The Denver Broncos have lost their last four games after starting the season 2-0. After losing to the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 on Sunday -- a game in which running back Todd Gurley set a career record of 208 rushing yards-- the Broncos know something needs to change to get this team back on track. And that starts with the run defense.
Linebacker Von Miller agrees with GM John Elway's recent comments saying the run defense has been soft.
"The last two weeks we had a 200-yard rusher. I get where he's coming from, but that was the last two weeks," Miller told reporters after practice on Tuesday. "This week is totally different, we're going to get everybody's best this week. They're going to get our whole team's best, and that starts with me. They're going to get my best this week and we're going to go out there, and we're going to kick their ass. This is the way I'm feeling."
Denver had a top-five run defense last season. This year they allowed only 78 yards per game on the ground in the first three games before the defense collapsed late in their Week 4 loss to the Chiefs.
Now they can't seem to stop anything. The Broncos are the first team in NFL history to allow 200-yard rushers in back-to-back games, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The team heads to Arizona this week to play the Cardinals on Thursday night. They need to stop running back David Johnson who is tied at fourth among RBs with five touchdowns for the season.
"It's obviously always been an emphasis to try to stop the run game," Elway told the team's website. "We've done a good job up to the last, really, couple of weeks and then you know [we] struggled. Hopefully we can find a solution in a short week against Arizona, going down there. It's very frustrating. Even though we played good football teams, the Rams are very good. [Todd] Gurley is a very good football player. The way they went about it, it's something we've got to get fixed in a hurry."
Winning this next game against shouldn't be a hard feat but Elway knows the sense of urgency the team feels right now.
"We've got to change some things and things have to change this week," Elway explained. "Our veterans have to play better, coaches have to coach better. On short week it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how physically how you feel. We got to go into Arizona on Thursday night fighting for our life cause that's what we are."
