Arizona Cardinals: Copy the Denver Broncos’ Winning Formula
By David Mamola
The Denver Broncos showed that a strong pass rush will slow down strong offenses any day of the week. The Arizona Cardinals need to improve their pass rush this offseason if they want to increase their chances of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next year.
The National Football League is a copycat league. Monkey see. Monkey do.
When the Miami Dolphins started using the Wildcat formation a few years ago (when the running back lines up as the quarterback and receives the snap), sure enough, other teams began running it shortly thereafter.
Related Story: NFL Power Rankings: 30 Greatest Defenders of All-Time
When Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson took the league by storm with their read-option razzle-dazzle, teams started scrambling around looking for young, mobile quarterbacks who could run—you guessed it—the read-option. Nowadays, it seems like every offense throws-in a read-option play here or there every week.
So when a team with virtually no offense wins a Super Bowl, teams are going to try to find out how….so they can steal the idea and run with-it themselves.
The Denver Broncos, as we all know, won the Super Bowl with a dominant defense that was ignited by their ferocious pass rush. The Broncos were able to get pressure up the middle with their defensive tackles and off the edge with their defensive ends and outside linebackers (led by Super Bowl MVP Von Miller). The pass rush harassed quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, and Cam Newton in the playoffs, and in turn, their offenses’ sputtered.
So what does this have to do with the Arizona Cardinals? Well, general manager Steve Keim better do his best copying-act this offseason, because Denver’s strength—pass rush—is Arizona’s weakness.
Arizona only finished with 36 sacks (20th in the league), and their pass rush was so bad early in the season that they had to go out and sign 35-year old defensive end Dwight Freeney five weeks into the season (and the sad thing is, he ended up leading the team in sacks!).
Freeney is a free agent, but regardless if he’s brought back or not, there’s no doubt that pass rush should be a high priority on the Cardinals’ to-do list this offseason.
A strong pass rush is able to cover-up so many defensive deficiencies and mistakes. It forces the quarterback to get rid of the ball quick (which prevents them from attacking deep down the field), puts stress on the offensive line (resulting in holding and false start penalties), and prevents a team from having to blitz frequently (allowing more defenders to drop into coverage).
More from Arizona Cardinals
- 2023 NFL Season: 3 teams who are already doomed
- 3 NFL teams most likely to stay in last place for 2023 season
- Quarterback Shuffle: 3 passers who could be on the move in ’24
- Budda Baker is essential for Arizona Cardinals success in 2023
- 3 reasons Arizona Cardinals have the worst roster in the NFL in 2023
With the Cardinals facing some uncertainty in the secondary (due to many current players being free agents and Tyrann Mathieu recovering from a torn ACL), a strong pass rush may never be more needed than right now. Whatever avenue they attain it through (free agency, trades, the draft, etc.), it’s clear that the Cardinals need to bring in a boat-load of talent if they want to join the league in copying the Denver Broncos’ winning formula.
Now while Von Miller-type of players don’t grow on trees, the Cardinals could try to accumulate as much quality depth as possible, allowing them to rotate players during the game to keep them fresh. Every pass-rushing position (defensive tackle, outside linebacker, etc.) is in need for an upgrade, so don’t be surprised if the Cardinals take the best pass rusher still on the board when they pick in the upcoming draft.
More nfl spin zone: Arizona Cardinals: Super Bowl Window is Closing Quickly
Duplicating the Broncos dominate pass rush is going to be tough, but Steve Keim and the Cardinals need to make a concerted effort to, at the very least, make opposing quarterbacks aware of their pass rush and alter some throws because of it.
The Broncos blueprint is not a secret, and now’s the time for the Cardinals to do their best fourth-grader impersonation and copy off of the best student in the class!