Bradley Chubb confident the defense is going to turn it around

While most of Broncos Country spent Monday hand-wringing and whining about the Broncos’ 0-2 start, Bradley Chubb and his fellow teammates have been focusing on a different perspective.

“This team not going down without a fight,” Chubb said about his main takeaway from Game 2. “Coach Fangio made some very gutsy calls, and we definitely learned he believes in us, and he’s going to put it all out there for us to take it.”

Joining “Broncos Country Tonight” live at Buffalo Wild Wings, Chubb told Ryan Edwards and Ben Allbright that the defense “let [the coach] down with that last play,” but he is feeling good about the improvement the unit made and looking forward to getting better each week.

“Every game we’ve had so far, we know how close we are. It’s going to come for us,” he said. “We’re just need to keep our heads on straight, and it’s going to come.”

Despite the crushing loss, Chubb agreed with his hosts that the way the team fought back at the end of the game is a confidence booster.

“It definitely instills confidence. You see guys on the field screaming, jumping, yelling, excited because we know how hard we worked. Everybody is sticking together. Nobody, even at 0-2, is like ‘oh man, I’m done with this’ because we started 2-0 last year, and we had a losing season, so anything can happen.”

Chubb also added that the team has confidence in its coach.

“Coach Fangio has been doing this so long and had great success with all his defenses,” he said. “There’s a method to the madness, so I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help team win.”

And although Chubb and fellow edge rusher Von Miller are not getting the sack numbers they’d like, they’re trying to be patient and focus on their job, not on the stats.

“Our coach tells us you have to be at peace within yourself that you’re doing your job and let the sack numbers come to you,” Chubb said, pointing out that Aaron Donald has zero sacks right now and that he had only 1.5 sacks through the first six games last season.

He also agreed that he and Miller are ready to tee off and it’s going to come.

“I feel like it. You just have peace with self that doing everything you need do to make the play, it’s just not happening for you yet,” Chubb added. “I feel it’s going to cut off for us and when it does, it’s going to be fun.”

Chubb defended his teammate Garett Bolles, who took a beating by fans at the stadium and on social media, saying Bolles has a bit of an unfair reputation for holding and adding that the linemen he went up against last season “held 10 times as much” as Bolles when facing him in training camp.

But he and his teammates also know that Bolles has to work on his technique to avoid ruining offensive drives.

“I feel like he’s going to bounce back and everything’s going to be good,” Chubb said, adding that it has to be the kind of situation where Bolles feels a little more urgency given the negative reaction to his play. “If you want to learn, you have to learn from those bad experiences. You can’t just mope about them. You’ve got to get through them, learn from them and better yourself from it.”

Although Chubb isn’t around Joe Flacco a ton throughout practice and in the locker room, he definitely appreciates the leadership the veteran QB has brought.

Edwards noted Flacco’s quote after the game about being a young team learning how to win and his role holding his head up after a loss and encouraging his team - and Chubb agreed it has been helpful.

“Having a guy to take charge of the locker room, take charge of the team is special,” Chubb said. “Everybody wants somebody to look up to. When face of the team says something like that, everybody looks up to him. He’s not feeling sorry for himself.”

It also helps having a quarterback who has been able to lead the offense into plus territory - a stat Edwards pointed out was much-improved over last season. Despite the red zone troubles, Flacco led the team into Bears’ territory on eight out of nine drives - a rather overlooked stat.

“That helps us a lot, just extending those plays, moving the chains, moving the chains, wearing their defense down,” Chubb noted. “Joe’s doing an amazing job. Even though we haven’t won these games, I feel like it’s going to get fun in the future.”

Chubb also pointed out that although it’s frustrating for a defense to hold an offense to just 120 yards and not come away with the win, they try not to focus on the offense and just on what they have to do.

“We can’t look at it like that. We have to go out and do our goals and go out with the mindset that we need to shut this down, shut that down and be the best unit,” he said. “We can’t control what the offense does or doesn’t do. Have to play our game. It can be frustrating when you hold them to something like 120 yards and don’t come out with the win, but this is football. Everybody has to be working on the same level at all times.”

The Broncos will have another chance to prove themselves against a really tough team - and do it on the road - as they travel to Lambeau Field to face the Packers.

Chubb is definitely looking forward to chasing down No. 12.

“I am excited to play Aaron Rodgers. It’s going to be fun. He’s a tough competitor and hard to bring down,” Chubb said. “It’s going to be a fun challenge.