NFL.com Chronicles Vance Joseph's 'Crazy Year' as Broncos DC

Vance Joseph is the quintessential NFL redemption story.

One word could describe the Denver Broncos 2023 season: redemption. 

The Broncos are redeeming themselves after a pitiful start to the season, going from 1-5 and the conversation shifting to lottery draft picks to now sitting at 7-6 and very much contending for a playoff berth. Head coach Sean Payton, who stepped away from coaching and a relatively disappointing final year in New Orleans, is redeeming himself and proving worthy of the first-round pick Denver relinquished to acquire his coaching rights. 

Quarterback Russell Wilson is redeeming himself as a quarterback a team can win with, showing the clutch factor and productive down-the-field throwing that made him a star in Seattle. However, in terms of redemption, perhaps no one deserves more praise for the turnaround than defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

After the Broncos' horrific defensive displays to the 2023 season, a start that was considered one of the worst defensive starts in modern NFL history, highlighted (lowlighted?) by a 70-point beatdown suffered at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, Joseph is proving Payton right for hiring him in the face of PR blowback, and keeping him amid calls for the coordinator's job. Joseph’s redemption story actually goes even a step further.

As head coach of the Broncos from 2017-18, Joseph limped to an 11-21 record before being fired. It would have been easy for him to rebuff an opportunity to return to Denver given his recent history with the team (as reports indicated Vic Fangio did after being approached by Payton for the job), but he decided to return and now is coaching one of the more aggressive and big-play-oriented defenses in the NFL. 

The Broncos' 6-1 stretch of late, including a five-game winning streak (snapped in Week 13), has been propelled by Joseph's defense, and analysts around the league are taking notice of the job he's doing.

NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha recently credited Joseph in his weekly column as one of three individuals in the league trending up after what the Broncos did to the Los Angeles Chargers and how well the defense has played over the team's recent winning stretch. 

It’s hard to imagine a defensive coordinator in recent memory has had a crazier year than what Joseph has experienced in Denver. His defense couldn’t stop anybody in the first month of the season and allowed 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. That same unit is suddenly the foundation of all the good vibes around the Broncos. Denver has 18 takeaways over its last seven games. Only three teams have reached 20 points during that stretch and nobody has scored more than 22. This team is now one game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West and the playoffs are a very real possibility.

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A Denver Broncos fan holds a sign in reference to defensive coordinator Vance Joseph (not pictured) in the second half against the Green Bay Packers at Empower Field at Mile High / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

This past Sunday might have been the Broncos' best collective performance of the season to date. Sacking the Chargers’ quarterbacks six times for minus-68 yards, taking the ball away twice (and could have been three if not for the questionable overturned strip sack caused by JaQuan McMillian), and holding the opponent to 1-of-18 on third and fourth down combined, the Broncos defense has been the driving factor behind the 2023 turnaround.

Since Week 6 this season, the Broncos currently possess the fourth-best defense in the NFL in EPA/Play at -0.128, ranking sixth in dropback EPA/Play at -0.101, and fourth in rush EPA/Play at -0.175. Some of the peripheral data surrounding Denver’s defense, such as success rate, point to some concerns in the down-to-down performance of the defense. 

How could Denver’s defense be succeeding so dramatically in EPA but not in Success Rate? Under Joseph, the Broncos are specializing in two things: sacks and turnovers.

Through the first five games of the season, Denver’s defense was averaging 2.4 sacks a game and 1.0 takeaways per game. Since Week 6, the Broncos are averaging 2.75 sacks and 2.38 takeaways per game. 

It’s not just that sacks are occurring too, but they're resulting in massive losses for the opponent. While ranking just 18th in total sacks this season at 34, the Broncos are fourth in sack yards at 270, which showcases how this defense is hurting opponents more per sack than any other team. 

The turnovers have also been extremely impactful as Denver has averaged the best offensive starting field position since Week 6, thanks in large part to its ability to take the ball away.

Can Joseph and the Broncos keep it up? While every game in the NFL is tough, Denver does face the toughest competition remaining on the schedule on Saturday in the Detroit Lions before a rather easy three-game stretch versus the New England Patriots, Chargers, and Las Vegas Raiders. 

Perhaps some of Denver’s good fortune in the turnover and sack department might regress some, but don’t be surprised to see other areas improve as the Broncos continue to improve under the ultimate redemption story of 2023: Joseph and his predatory defense.

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