DENVER — The Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons spent the week addressing special teams breakdowns that led to gut-wrenching losses.
The Broncos (5-5) are trying to fix their field-goal protection unit after allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to remain unbeaten by blocking a 35-yard would-be game-winner as time expired last weekend.
The Falcons (6-4) worked to get scuffling kicker Younghoe Koo back in rhythm after his trio of misses allowed the New Orleans Saints to end a seven-game skid and hand Atlanta its first loss in five games against the NFC South.
Sean Payton's Broncos are 3-0 against his familiar foes in that division this season, and all three wins have been by double digits thanks to disruptive defense and a blossoming offense featuring quarterback Bo Nix, who was named the NFL's Rookie of the Week after he outplayed Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium.
Sunday's showdown could be a tipping point for both franchises and it features the return of Justin Simmons, the star safety who was jettisoned in a cost-cutting move after eight seasons in Denver.
Simmons' $18.25 million salary for 2024 was too rich for the Broncos, who are saddled with an enormous dead cap charge from Russell Wilson's departure. Simmons signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Falcons after the safety market dried up.
“Hey bro, you see me coming across the middle, just remember we’re friends," wide receiver Courtland Sutton texted his former teammate ahead of their reunion.
Both the Broncos and Simmons have thrived after their split. Denver again features one of the league's best defenses and it replaced Simmons with free agent Brandon Jones, whose three-year, $20 million contract was much more palatable.
Simmons has 35 tackles and an interception — of Mahomes, whom he's picked off six times in his career — while teaming with Jessie Bates III to give Atlanta's defense an experienced duo at safety with a knack for big plays.
“You always want to win when you’ve got a guy like Justin because of the high-quality-character human that you’re talking about,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “And you’re taking him back to a place that he played significant amount of time in his career at. And obviously we got lucky enough to be able to get him in the process.
“So how nice would it be to go out there and get a win for Justin and his family that’s out there right now cheering them on, hopefully having a chance to come see him play this week?”
Simmons still lives in the Denver area in the offseason and said he's expecting a mixed reception: “I won't hear as many cheers, probably a little bit more boos.”
Morris gave a vote of confidence to his struggling kicker, who has missed a career-high seven times this season. Koo's three misses in Atlanta's 20-17 loss to the Saints were from 53 yards (wide left), 35 yards (blocked) and 46 yards (clanked off the right upright).
“With Koo, I’m going to ride that thing until the wheels fall off, you know, and we’ll figure that out when that happens,” Morris said.
The Broncos haven't said if they'll replace Alex Forsyth or Matt Peart, who allowed the wave of Kansas City defenders to crash through the line for Leo Chenal to block Wil Lutz's field goal on the final play last weekend.
Facing an overload on Denver's left side, Peart, on the end, stepped to his left instead of leaning right, allowing a second defender to plow through the gap between him and Forsyth, who was bulldozed on the play.
Forsyth took most of the heat publicly, and several of his teammates came to his defense, including Nix, who said, “I think it’s very unfortunate, very unfair that ultimately a play comes down to one ... person. Nobody prepares like Alex Forsyth prepares. Unfortunately it’s the game we play, and all of our mistakes are on national TV and everyone sees them.
“There is a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up, but I think it should be known how valuable he is to our team, how much he is respected throughout our locker room. I have no doubt that Alex Forsyth’s going to respond probably better than anybody in that situation and I know that every single one of our team, every single guy in our locker room, believes in him to move on and respond.”
The Broncos are getting creative in finding ways to get speedy receiver/returner Marvin Mims Jr. on the field more. Last week he lined up in the backfield and ran three times for 17 yards.
“We’ve seen this before with different type of players. Whether it’s been Deebo (Samuel) or Kordell (Stewart),” Payton said. “He gives us a different speed element."
