Photo via Jack Dempsey – AP
Russell Okung has done his job this year at left tackle for the Denver Broncos. If he has allowed a sack this year, it will be difficult to find it.
The Fort Bend Richmond-Bush product nearly allowed a sack last week to Trey Flowers of the New England Patriots, which would have been Flowers’ third sack in the game but the sack ended up going to Malcom Brown. The Broncos allowed four sacks in the game and lost to the Patriots at home 16-3.
The most recent sack Okung has allowed came on Nov. 27 at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a precarious sack allowed against the Chiefs’ outside linebacker Tamba Hali, in which Hali just pushed Okung backwards into the Broncos’ quarterback Trevor Siemian. The Broncos lost that game 30-27 in overtime.
The Broncos play the Chiefs at 7:30 PM on Christmas in Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Chiefs’ defense won’t be out in force this time as their star linebacker Derrick Johnson is on injured reserve with an Achilles’ tendon. But they will still have Justin Houston, Dontari Poe and Dee Ford. Okung will have to stop Ford, who missed the first game but has 10 sacks.
Houston had three sacks in the first game. However, those sacks, like many sacks this year, came from the right side of Denver’s offensive line.
The only other sack that can truly be attributed to Okung is a sack by Will Clarke way back on Sept. 25against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Broncos have turned to a combination of Siemian and Paxton Lynch at quarterback.
The experiment has succeeded for the most part. The defending Super Bowl champions are 8-6 with two games remaining in the regular season. They are three games behind the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West and they are one game behind the Miami Dolphins who are 9-5 and occupy the second wild card spot. The Broncos also have the same record as the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans. The Ravens have a better conference record than the Broncos and the Titans have a win over the Broncos.
One area the Broncos have really struggled in is pass protection. The Broncos have allowed 40 sacks as a team, which is tied for the third most in the NFL. Okung would likely be a Pro Bowler if the team didn’t allow so many sacks. They have allowed six sacks in a game twice this season. One was with Lynch at quarterback against the Atlanta Falcons. They also allowed six sacks surprisingly to the New Orleans Saints, who are not known for their defense. One sack was actually allowed by Okung to Carl Ellerbe.
Okung signed a five-year $53 million contract with the Broncos in the spring. He spent the first six years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks and played 72 games. He never started all 16 games in any season, but did start at least 10 games in five seasons and at least 12 games in four seasons. He won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2013 over the Broncos and almost won another in 2014. He’ll definitely be the cornerstone that Denver looks to build their protection around.
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