Justin Strnad didn’t even have to wait a snap for the call with his number on it.
Just as Sean Payton ambushed Tampa Bay in Week 3 with a pair of early downfield strikes to catch the Buccaneers defense off-guard, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph attacked the New York Jets last Sunday with perhaps the least-likely candidate — a backup inside linebacker making his first start in 48 Denver Broncos games.
And Strnad delivered, blitzing an off-guard Aaron Rodgers for a sack.
“It’s something we practiced during the week,” Strnad said. “I wouldn’t say it was like a set plan that that was going to be the first play of the game, but, yeah, he called it. And Vance is an aggressive guy, as everyone knows. And it was a great way to open up the game when you know that that call comes in defense.”
The play set the tone of an imaginative, stifling defensive attack that rarely wobbled during four quarters of work in which the Broncos held Rodgers and the Jets without a touchdown.
There were three-and-outs — 3 of them, plus another 3-play drive that ended in a fumble — and a goal-line stand. A fourth-down stop that again came on a blitz, with safety P.J. Locke attacking off of Rodgers’ left flank before he could get set in the pocket, ending a Jets fourth-quarter drive. Two red-zone trips for the Jets yielded just 6 points.
And it all started with Strnad’s blitz — which came thanks to an opportunity that arose from Alex Singleton’s season-ending torn ACL. It was a chance that Strnad believed might never come again following his 5-start stint early in the 2021 season after Josey Jewell suffered a torn pectoral muscle while covering a punt.
“When it’s three years, you kind of start to think, ‘All right, well, maybe you’re not gonna get the chance,’” Strnad said. “But what I learned from three years ago is … I was going into the games, like, ‘Oh, there’s no chance I’m probably going in. And it’s not that I didn’t prepare, but it’s like, you have that mindset of you might not be called upon.”
That’s changed now with experience.
“And now, just as a vet, it’s every week’s a new week. You gotta prepare as if you’re going to play every snap and help this team win and be prepared for anything,” Strnad said.
In Week 4, he — and the defense — were prepared and ready.
PASSING DEFENSE: A-MINUS
The Broncos have the “rush and cover” combination down pat, hitting Rodgers 14 times while giving Jets pass-catchers little separation and space with which to operate. Two massive question marks heading into the season — edge rusher and CB2 — have quickly become strengths as Riley Moss continues to plaster opposing wide receivers while edge rushers Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto and Jonah Elliss combined for five hits of Rodgers, while Dondrea Tillman drew a Jets holding penalty.
RUSHING DEFENSE: A-plus
Jets running back Breece Hall had trampled the Broncos in the previous two games he’d faced them — for 72 yards on just 4 carries, including a 62-yard score during a 2022 game and for 177 yards on 22 carries last year. Neutralizing him was job No. 1, and on Sunday, the Broncos showed why upgrading the defensive line was a top offseason priority. Denver’s overhauled D-line dominated, and with support from Strnad, Cody Barton and the edge rushers, Hall and nowhere to run and didn’t even average a half-yard per attempt.
PASSING OFFENSE: C-MINUS
It was a second-straight no-interception, no-sack game for Bo Nix. Despite the foul conditions, Nix avoided the big mistake. His ball placement on the touchdown pass could have been better, but Courtland Sutton made a deft adjustment to it to secure what proved to be the decisive score. But Nix is starting from a place where he’s figured out how not to lose — and in Sean Payton’s eyes, losing starts from taking losses of yardage that force the offense to play behind schedule. And as Payton noted, sacks are primarily a quarterback statistic.
RUSHING OFFENSE: B-PLUS
Javonte Williams looked like his old self — but so did Jaleel McLaughlin, and the two provided the kind of 1-2 punch that the Broncos foresaw when they put them together as the running-back duo heading into the season. But just as significant was the offensive line paving the way. Denver is now up to ninth in the league in run-block win rate per ESPN Analytics — to go along with being sixth in pass-block win rate. The Broncos were in the top 10 in both categories last year, too.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-MINUS
The ineffective offense kept Riley Dixon busy, and his work was again solid, focused on placement more than distance through the wet conditions. Wil Lutz missed for the first time this season. In returns, it was a quiet day.
