'It's at the front of our minds': Broncos dedicated to forcing turnovers as they prepare to head to Pittsburgh

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the third quarter of the Broncos' Week 1 game, rookie cornerback Michael Ojemudia stayed stride for stride with Titans receiver Kalif Raymond before jumping a deep comeback route to the sideline.


It was a heads-up play by the 2020 third-round pick, who read Ryan Tannehill's eyes to make a play that gave Denver possession early in the second half.


It also didn't count, as an unnecessary roughness penalty on Alexander Johnson wiped out the interception.


The Broncos had just one other true chance at forcing a turnover in their 16-14 loss, as Justin Simmons nearly made a diving catch for a takeaway in Tennessee territory.


As Denver heads to Pittsburgh for a Week 2 matchup against the Steelers, the Broncos know they'll have to find a way to win the turnover battle.


"Justin had a chance," Head Coach Vic Fangio said Thursday. "He had his hands on a ball at one point in the game near our sideline but couldn't come up with it. We had two opportunities — that one and the one you mentioned. We have to do a better job of searching for the ball on defense. Knock a ball out or create some fumbles. It's something we emphasize, and we have to keep emphasizing. We have to get better at it."


The Broncos didn't force a turnover until Week 5 last season, but they fought back to have a positive turnover differential as they recorded 10 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries.


The Steelers lost one fumble in Week 1, and Denver will look to punch the ball out again.


"It's at the front of our minds," Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell said. "We look at that game and our D-line tipped two passes. We got really close to them. Justin Simmons, it was inches and he had a pick on a crossing route. Then we have one nullified by a penalty. We need those, because those turn games. If we had done that in that game, we could have had a different outcome. We want to work on that. When a runner has that many rushes against us, [you need a takeaway]. You can't say enough about how hard our players played in that game how well they fit the run. They minimized big plays, but if we get that many people swarming the ball, we have to have the ball. That's where we'd like to improve."


The encouraging news for the Broncos' secondary is that Ben Roethlisberger should give them more chances to make plays than Tannehill in Week 1.


"Going into the Tennessee week, we didn't expect [Tannehill] to throw it as much as he did, but even with that, he didn't take very many shots," safety Kareem Jackson said. "Pretty much everything was quick or right around the sticks. Going into this game, we all know Big Ben's going to throw it around the yard quite a bit. We should definitely have some opportunities to get our hands on some balls. He's a big-time quarterback in this league. They're going to let him run the show as he has done for the last decade. For us it's all about being in the right place at the right time, executing as a defense and for us just going out and training ourselves to make those extra plays that we need to be successful as a defense."