Denver Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders played the first four snaps of his NFL career against the Washington Commanders on Sunday. But it was a snap not counted that at once demonstrated the rookie’s impressive upside and a propensity for self-inflicted wounds that sits atop a long list of issues for Denver’s struggling defense.

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Let’s set the scene. The Commanders, protecting a 28-24 lead, faced a third-and-8 at their 38-yard line with a little more than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Broncos had unraveled after taking a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter, but they were a play away from getting the ball back and potentially driving for a go-ahead touchdown. Sanders blitzed at the snap. He worked through a chip by left guard Saahdiq Charles and slithered out of the grasp of left tackle Charles Leno Jr., just in time to help outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper drop quarterback Sam Howell for a 7-yard loss.

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But as the Broncos spontaneously celebrated what seemed to be a massive, tide-turning play, referee Brad Rodgers turned on his mic and broke the bad news to the crowd at Empower Field. Veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau had been ruled guilty of defensive holding for the second time in the game. The 5-yard penalty extended the drive for the Commanders. They scored six plays later to take a 35-24 lead.

“Those are turnover penalties,” coach Sean Payton said Monday morning, trying to explain some of the critical moments that saw the Broncos blow an 18-point lead on their home field.

With communication issues popping up for the Broncos, Sean Payton said the team could alter its play-calling method as it drops to 0-2.

"We have to be better. I have to be better. Russ has to be sharper with getting the play out."

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— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) September 18, 2023

The Broncos lead the NFL through two weeks with 12 defensive penalties. Seven of those have come on third or fourth down. In each of the first two games, third-down penalties extended an opponent’s fourth-quarter drive when the Broncos had the chance to get the ball back. Five of Denver’s defensive penalties have been of the personal foul variety. Payton coaches his teams to play to the edge with the understanding that mistakes will be a part of the process. But he called for more discipline going forward, adding that the process begins with the coaching staff.

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“We’ve just got to clean them up,” linebacker Alex Singleton said. “It’s one of those things, early in the season, where we’ve got to keep working on them, whether we think they are penalties or not. In certain situations, they are calling them. We have to do better at figuring out the little details we need to work on. It’s not just one person or one group. Everyone is kind of taking their turn, so it’s on everybody getting better, working on the fundamentals.”

The backbreaking penalties might be one issue for Denver’s defense at this early stage of the season, but it is not a one-item list. The Broncos have surrendered 2.89 points per drive through two games — only the Seattle Seahawks (3.05) and the Las Vegas Raiders (3.60) have given up more. Denver is giving up a high rate of explosive plays and is struggling to finish in the red zone (71.4 percent opponent touchdown rate). Payton lamented the defensive’s inability to fit run gaps in the second half of Sunday’s loss — and that’s to say nothing of its continued struggles against opponent screens.

What follows is a closer look at Denver’s struggles defensively and where fixes could come as the Broncos head into a Week 3 road game against the high-powered Miami Dolphins:

Screen game failures

After the Broncos’ second preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers last month, Payton quipped that the next time his team’s defense properly executed against the wide receiver screen would be the first. It’s unlikely the sentiment has changed for Payton, but he now can add every other type of screen as a problem area for his defense.

The Broncos faced nine running back, receiver or tight end screen attempts through two games. All nine passes have been completed for a total of 101 yards, the most allowed in the league to this point. The 11.2 yards per screen allowed ranks 30th. The Commanders exploited Denver’s over-aggressive pursuit of the quarterback late in Sunday’s game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Commanders, trailing 24-21, faced a second-and-14 at midfield. Howell patiently retreated as the Broncos sent a standard four-man rush. Once the defensive line reached the backfield, the quarterback calmly dumped a pass to running back Antonio Gibson on the outside. Gibson used two blocks from his offensive linemen to reach the first-down marker, then cut back across the field and into the secondary as he gained 36 yards. The Commanders scored a go-ahead touchdown two plays later.

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On the Commanders’ next drive, after a quick Broncos punt, they ran a nearly identical play to the opposite side of the field. This time the pass went to running back Brian Robinson, who caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and ran 23 yards down the sideline, two massive blockers leading the way, before he was even touched. Four plays later — one of which was a well-executed receiver screen to Dyami Brown for 8 yards — the Commanders scored to take a 35-24 lead. On numerous occasions in the second half, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was simply out-dueled on screen calls by his counterpart and former college teammate, Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

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The Dolphins could certainly exploit the issue given their speed on the edge. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who begins the week in concussion protocol, gained 28 yards on a screen play against the New England Patriots during Miami’s win Monday night. So how do the Broncos go about correcting the issue?

