Stokley: Broncos don’t need top 10 offense to win; Big Al disagrees
Sep 27, 2017, 8:10 PM
It’s no mystery that the Denver Broncos relied heavily on its defense much of the past two seasons, which ranked fourth in total yards in 2016 and first in 2015.
In each of those seasons, Denver’s defenders yielded just 18.56 and 18.5 points per game with the Broncos earning records of 9-7 and 12-4, respectively.
But in 2016, Denver missed the playoffs compared to a Super Bowl 50 victory the previous year.
On Wednesday, “The Drive’s” Alfred “Big Al” Williams said the dominant Broncos defense of 2015, and most of 2016, is a thing of years passed, and though this season’s unit is good, it’s still missing a piece here and there.
“We are missing a piece or two on defense to really make it one of those legendary defenses,” Williams said. “We can win it on defense maybe three games this year. But when we win a game, it’s because we put 24 points on the board. That’s our number.”
Williams was making a rebuttal to an argument put forth by earlier Wednesday by Brandon Stokley wherein the “Stokley & Zach” co-host argued the Broncos don’t need a top offense to win regularly in 2017.
“Let’s not make any mistake about it. It’s still a defensive football team. You’re going to win with this defense,” Stokley said. “That is the backbone of your football team, that defensively they go out there and they make plays, cause havoc, create turnovers, get your offense in good field position.”
“If they don’t do that, this football team is probably going to struggle a little bit, especially on the road.”
Stokley said that Denver doesn’t need a top 10 offense to win games this season if its defense can sustain its dominance.
“It’s up to this defense to carry this football team,” Stokley said. “Would you like to see that production that we saw the first two games from this offense? Of course, you would. I don’t think that’s really sustainable.”
But however much Broncos fans would like to think Denver’s defense will be the reason the club wins, Williams said it’s “not true.”
“You don’t put 24 points on the board, you’re probably not going to win. I said it before the season, and I think it’s holding true right now,” Williams said.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.
