The Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl-winning defense was really, really, really good. But should it be considered the best defense in NFL history?
Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan is ready to put it in that category.
“You’re going to ask me? No. 1. No. 1 in my opinion, over ’85 (Chicago) Bears,” Trevathan said Sunday, according to NFL.com, after the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50. “If not No. 1, No. 2. I feel like we did a good job playing our games. It wasn’t ever pretty, but when you put it in our defense’s hand we always come up with that win.”
It’d be easy to suggest Trevathan was caught up in the moment. The Broncos just knocked around NFL MVP Cam Newton and the league’s top-ranked offense on the game’s biggest stage. The Broncos’ defense was lights out all season, though. Denver even shut down Ben Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round and Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game before its historic Super Bowl performance.
“For him not to have a job last year, that’s bogus, man,” Trevathan said of Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. “This is one of the best defensive coordinators ever.”
It was common knowledge entering the postseason that Denver’s defense was excellent and that the Broncos would need to ride the unit to the top with Peyton Manning and the offense looking like a shell of its former self. The last three games took the conversation to another level, however.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
