In what is always a matchup league, the Broncos’ defense is likely facing a significant adjustment in pass coverage this weekend if Wesley Woodyard is still on the injury report.
When an opposing offense lines up in a three- or four-wide receiver set, the Broncos have quickly gone to a nickel package that includes Woodyard at one of the linebacker spots.
Woodyard is a key part of the equation because of his speed, his willingness to stick his nose into a play — he is one of the team’s best special-teams players — and his ability to drop into pass coverage when needed.
This season, the Broncos have been in some kind of nickel package for at least 38 snaps in five of their eight games, including 40, 39 and 44 snaps in their last three games.
Trouble is, Woodyard is unlikely to play this weekend in Kansas City unless his sore knee improves significantly in the next two days. Woodyard has used crutches to get around the Broncos’ complex during the week and has not practiced.
It is an issue against the Chiefs because since rookie wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin returned from a fractured hand — Baldwin has played in the last three games — the Chiefs have been far more willing to use a three-wide receiver set with former Arizona Cardinals wideout Steve Breaston in the slot.
That usually puts Dwayne Bowe and Baldwin on the outside. Bowe is 6-foot-2, 221 pounds, Breaston is 6-0, 189, and Baldwin is 6-4, 230.
That’s plenty of size in the formation, and if the Broncos match up Champ Bailey on Bowe as they did last December, they still have to handle Breaston in the slot, which is where they have at times used Bailey when he isn’t matched up on a receiver, and deal with the size mismatch Baldwin will have on the outside.
Woodyard is usually in the mix to help in the middle of the field. Without him, the Broncos don’t have a player that can fill that role.
Rookie Von Miller has the speed and explosiveness, but the Broncos usually put him in a pass-rush role in the nickel, and they have tried to keep him out of pass coverage when possible.
“We’ve got a couple of different options we’ve been looking at,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “… We’ve got a plan for that.”
The Broncos could go with another safety and line him up where Woodyard usually plays. They have shown a six-defensive back look this year that includes three safeties.
Safety David Bruton is one of the team’s fastest players, and at 217 pounds, isn’t that far off Woodyard’s 229 pounds.
The trouble spots will be what the Broncos do with the slot receiver, usually Breaston, if Bailey is shadowing Bowe, and how the Broncos defend the run when they go to the nickel.
Some of the biggest runs the defense has surrendered this season have come against the nickel.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
