ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos got a painful reminder Saturday in Detroit on what happens when the offense squanders early drives and the quarterback doesn't adapt to unique pass-rush looks.
An early Russell Wilson mistake, coupled with the Broncos' struggles, gave the Lions the chance to pound significant dents in Denver's playoff chase in the 42-14 Detroit win. And the Broncos can bet New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will take note ahead of their Sunday night game.
"It's one of the things that Bill, historically, has done very well,'' Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "He's going to try to loot your strengths and I think that's what good defensive coach coaching is -- trying to force you to do things maybe you don't do as well.''
It started with the Broncos' fourth play from scrimmage when Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, who was up lined six yards off the line of scrimmage, just off the outside shoulder of the linebacker next to him, on the offensive left, sprinted untouched after the snap to knock the ball free from Wilson. It was Melifonwu's first sack of the season. The third-year safety eventually finished Saturday's game with two sacks. Melifonwu was one of two Lions players to finish with multiple hits on Wilson.
The Broncos will host the Patriots (3-11) in Empower Field at Mile High and Denver is now out of mulligans in the pursuit of a playoff spot after the loss to the Lions. The Patriots have had a long list of struggles this season, but defense hasn't really been one of them.
They are second-best in the league in points allowed per possession over the last six games and for the season they are eighth in total defense, as well as second in run defense. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn offered Belichick a look at how disruptive a little variety in the pass rush can be when paired with some determination to keep the ball out of wide receiver Courtland Sutton's hands.
"We kind of just saw it a little bit in Aaron Glenn,'' Payton said. "Those guys in Detroit did a good job. There were a number of snaps where they were going to double Courtland.''
Sutton had four of his five receptions in the second half and did not score a touchdown. Payton acknowledged the Broncos "weren't good enough'' against the Lions' pass rush.
"I thought (Glenn) called a heck of a game, we had a couple of wrinkles in that we felt like would be good for us and really, they were,'' Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "The takeaway that we got, that was something we haven't done (this season).''
The Lions showed more of the off-ball pressure in the second quarter. With 12:31 left in the first half, Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor was lined out wide to the offensive right, directly across from Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. as if in man-to-man coverage.
But at the snap Vildor simply sprinted, untouched as Melifonwu did, to Wilson, hitting the quarterback on the blindside as Wilson had just begun his throwing motion. The ball bounded incomplete and it was one of the biggest hits on Wilson in the game.
Couple all of that with an inefficient run game -- the Broncos had 25 yards rushing on 12 attempts before halftime -- and the Broncos had four punts, including three three-and-outs, to go with the fumble in its first five possessions of the game and the recipe for a rout was there with a tired Broncos' defense exposed far too often.
"I was trying to pitch it forward, get it to (Broncos tight end Adam Trautman) -- either get him to it or incomplete pass -- I thought I pitched it forward and they called it a fumble,'' Wilson said.
The Patriots, who lost three consecutive games this season when they surrendered 10 or fewer points, have muscled up on defense despite linebacker Matthew Judon, who still leads the team in sacks, and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez both being on injured reserve.
Belichick has routinely deployed his resources into coverages rather than extra rushers, especially without Judon -- the Patriots are 28th in the league in sacks per pass attempt (5.94%) -- but they do have four defensive backs with at least one sack this season if they choose to take a page from Glenn's game plan.
The Lions did consistent damage despite not entering Saturday night's game as one of the league's best pass rush teams -- they are 27th in ESPN's pass rush win rate as a defense, while the Patriots are 28th.
At a time when the Broncos (7-7) can't afford any more losses to stay in the wild-card hunt, with three games remaining against AFC opponents, Payton said Monday the Broncos could mitigate some of the issues with a better showing in their own run game. Especially to calm things down a bit at the line of scrimmage in terms of what defenses can send Wilson's way.
"We didn't run it as well as I thought we would, and quite honestly, I think that's an area,'' Payton said. "Cleveland (a 29-12 Broncos win Nov. 26) was the last game where I felt like we ran it really well. I think in this next three-game stretch, we're going to have to run it better than we have.''