. It was third-fasted sack in Week 4 and the second-fastest one by a safety this season, trailing only a Week 2 sack by Kyle Dugger of New England in 2.82 seconds.

“Not often you fool a guy like Aaron and yet I think P.J. had a sack (Sunday) where he wasn’t expecting a free rusher,’’ said Broncos coach Sean Payton. “(Defensive coordinator) Vance (Joseph) has done a good job of picking those opportunities, and then also just as frequently, showing (blitz) maybe and getting out into some other looks. Certainly, it’s unsettling (to a quarterback).”

Entering Sunday’s home game against Las Vegas, the Broncos (2-2) are second in the NFL with 16 sacks, trailing only Minnesota’s 17. Before taking aim at Rodgers, they had seven on Baker Mayfield in a 26-7 win at Tampa Bay on Sept. 22, a game that also featured a safety getting a sack in Devon Key.

Denver has 10 players with at least a half sack this season. The parade includes outside linebackers Jonathon Cooper (3), Nick Bonitto (2), Dondrea Tillman (2) and rookie Jonah Elliss (1.5) and defensive linemen Zach Allen (2), John Franklin-Myers (2) and Malcolm Roach (0.5) in addition to Strnad, Locke and Key, who each have one. On Sunday, in addition to Strnad and Locke, Bonitto and Franklin-Myers each had sacks and Elliss and Roach shared one.

“We’re going to keep going,’’ Cooper said. “We’ve got great players, a great team and everybody is working together. When the back end is doing their job and the front end is doing their job, that’s when the sacks come. It makes the quarterback uncomfortable.”

In the opener at Seattle, the Broncos lost 26-20 while sacking Geno Smith twice, both by Cooper. They lost the second game 13-6 at home to Pittsburgh while twice sacking mobile quarterback Justin Fields.

Then the Broncos went on the road for 10 days to face the Buccaneers, practice at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia and face the Jets. And they say defense travels.

“It’s amazing,’’ star cornerback Pat Surtain II said of the sacks piling up for Denver. “I mean, those guys are eating on the edge, in the interior. Our line as a whole is just gritty and they’re getting after it so far. And I can’t appreciate them enough. It makes my job easier on the back end for sure. Those guys are doing their thing.”

It isn’t just sacks the Broncos are getting on defense. Passes have been defended well and they’ve been stout against the run while ranking second in the NFL in total defense and third in points allowed.

But sacks are the glamour stat on defense.

“We should have more sacks, to be honest with you,’’ Roach said. “I feel like we’re doing a good job of playing off each other. (Joseph) is doing a great job of finding matchups and getting us one-on-ones… He’s creating mismatches."

Joseph’s play calling the past two weeks has confounded Mayfield, who otherwise has had a top-notch season, and the legendary Rodgers.

“I think it’s just a testament to the type of players that we have all across the board,’’ Cooper said all of the Broncos who have gotten in on sacks. “We’re all doing a good job in getting back to that quarterback and putting pressure on them. As long as we keep listening to (Joseph’s) calls and take the coaching and keep getting better, we’re only going to see more success of that moving forward.”

Perhaps that should be considered a warning to the Raiders’ Gardner Minshew, the next quarterback who will be trying to figure out where Denver’s pass rushers are coming from.