A by-the-numbers look through 10 games
Aby-the-numbers look at the Broncos with 10 games down and seven games remaining:
Scoring story: The Broncos have scored 21 offensive touchdowns — seven rushing for an average distance of 12.1 yards (long of 70 by Melvin Gordon) and 14 passing for an average of 13.7 (long of 41 by Tim Patrick). The opponents have scored 19 touchdowns — six rushing for an average of 6.7 yards (long of 18 by Las Vegas’ Kenyan Drake) and 13 passing for an average of 25.3 yards (long of 50 by Pittsburgh’s Diontae Johnson).
Milestone games: The offense has one 300-yard passing game (Teddy Bridgewater 328 at Jacksonville), two 100-yard rushing games (Gordon 101 at the New York Giants and Javonte Williams 111 at Dallas) and two 100-yard receiving games (Courtland Sutton 159 at Jacksonville and 120 at Pittsburgh). Opponents have two 300-yard passing, 100-yard rushing and 100-yard receiving games apiece.
Defensive leaders: Tackles — Kareem Jackson 66, Justin Simmons 47 and Ronald Darby 37. Sacks — Von Miller 4K , Malik Reed 4 and Shelby Harris/dre’mont Jones 2K apiece. Interceptions — Simmons four, Caden Sterns two and Jackson/pat Surtain II one apiece. Fumble recoveries — Reed/ Alexander Johnson one apiece.
Possessions: Offense — 103 drives, 23 three-and-outs, 17 of at least 10 plays and 17 of at least 75 yards. Defense — 101 drives, 23 three-and-outs, 21 of at least 10 plays, 15 of at least 10 plays and 18 of at least 75 yards.
Third down offense: Total — 44 of 127 (34.6%). Three or fewer yards to go — 19 of 32; 4-7 yards to go — 8 of 25; and 8 or more yards to go — 17 of 70.
Third down defense: Total — 57 of 131 (43.5%). Three or fewer yards to go — 31 of 50; 4-7 yards to go — 19 of 42; and eight or more yards to go — 7 of 39.
Fourth down: The Broncos are 10 of 15 (66.7%) and opponents are 4 of 16 (43.5%).
Broncos pass rush: The defense has rushed at least five players on 122 of 372 drop-backs (32.8%) and have 91 disruptions (23 sacks, 26 knockdowns and 42 pressures). The high game for disruptions was 16 vs. the New York Jets and the high game for sacks was five apiece against the Jets and Washington.
Broncos pass protection: Opponents have rushed at least five players on 93 of 394 drop-backs (23.6%) and have 115 disruptions (30 sacks, 32 knockdowns and 53 pressures). The high game for allowed disruptions was 22 by Las Vegas and the low game was six by the Jets.
Downfield passing: On attempts that travel at least 16 “air” yards, Bridgewater is 21of-51 passing for 599 yards and two touchdowns and interceptions apiece.
Red zone: Offense — the Broncos have 17 touchdowns in 34 possessions, including a stretch of eight touchdowns in 10 trips in Weeks 6-8. Defense — opponents have 11 touchdowns in 21 possessions and Jacksonville (Week 2) and the Jets (Week 3) didn’t run a red zone play.
Explosive plays (rush of at least 12 yards/pass of at least 16):
The Broncos have 61 explosive plays (41 pass/20 rush). Their high game was 12 at Dallas and their low game four vs. Philadelphia. Williams leads the team with 12 explosive rushes and Patrick and Sutton lead with 11 explosive catches apiece. Opponents have 72 explosive plays (54 pass/18 rush). The high game was 11 by Washington and low was three by the Jets.
Turnover differential: The Broncos are minus-1 this year — 10 takeaways and 11 giveaways. The Broncos have scored 15 points off takeaways and allowed 14 points (including a fumble return touchdown) off giveaways. They are 4-0 when they win the turnover differential.
Penalties: The Broncos have been called for 53 enforced penalties compared to 65 for their opponents. Tight end Noah Fant leads with seven penalties and Sutton (four) is the only other player with more than three.