Vance Joseph 'Working on Ways' to Help Broncos CB Damarri Mathis

Taking away half of the field is the holy grail for defenses in the pass-happy NFL, but doing so can spring leaks elsewhere. Last Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders avoided Denver Broncos All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II, but it opened up other profitable avenues for Josh McDaniels to exploit.

Broncos' second-year cornerback Damarri Mathis is carrying a heavy lunch pail to work currently as teams actively look to navigate around the fenced-off Surtain Island. Mathis gave up eight receptions on nine targets for 95 yards and two touchdowns last week.  

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is scheming to come up with ways to filter traffic away from Mathis and toward his star player Surtain.

“That’s going to happen. Pat, by the way, played really well last week. He’s a special player,” Joseph said on Thursday. “The same way we have game plans to kind of take their best player away, it’s the same for offenses. They are going to avoid Pat from time to time. We have ways to make them go towards Pat and also have ways to help the guy opposite. That’s going to be an ongoing process every single week."

No amount of creative scheming is going to combat teams lining up and throwing toward Mathis, however, so the 24-year-old will need to show a vast improvement this week. Rookie corner Riley Moss returned to practice unencumbered this week and will be a full-go on Sunday vs. the Washington Commanders, but benching Mathis this early would deliver a potentially catastrophic blow to his confidence.

Therefore, spot duty is more likely for Moss, at least until the coaches get a proper level of how he performs under pressure. The lack of an effective pass rush also spells trouble for whoever lines up opposite Surtain.

More bad news emerged on that front on Wednesday when the Broncos announced that veteran outside linebacker Frank Clark will miss some time, maybe weeks. In light of this, winning on third downs is even more so the golden ticket Joseph is chasing.

On account of coming up against vastly inexperienced Commanders' signal-caller Sam Howell, Joseph’s strategy stands to reason, but it didn't work last week against journeyman Jimmy Garoppolo. Joseph must find a way to manufacture a pass rush, and that has only been complicated by the Clark injury.

“It’s absolutely important. Last week, didn’t have enough pressure on the quarterback,” Joseph said. “The third-down win percentage showed that. Obviously, getting pressure on the quarterback and getting him off his spot, and winning third downs are going to be critical in this game. In last week’s game, third down is where we kind of fell off. That and penalties. Winning third downs is always going to be [important] for us. That’s our priority. Then it’s possessions, and then it’s points. That’s always going to be important for us—pressure the quarterback and win third downs.”