The Denver defense is going to need a good nickname.
They could possibly dust off Orange Crush, the label given to the team’s defense in 1977, when the Broncos led the league in yards allowed per game and carried a 12-2 record to the Super Bowl.
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That year, the Broncos had 50 sacks in 14 games. This year, they’re four sacks away from having 50 in 11.
Via NBC Sports research, the Broncos can join the 1967 Raiders (61), the 1989 Vikings (53), and the 1987 Bears (51) as the only teams with 50 or more sacks in the first eleven games of a season.
As MDS noted in the aftermath of Denver’s six-sack showing against the Raiders in Week 10, the Broncos are on pace for 78 sacks. That would be six more than the current single-season record of 72, set by the Bears in 1984.
The Broncos’ 46 sacks lead the league by 14 over the Steelers and Seahawks, both with 32. (Seattle and Pittsburgh have played nine games each.)
To get to 50, the Broncos will need to corral Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. At 17 sacks on the season, he’s being sacked at a rate of fewer than two per game.
