ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Talanoa Hufanga had beef with his boss, Vance Joseph.
It was the fourth quarter of the Broncos' Week 3 matchup in primetime against the Rams and Hufanga had just stormed off the edge on third down to bury quarterback Matthew Stafford with a sack that forced Los Angeles to settle for a field goal in a tie game. It was a takedown, Hufanga said, "that was all VJ," and he wanted to let Denver's defensive coordinator know what he thought of the blitz call that Joseph had predicted throughout the week would find its way into a big spot in the game.
"I remember pointing to him after the play and he didn't look at me, so I was kind of mad," Hufanga said with a grin after he followed his sack with two late interceptions in Denver's stunning 30-26 victory, a performance that earned him AFC defensive player of the week. "I was like, 'Wow, you are a crazy coach and you know exactly what was going to happen.'"
As the Broncos have become the league's most menacing pass-rushing force under Joseph, piling up 139 sacks since the start of the 2024 season, the team's secondary has played a vital supporting role. And as Denver (2-1) visits the San Francisco 49ers (3-0) on Sunday with designs on being the first team this season to sack quarterback Brock Purdy, Joseph can be expected to make his defensive backs a part of the disruption plan.
The Broncos in 2025 were one of only two teams in the league, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that had three defensive backs with at least 25 pass-rush snaps, according to TruMedia: Ja'Quan McMillian (37), Hufanga (36) and Brandon Jones (25). The 7.5 sacks produced by Denver defensive backs last season led the NFL at that position group. Plays like the one Joseph dialed up for Hufanga on Sunday are part of what makes Joseph's defense difficult to prepare for from week to week.
"Vance is one of the toughest guys just because he can do anything," said San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who faced Joseph twice a year from 2019 to 2022, when Joseph was the defensive play-caller for the Arizona Cardinals. "They can do (different things) front-wise, coverage-wise, pressure-wise, and then when you mix in their corners, their safeties, how they are with their pass rush, whether they come with four or five, and their linebackers -- it's not a surprise they were one of the best defenses in the league last year."
Joseph has called his secondary's number in big spots across the past three seasons.
McMillian, the nickel DB who has seven combined regular-season and playoff sacks in his four seasons playing for Joseph, sealed a victory against the Kansas City Chiefs last season when he sprinted unblocked off the edge on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter and dropped Patrick Mahomes for an 11-yard loss. He helped turn the momentum of Denver's comeback victory in Philadelphia early in the year when he sacked Jalen Hurts on a third-down play early in the fourth quarter as the Eagles quarterback tried to escape the pocket. And his pressure on Jaxson Dart on a fourth-quarter play in Week 7 last season precipitated the rookie quarterback's interception, thrown into the hands of linebacker Justin Strnad, that put Denver on the comeback path in a stunning 33-32 victory.
Those are snapshots of the work that has made McMillian one of the best pass-rushing defensive backs in the league over the past three seasons, a notable feat for a 5-foot-10, 183-pound player. His role as the nickel has allowed Joseph to deploy him on blitzes from all angles. McMillian played almost exclusively outside corner during his college career at East Carolina and again in 2022 while spending most of his rookie year on Denver's practice squad. But one play in the preseason during Joseph's first year as defensive coordinator in 2023 changed the vision.
"My first year, we're playing the Cardinals in the preseason and he runs this nickel pressure, and he was so natural," Joseph said. "He went flat for the run and then he kind of climbed for the quarterback and got him on the ground. I was like, 'Whoa, who's that kid?' I barely knew his name. But that play showed me he could be a great nickel in this league. He's always been really, really smart and he's tough. He's really strong for a little dude, so those are great qualities."
The well-timed pressure created by the secondary doesn't always show up in the highlight plays. Take Sunday's first half against the Rams, who had a 7-0 lead as they lined up for a second-and-2 play at the Denver 8-yard line. Jones blitzed from the right side of the Rams' formation and initially moved toward running back Blake Corum as Stafford faked a handoff. The veteran safety changed course quickly enough once he recognized the play-action concept to cut off Stafford's movement to the outside and force an incompletion. Denver got a third-down stop one play later to force Los Angeles to settle for a field goal.
The blitz with Jones was an example of Joseph taking advantage of a defensive back's versatility and athleticism to set the edge in the more condensed real estate of the red zone.
"I think it's unique," cornerback Pat Surtain II said of how Joseph employs his defensive backs in the pass rush. "Vance makes things very complex for the opposing offenses. … It's good when we have guys who are able to do that, blitz, cover, and do all of those things because it builds value within the defense when you have guys that can go out there and be versatile in the back end. I think it definitely makes it a dangerous defense when you have guys who can blitz, cause havoc and also cover."
Joseph noted on Thursday that Denver's personnel is what allows him to deploy his defensive backs frequently in the pass-rush plan. During his first season with the Broncos, before Hufanga and Jones had arrived and before McMillian became a full-time starter, the team's defensive backs were credited with 58 pass-rush snaps throughout the season. In 2025, the group rushed the passer nearly twice that many times (108). They are at 23 rushes through just three games this season.
"We do have guys who can blitz and make plays," Joseph said. "Every safety I've coached, or nickel I've coached, haven't all been great blitzers. But J-Mac's a great blitzer, and so is Huff and so is B-Jones. It's not me at all. It's the player. If they couldn't blitz, I wouldn't blitz them."
Still, Joseph has found a way to get those blitzing rushers some free looks at the quarterback. An unblocked pressure like the one Hufanga had against the Rams, fellow safety Devon Key said, is a testament to the coach's relentless search for opportunities to deploy his personnel in different ways.
"VJ knows exactly when to call his pressures," Key said. "He knows when he wants to attack, what hash he wants it from. He does a great job throughout the week game planning. I just asked him the other day what he does Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the way up to the game, and (that work) lets him know when to call the blitzes and he does a great job utilizing each DB in those pressures."
The truest sign that Joseph had tripped the Rams up with Hufanga's blitz came by looking at Rams right guard Kevin Dotson. He dropped back in his stance only to have nobody to block. The Rams were expecting Que Robinson to rush in from the right side, but he dropped back at the snap. Hufanga had taken his place on the opposite side, as the most dangerous pass rusher on the play.
"It's one of those feelings when you get it in practice and it translates to a game," Hufanga said, "you can't believe it."
This article originally appeared in [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7649902/2026/10/02/broncos-defense-vance-joseph-blitzes/).