ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos are winning games in the trenches.
Through Week 7, the Broncos' +19 sack differential is the best in the league — and each side of the ball is playing a key role. Denver's defense has recorded 28 sacks, which ranks second in the NFL, while the offense has allowed just nine, which is tied for the league best.
And as the Broncos have continued to build positive momentum on both sides of the ball this season, Head Coach Sean Payton believes this differential has been a difference-maker, especially when it comes to sustaining drives offensively.
Payton has specifically praised quarterback Bo Nix's ability to avoid sacks. And while it may be an asset that he somewhat expected out of the rookie, the importance of it cannot be overstated.
"It's huge," Payton said Wednesday. "I say this all the time, a sack is much like a penalty [or] a loss of down. It's hard to overcome. You have a holding call, at least you get the down back. I think that's significant, and that's something we saw. In other words, we saw that a lot in college. He's good that way."
Offensive Coordinator Joe Lombardi shared this sentiment, noting that while it's rare to find a rookie quarterback who is able to effectively avoid sacks and turnovers, the quality was one that caught his attention during the evaluation process. Nix has turned the ball over just once in the last five games, which is tied for the second-fewest giveaways among quarterbacks who have started at least four games since Week 3.
"That's what stood out to me with the player," Lombardi said Thursday. "He was tough to sack, he didn't take a lot of sacks and he didn't turn the ball over a lot. I think if you can start with that as a quarterback, those are two really big building blocks that you can build off of. It was part of his play style in college, and I'm happy that to this point it's been transferring over to his NFL career so far."
For Lombardi, these building blocks are ones that not only fuel offensive success, but also create more opportunities for the Broncos' offensive coaches as play callers.
"It puts pressure on you when you think the quarterback's going to put you in a bad position if you haven't called the perfect play," Lombardi said. "If he's going to avoid the big mistakes, you can be a little bit more aggressive."
While Lombardi noted that the saying "sacks is a quarterback stat more than an offensive line stat" certainly rings true for Nix, he still commended the effort and execution of the offensive line as the unit has played a key role this season.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey, who said he believes his unit is doing a pretty good job of protecting Nix so far, noted there's still plenty to clean up and improve upon moving forward. For McGlinchey and his teammates, though, having a dual-threat quarterback is beneficial in situations where things may not always go according to plan.
"Bo does a great job of being able to elude things that maybe are our mistakes," McGlinchey said Wednesday. "Or when the ball is held, we've been doing a pretty good job of keeping people off of him. We've just got to keep doing that."
As the offense continues to build momentum this season, the Broncos will look to continue to use Nix's skill set to their advantage.
"He's smart, he's aware [and] he's also got really good feet," guard Quinn Meinerz said. "I think a lot of people are sleeping on how fast he is and his quickness."
'IT'S PLAY-AND-WIN SEASON'
As the Broncos' defense continues to play at a high level, Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph is starting to earn national attention.
Joseph leads a unit that ranks at or near the top of the NFL in a number of statistical categories, and he's starting to be mentioned on lists of potential head-coaching candidates for the upcoming hiring cycle.
Joseph, who previously served as the Broncos' head coach from 2017-18, said Thursday his focus is not on any potential future opportunities.
"I don't have a thought about it right now," Joseph said Thursday. "Thank God this league has seasons. You have an offseason. You have a draft season. Right now, it's play-and-win season. For me, my entire focus is on this football game and winning games and coaching right now. That stuff takes care of itself down the road. … Right now, for me, it doesn't even have a place for me.
"I'm so busy right now. My mind's on this team, a young defense who's playing good football [and] to keep improving each week to get ahead of the adversity before it strikes. That's my focus. Obviously being mentioned, it's cool, but right now, my mind's not there."
