Rex Ryan Crucifies Broncos Defense: 'Letting This Team Down'
Call it sour grapes. Call it low-hanging fruit.
But Rex Ryan has a point.
Appearing Monday on ESPN's Get Up, the former Jets and Bills coach — who interviewed for the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator job that went to Vance Joseph — took aim at Joseph's underperforming unit, heavily implicating them for the team's 0-2 start.
"Their defense is supposed to be No. 1 in the league — if I was going to be coordinator; I don't know what the hell it's doing now," Ryan said. "That's who's letting this team down. It's their defense, it's not the offense."
Ryan, who spearheaded nine top-10 defenses (by yards allowed) across 12 head-coaching campaigns, also exonerated Sean Payton's Broncos offense, which currently leads the NFL in points per possession. Quarterback Russell Wilson ranks second in touchdown passes (5) and is coming off his first 300-yard passing game since Week 1 of 2022.
The Broncos scored 33 points in Sunday's loss to Washington — but surrendered 35.
"I think it's fixable," Ryan offered. "We just gotta get that defense playing to what the expectations were. Because when I saw the talent they had on that defense, I'm like, 'There's no reason why this shouldn't be the top defense in the league.'"
Through two weeks, Joseph's group is nowhere near the top, falling to 23rd in points allowed and 21st against the pass. They ceded 388 total yards to the Commanders, whose QB, Sam Howell, was making his first career road start. They blew an 18-point advantage over a five-minute span.
“I thought we were poor," Payton said of the defensive performance. "We didn’t help them with the field position, with the turnover, but our red-zone defense was poor. First-down defense—we’re not fitting certain pressures. We have to look at how much do we have in, defensively, same way. I didn’t think we played well, and we’re going to see a lot better offenses than that."
While the year is young, it's demonstrable that certain players (Damarri Mathis) have shown signs of regression under Joseph, whose return was met by immediate skepticism within the fan base. Perhaps more worryingly, the foundational talent (Justin Simmons, Patrick Surtain II, Zach Allen) has largely stagnated, often outschemed by the opposition.
What was once, and for a long while, the club's biggest strength is now its most glaring weakness, the furthest cry from the Super Bowl 50 glory days. The reason they're staring down the likelihood of yet another playoff-less winter.
Which, as repeated, might not have been the case if someone else was wearing the headset.
"The problem is on the other side of the ball, where they were supposed to be the best in the league — had somebody taken the job," Ryan said of the defense. "Why they're not playing that way, I have no idea."
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