The Denver Broncos defense continued on their tear huge tear, sacking New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields nine times for 55 yards. Fields only passed for 45 yards, making the Jets offense total -10 net passing yards during the game, the worst mark in a single game by any NFL team in 27 years.

Star linebacker and projected frontrunner for the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award Nik Bonitto spoke about the Denver defense, and Jets’ ineptitude. “I was shocked when they told us (about the Jets’ -10 passing yards) after the game. That’s pretty funny.” 

The defense is now up to 30 sacks so far on the season. The Broncos‘ 30 sacks through the first six weeks are the most to begin a season in franchise history, and Denver’s 187 sack yards through six games mark the third-most among all NFL teams since at least 2000. 

The pace at which the Broncos are getting to the quarterback is historic. At this rate, the defense is on track to shatter the single-season sack record originally set by the 1985 Chicago Bears. The Bears had 72 sacks in a 16-game season. As a reminder, the Bears won their only Super Bowl in 1985, largely on the back of their defense. Sound familiar?

Head coach Sean Payton was amazed at the Broncos‘ effort against the Jets. “Yeah, you don’t really hear of negative [10] yards passing so that’s a little unusual. I think they had 80-some yards total offense,” said Payton. “Our defense was outstanding today.”

Payton stated the obvious about his stifling defense: “You’re glad that you have them on your team and are not playing against them.” 

Quarterback Bo Nix also spoke of his teammates on defense, a unit he is all too familiar facing. “It’s almost, you know, impossible what they did,” said Nix. “It was impressive. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things where I don’t get to watch a whole lot of it. I wish I could. They’d be a fun defense to watch, probably an awful defense to play against. I know that kind of from practice. But they turned it on. Nine sacks is a lot of sacks. That’s really good for our defense. Still looking for turnovers. But sacks are pretty much like turnovers, they kill drives. So impressive, not shocked. But really impressive performance by them. Just great effort all around. Really good job tackling in space and obviously a good job covering down the field and getting pressure on the quarterback.”

Bonitto and Co. are looking at one of the most amazing defensive seasons in NFL history. They look to impress even more in Week 7, in front of the 2015 Super Bowl champion “No-Fly Zone,” who will be honored against the New York Giants.

This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos defense on track to shatter single-season sack record