The Broncos got another strong defensive outing against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and one of the biggest bright spots came from a player who has been climbing into the conversation a little at a time. With Jonah Elliss out, linebacker Que Robinson delivered a timely lift in Denver’s 30-16 win, especially when the game tightened late.
That impact showed up most clearly with 90 seconds left, when Arizona had the ball on the Denver 1-yard line and looked poised to make it a one-score game. Robinson was expecting a run, but when quarterback Jacoby Brissett pulled back from under center, he didn’t freeze. He forced Brissett to move up in the pocket, and Alex Singleton finished the play with a sack.
According to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post via Next Gen Stats, that was Robinson’s second pressure of the fourth quarter. His role in the pass rush has been growing week by week, and he now carries a pressure rate of 14.1 percent. Only Nik Bonitto, who is usually the front line of the Broncos’ rush, has been better in that department with a 21.6 percent pressure rate.
Sean Payton likes what he’s seeing. He called Robinson’s play and confidence “arrow up,” and that has translated into more snaps.
The linebacker room has been in motion for Denver, so Robinson’s emergence comes at a useful time. Jonathon Cooper returned while Jonah Elliss exited after hopping off the field on one leg. Bonitto, meanwhile, was credited with 13 pressures on 28 pass-rush attempts against Arizona, per Gabriel, the most in a single NFL game since Nick Bosa did it early in 2024.
Bonitto has piled up more than 20 pressures over the last two games and has been elite since the Broncos’ Week 1 defensive disaster against the Kansas City Chiefs. Denver gets another shot at Kansas City on Sunday, and that matchup will be its biggest game of the year to date.
Cooper is still trying to get back into rhythm. He had four pressures for a pressure rate of 14.8 percent, and defensive tackle Zach Allen said that’s “something we can build on.”
The Broncos now have a shot at the top spot in the AFC West, a turn of events that looked unthinkable only a couple of weeks ago. That’s how fast the league can swing, especially with the Chiefs stumbling in their game against the Seattle Seahawks.
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The concern is showing up on third down, where Denver has looked far less efficient with Payton handling the calls than it did earlier in the season under Davis Webb. Even more troubling for the Broncos is the context around that slide, because the recent stretch has come against opponents that were supposed to be more manageable than the defenses Webb faced. The results are piling up in the standings, but the trend underneath them is hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]