DENVER — Bradley Chubb was hard to find on the stat sheet Sunday until the Broncos needed him most.
His four solo tackles were a career-best, but no one would look twice at it while scrolling through a game log. Sacks, on the other hand — no one in the NFL had a better performance this week than Denver’s rookie linebacker/defensive end. Three sacks — doubling his season total — and each one more clutch than the last.
The first two came two plays apart during Los Angeles’ final drive of the first half, when he dropped quarterback Jared Goff for losses of 5 and 1 yards on first and third down, respectively, ending the Rams’ threat of extending their halftime lead beyond 10 points.
Chubb’s third sack, however, gave Denver its best chance for a comeback.
The Rams led 20-10 with 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and faced a third-and-3 from the Broncos’ 19-yard line. Chubb lined up at right defensive end, and with the offensive guard occupied by blocking Adam Gotsis, Chubb looped inside almost untouched and got to Goff, dropping him for a loss of 10. Los Angeles kicker Cairo Santos missed the 47-yard field goal on the following play, providing Denver with new life.
“Having a great (four-man rush) working their tails off,” Chubb said in response to what sparked his success Sunday. “On one of the sacks, Shane (Ray) made the dude step up and I’m right there, me and Von (Miller) getting to the dude on one of them, Gotsis setting the perfect pick on one of them, so just having great teammates around me and making my layups pretty much.”
Added Miller, who had 1.5 sacks: “It’s the same Chubb we’ve seen from the get-go. I’ve been telling him every week, ‘This is going to be your week.’ And this week was his week. And next week will be, too. He’s just getting started.”
Chubb’s first five games as a pro were a mixed bag of adjustments to life in the NFL.
Was he bad? No, he had 12 combined tackles and a pass defended entering Sunday.
Did he play to the level of a top-five overall draft pick? Probably not. But all of the skepticism that surrounded his first third of the season began to disappear Sunday. The biggest contribution the Broncos made to facilitate Chubb’s success was lining him up more frequently at defensive end rather than linebacker. That allowed him to worry less about pass coverage — an area of weakness — and gave him more opportunities to get into the backfield.
He beat Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth, one of the NFL’s most veteran linemen, on each sack.
But as improved as Chubb appeared Sunday, he wasn’t about to hand himself any accolades. Not with the Broncos losing their fourth consecutive game. If this slide is going to end, the responsibility falls on him, he said.
“It’s good and all to get to the quarterback three times, but it’s not good enough,” he said. “We feel like, in the outside linebacker room, that we put the pressure on us. If we want to win, we have to make plays. I feel like sometimes we did make those plays, but we have to do more.”