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Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph knows there is no way, and no place, to hide from the historic 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. He pointed the finger squarely at himself for his group’s efforts.
“When your unit plays that way, my first thought is, it’s me, and doing better as a coach and getting ready for the challenge,” Joseph said after practice Thursday, the first time he had spoken publicly since Sunday’s 10-touchdown barrage by the Dolphins.
He added: “When those days happen, it’s always, in my opinion, it’s me first and I’ll fix it and quickly. I take it first. … It became a buzzsaw.”
The Dolphins’ 70-point game was the third-highest total in NFL history, and their 726 total yards were the second-most in a league game. The loss dropped the Broncos to 0-3. Joseph, who was the Broncos head coach in 2017-18, finds his defense last in the league in almost every major statistical category.
And, the Broncos had almost two dozen missed tackles Sunday, as Miami rushed for 350 yards and five touchdowns.
“A team like that will expose you with their speed because of the angles you’re taking and your leverage,” Joseph said.
“Again, the speed, the angles — it was overwhelming for us.”
Joseph, a longtime assistant in the league, said he had “everybody” reach out to him in recent days, including former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips on Thursday morning, whom Joseph said told him to “keep grinding, keep pushing.” Phillips was the Broncos’ defensive coordinator for the team’s Super Bowl 50 win, and Joseph was Phillips’ secondary coach for three seasons when Phillips was Houston’s defensive coordinator.
It was a rough Monday for Broncos coaches and players alike, with the review of the game video to go with an extended discussion of the mistakes. Joseph said the focus is Sunday’s game against the 0-3 Chicago Bears in Soldier Field.
Joseph is already taking plenty of heat for the defense’s struggles in a winless September, including being last in the league in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. The Broncos are 31st in red zone defense, 29th in pass defense and 27th in sacks.
Joseph’s players, however, have been quick to support him.
Safety Kareem Jackson said the defense Sunday “didn’t execute nothing we put in place … me included.”
“You go watch that film, and there are numerous amounts of things that went wrong, but in no way, shape or form does that ever come down to one person,” said safety Justin Simmons, adding that he believes in Joseph and his staff.
“Obviously he was very disappointed,” cornerback Pat Surtain II said. “I mean everybody was. … He believes in us, he believes in this whole defensive unit. … It goes both ways. We believe in him, he believes in us.”