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The defense for the Denver Broncos has been dominant.
If you’re a Denver Broncos fan, you can only hope and pray the team assembled together somewhere to watch the Thursday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
If they did, there was plenty of motivation to go around for the Broncos moving forward after the Texans sacked Buffalo Bills quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen 8 times in a 23-19 win.
The Broncos, if they were paying attention, would have seen an NFL media cycle in which the Texans, despite their 6-5 record, were lauded as the NFL’s best defense by anyone with a microphone in front of their face before, during and after Houston’s win.
“A pretty good example of why the Texans defense is the NFL’s best,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
“If you don’t enjoy watching the way the Texans defense plays we can’t be friends,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes wrote on her official X account.
“We’re the best defense in the league, top to bottom,” Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said after the win over the Bills. “We’ve been doing it all year.”
The Broncos, winners of 8 straight games, are 9-2 but have a bye in Week 12 before returning to action against the Washington Commanders in Week 13.
Broncos Defeated Texans in Week 9
The really weird thing about the knee jerk reaction of calling the Texans the NFL’s best defense is that the Broncos and Texans actually played in Week 9 — an 18-15 win by the Broncos in Houston.
That day, the Broncos knocked Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud out of the game with a concussion and were the dominant unit on the field, giving up less yards than the Texans and racking up 4 sacks to Houston’s 1 sack.
Stroud has yet to return from the injury and has missed 3 consecutive games — coincidentally 3 consecutive wins for the Texans.
Denver Could Break Vaunted NFL Sacks Record
The Broncos not only have the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain II, but returning NFL All-Pro players in edge rusher Nik Bonitto and interior defensive lineman Zach Allen.
The Broncos, who led the NFL with 62.0 sacks in 2024, have a chance to break the NFL’s team single season sacks record set by the Chicago Bears in 1984 with 72.0 sacks.
The Broncos have 49.0 sacks through 11 games — 15 more sacks than the Atlanta Falcons in second place — which puts them on pace for 75.5 sacks on a 17-game schedule. That’s one more game than the Bears had to set the record in playing on the 16-game schedule in 1984, although there’s definitely a chance the Broncos could break the record in 16 games.
To that end, the real team that should be considered the record holder might be the 1967 Oakland Raiders, who had 67.0 sacks in just 14 regular season games.
“The Broncos‘ defense leads in the NFL in red zone defense (35.7%) AND third-down defense (28.9%),” DNVR’s Zach Stevens wrote on his official X account following a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. “Arguably two of the most important categories, Vance Joseph’s group is the best in the league.”
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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