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Jeff Legwold
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Tucked away in the Denver Broncos’ indoor practice facility is a photo hanging outside what is now a construction office, unnoticed by most who walk by it each day. The picture is of Von Miller right after he had sacked former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during the 2015 season. When asked about the photo, Miller made a comparison to the Broncos’ current pass rush, which has already set a franchise record with 64 sacks heading into Denver’s regular-season finale Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers (4:25 p.m. ET, Empower Field at Mile High, CBS).
«I think I know the exact one,» Miller, the Broncos’ all-time sack leader, said recently. «They’re a lot like we were — [Nik] Bonitto, [Jonathon] Cooper, all those guys are amazing, but Zach Allen, he might be one of my favorite rushers in the league. He’s doing things that are hard to do.»
Allen enters the final week of the regular season as the NFL’s leader in quarterback hits with 45, more than the likes of Myles Garrett, Aidan Hutchinson or even Bonitto — the Broncos’ sack leader.
John Franklin-Myers (7.5), but Allen is an interior player, so his impact is measured in other ways. And the first-time Pro Bowler appreciates the praise he received from a Broncos defensive legend.
«It means a lot Von would say that,» Allen said. «A lot. Everybody knows what he meant to this team … we want to do big things like they did.»
Allen does his work in a sea of humanity after the ball is snapped, usually without the room for moves and counters the edge rushers have. Yet his pressures and hits just after the ball is thrown have sack-like impacts on a play.
«Zach has always been a great rusher, and he’s always been a smart, smart player,» said Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who also coached Allen with the Arizona Cardinals. «But he’s gotten stronger physically, more refined in what he does, and he gets more fair rushes because our guys challenge the front on the outside and inside. And he punishes any mistakes people make trying to block him.»
Among the top 12 players in quarterback hits, only Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa have been double-teamed more than Allen. Odighizuwa has been double-teamed on 63% of his pass rush snaps to Jones’ 57.4% and Allen’s 55.5%.
But Allen has hit opposing quarterbacks 22 more times than either Jones or Odighizuwa, who are tied for 12th in QB hits. Allen is also in rare company as only the second lineman to have back-to-back seasons with at least 40 quarterback hits since they’ve been tracked, joining three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt.
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Watt, who was a teammate of Allen’s for two seasons with the Cardinals, took to social media to say «Welcome to the club @TheZAllen44. Monthly meetings were starting to get lonely.»
«To have a mentor, and a friend, like him, I’m appreciative,» Allen said of Watt. «I have an obsession about this, I love what I do, I love this job, I take it seriously. … I want to be a part of what we have going here and accomplish big goals.»
A third-round pick in 2019, Allen played four seasons in Arizona as a hard-nosed, high-volume player before hitting free agency during the 2023 offseason. The Broncos were quick to pursue Allen and signed him to a three-year, $45.75 million contract.
Denver got the volume and production it hoped for when it signed him, as Allen played 81% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps in 2023 and an astounding 89% last season. After that season, in which Allen had a career-best 61 tackles and 8.5 sacks, the Broncos gladly signed him to a four-year, $102 million extension in August.
But Broncos coach Sean Payton, who has consistently lauded Allen’s rare «stamina,» said he wanted to find a way to keep Allen’s impact high, yet slightly lower his snap count. Allen has played 72% of the Broncos’ defensive snaps (779) this season.
«We are trying to pay attention to the pitch count a little better,» Payton said. «But you don’t want to impact his strengths, which are effort, how he attacks the second part of the rush, his bend. We think there is a good plan there.»
The Broncos will enter the postseason as the AFC’s No. 1 seed if they defeat the Chargers on Sunday and with their best pass rush — in terms of both sacks and impacting the timing and comfort of opposing quarterbacks — since the 2015 defense that served as the driving force of Denver’s last Super Bowl champion. The Broncos have 13 more sacks than the next-best team but have also allowed the ninth-fewest yards on scrambles by opposing quarterbacks. Simply put, they don’t allow an aggressive pursuit of quarterbacks to affect the discipline of their rush lanes, and they limit the escape routes.
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Some personnel executives around the league believe what separates the Broncos’ pass rush this season is the consistent discipline shown by a team with a high sack total. As Miller said, Allen and the Broncos interior rushers «close the door,» something that will matter greatly against some of the league’s best passers and scramblers in the weeks to come.
«We just want to keep it all going,» Allen said. «Play our best ball, across the board, every guy, week to week in the playoffs. Evaluate, correct and go out and dominate. That’s what we want, that’s what I want, we all do.»
