By: JAEQWON SUAREZ / DEPUTY ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
The Denver Broncos suffered the worst beatdown in over half a century.
On Sunday, Sept. 24, the Denver Broncos fell to the Miami Dolphins 70-20. The game ended in one of the most lopsided finishes in league history, with the Dolphins scoring the most points in a game since the Washington Commanders put up 72 against the New York Giants in 1966.
The Broncos allowed 726 total yards over the course of the game. The embarrassing display led many fans to take to X to voice their frustrations with the team’s defense.
“Gonna need a refresher perhaps but this is probably the worst Denver Broncos defense I've ever witnessed,” posted Sayre Bedinger.
The Broncos had almost two dozen missed tackles that allowed the Dolphins to rush for 350 yards and score five touchdowns without even putting the ball in the air. On top of that, the Dolphins still managed to throw for 376 yards, completing 25-28 passes and putting up four passing touchdowns.
Unable to hide from the historic defeat, Denver’s defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph, shared his thoughts on the game.
“When those days happen, it's always, in my opinion, it's me first and I'll fix it and quickly,” Joseph noted a few days after the game, blaming himself for the huge loss.
Before Joesph was the defensive coordinator for the Broncos, he served on the coaching staff for many teams and filled a variety of positions. He noted that almost everyone he knew reached out and called him, including former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, whom Joseph worked with in Houston.
“Keep grinding, keep pushing,” Phillips told Joseph.
For the past few years, the Broncos’ offense has been on the lower percentile of all the 32 teams, currently ranking outside of the top-20 in the league. However, their previously solid defense has completely shifted and now ranks at the very bottom of the NFL.
The Broncos are last in the league in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. They are 31st in red zone defense, 29th in pass defense and 27th in sacks.
Joseph credited Miami for being able to take advantage of their struggling defense, telling reporters, “A team like that will expose you with their speed because of the angles you're taking and your leverage… It was overwhelming for us.”
The blame doesn’t all go on Joseph, however. Some of the players, namely safeties Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons, jumped to Joseph’s aid and explained how they just couldn’t execute any of the set-ups they put in place.
“You go watch that film and there are numerous amounts of things that went wrong but in no way, shape or form does that ever come down to one person” Simmons explained, backing up his defensive coordinator.
The team’s struggles were evident on both sides of the ball, with the Broncos allowing three turnovers, an interception and a pair of fumbles. The Dolphins, on the other hand, only had to punt once the entire game.
In their first three games (and losses), the Broncos had surrendered 122 points, the most in the league by a wide margin. The next closest in that time was the New York Giants with 98.
After the historic loss, the Broncos had to shift their focus to beating the Chicago Bears the next week. A rough Monday saw the team watching extended game tape and having a long discussion about their previous mistakes, hoping to learn from and correct them to get back on the right course for the season.
On Sunday, Oct. 1, the Broncos were able to bounce back against the Bears, defeating the fellow winless squad 31-28 at Soldier Field to finally secure their first victory of the season.