There could be a storm brewing inside FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, that will hit on Sunday night.
The Denver Broncos will bring their league-leading 240 quarterback pressures into a game in which the Washington Commanders will be forced to use their backup quarterback. Jayden Daniels has been ruled out for Sunday Night Football in Week 13, forcing the Commanders to again turn to Marcus Mariota.
The Commanders sit right in the middle of the league, at No. 15, with 27 sacks allowed this season. The Broncos, who are still on pace to break the league's all-time record for most sacks by a team in one season, are going to get after the quarterback in this one.
The Commanders will likely look to establish the run and the quick-passing game in order to negate the Broncos' pass rush, but if the Broncos get up by multiple scores, expect to see Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper to pin their ears back and come after Mariota, who has been better at avoiding sacks this season than Daniels, believe it or not. Daniels has been dumped 17 times in his six starts, while Mariota has been sacked just 10 times across five starts.
Washington's pass protection will be tested in a major way in this game, as the Broncos, fresh off a bye, are going to look to ramp up their pursuit of the quarterback to get into a groove for the stretch run.
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The Broncos need to register 24 sacks in the final six games in order to break the all-time record of 72, set by the 1984 Chicago Bears. That's an average of four sacks per game from where they currently sit with 49 sacks.
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