“Screens and reverses and those types of things, we’ve got to get everybody to the ball,” Singleton said. “You have to have all 11 guys who are just getting after it. Collectively, we just need to be better at that.”

Depleted secondary

When Kareem Jackson committed a personal foul in the second quarter Sunday for a late hit on Commanders tight end Logan Thomas, the ramifications were widespread. For one, the play occurred as Thomas caught a touchdown pass on fourth down, and the Commanders opted to use the penalty to move the point-after attempt to the 1-yard line and go for two. Washington converted for two, and that additional point proved critical at the end of the game when the Broncos were forced to attempt their own, ultimately unsuccessful, two-point conversion after Russell Wilson’s Hail Mary touchdown pass to Brandon Johnson.

Perhaps more importantly, Jackson was ejected from the game, leaving a suddenly thin secondary short on experience. Second-year player Delarrin Turner-Yell replaced Jackson and played the first defensive snaps of his NFL career in the process. Turner-Yell was in help coverage along with cornerback Damarri Mathis early in the third quarter when Howell hit Terry McLaurin for a 30-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 21-21. When Turner-Yell was forced to exit the game with cramps in the fourth quarter, the Broncos had to slide nickel defensive back Essang Bassey to safety. Against that depleted secondary, Howell completed 8 of 9 passes for 122 yards in the second half of Sunday’s game.

“It’s really about communicating with those guys and making them feel comfortable,” Singleton said of adapting to the injuries that thrust young players into new roles Sunday. “It’s exciting to play your first defensive snaps, no matter how you get them. Everyone has been there, and when I was young it was guys communicating, reassuring you on the calls. It’s just that kind of stuff, making sure they don’t have to do 11 guys’ jobs. Just do your job and it will be enough for us to win football games.”

Jackson will not be suspended for Sunday’s hit — his second personal foul infraction in as many weeks — the NFL Network first reported Monday. That’s good news for the Broncos, who lost Caden Sterns to a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 and won’t have veteran P.J. Locke (ankle) until at least Week 5. Still, a secondary that appeared to be a major strength for the Broncos entering the season is already being tested. Mathis had another difficult day in coverage against the Commanders after being in coverage on both of the Raiders’ touchdown plays in Week 1. Rookie Riley Moss has recovered from the abdomen injury that forced him to miss training camp, but he was a healthy scratch Sunday.

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The Broncos have to formulate an airtight plan for how to defend the explosive Dolphins offense. Miami, led by superstar receiver Tyreek Hill, ranks first by a wide margin in EPA (expected points added) per dropback, according to TruMedia. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leads the league with 9.5 yards per pass attempt. It will be a far bigger test for Denver’s secondary than any it has faced so far. If the Broncos follow a similar game plan to what New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick deployed Monday night, expect the Broncos to frequently drop five and six defensive backs to limit big-play opportunities for Hill and Waddle, if he clears the protocol.

Red zone issues

From 2019 to 2022, the Broncos never finished worse than seventh in defensive red zone efficiency. They ranked first twice during that span and were seventh last season.

That’s what has made Denver’s slow defensive start in the red zone all the more surprising. Opponents have turned five of their seven drives inside the 20-yard line into touchdowns during the first two weeks. The Commanders catapulted themselves back into Sunday’s game when Howell completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Thomas on fourth down in the second quarter. The Broncos also gave up touchdown runs of 2 and 15 yards to the running back, Robinson. That came on the heels of the Broncos giving up two short touchdown passes to Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Myers in Week 1.

“It’s a small sample size. We’re still coming together, learning what we like and what we don’t like,” Singleton said. “Like everything else, we have to improve, we know what we’ve got to do. We’re just going to focus more on it this week and, like I said, if we’re getting off the field on more of those third downs (earlier in drives), we’re probably not even talking about it.”

The Broncos were able to sack Howell four times Sunday, but their struggle to move the quarterback off his spot in the red zone continued. The Broncos have produced pressure on only 10 percent of opponent dropbacks in the red zone through two weeks, according to TruMedia, which ranks 27th in the league. The Broncos are averaging three seconds between snap and pressure when it does come, the second-slowest mark in the league behind the Chicago Bears (3.43).

How long will it take for Joseph and his defensive players to get through that feeling-out period in the red zone?

“We don’t get many more weeks to do that,” Singleton said bluntly. “Hopefully, by Sunday, we’ve got it all figured out.”

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(Top photo: Jamie Schwaberow / Getty Images)

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