TAMPA BAY, Fla. -- Denver Broncos outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman could do little but smile as he was serenaded Sunday evening by perhaps the world's most physically imposing choir.
As Tillman answered questions in the locker room, his teammates bombarded him with shouts of "Tiiiilllll'' and "Look at him, look at him ..." Tillman, who was toiling on the practice squad a mere 48 hours prior, had made history with two sacks in his first NFL game. He was part of a Denver pass rush that provided heavy fuel in a 26-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
"It's a dream come true," said Tillman, who was signed in the offseason from the United Football League's Birmingham Stallions. "... I'm not sure what I can describe about it, but all these guys kept telling me I could do it, but until it happens, it's a dream, you know. But now it's real."
In getting two of the Broncos' seven sacks on Buccaneers' quarterback Baker Mayfield, Tillman became the first Broncos player, dating to at least the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, to have two sacks in his first NFL game. And he was the first NFL player since Detroit's James Houston on Nov. 24, 2022, to have two sacks in his NFL debut. Since 2000, other players who pulled off the double-sack debut include T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Joey Bosa.
"I just had to trust myself to do what I do," Tillman said. "So shout out to my crew [of teammates] for giving me that confidence, I've been saying they told me all week I could do it. ... And we were like, once somebody gets one, we all want to get one."
The 270-pound Tillman took a meandering path to his smash debut, going undrafted in 2022 following a college career at Division II Indiana (Pa.) University. He spent three seasons with the Stallions, in both the USFL and UFL, before signing with the Broncos this past summer. Tillman was signed to the practice squad after rosters were cut to 53 players and was elevated for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers.
Sunday's performance from Tillman and the rest of the Broncos' pass rush highlighted how extremely different the Denver defense has performed through the opening three weeks of this season as compared to what it did in the first three games of 2023. The Broncos have 11 sacks, which is tied for fifth in the league. They are sixth in scoring defense through Sunday's games, allowing only 15.3 points per game. They allowed 40.7 after three weeks last season, which included a 70-20 loss in Miami in Week 3, and only had four sacks.
Though Broncos coach Sean Payton has liked the early defensive results, he wasn't ready to make a comparison between this unit and the one that started so slow in 2023.
"Uniquely, we're pulling out Week 3 game against Miami last year -- is that what we're doing? -- and then comparing it to this year's Week 3?" Payton said Monday. "Yeah, this year was a better result."
The Broncos went into this offseason attempting to shore up a run defense that finished 30th in the NFL last season with 137.4 yards per game allowed. But their efforts to do that -- via the trade for defensive end John Franklin-Myers and signing of defensive tackle Malcolm Roach in free agency -- have also paid pass rush dividends.
The addition of Franklin-Myers has forced offenses to pass protect more "fair," as defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has put it, to deal with the Broncos' increased options. Defensive end Zach Allen, who was routinely double-teamed last season, has feasted on more single blocking. In the Broncos' Week 2 loss to the Steelers, Allen had a sack and four quarterback hits while being credited with eight pressures. He added another sack Sunday.
"Obviously we have, in my opinion, better rushing sides next to him," Joseph said. "So the turn's not always going to Zach Allen. Last year, everyone turned to Zach. Now we have guys inside who can rush opposite Zach, so it's pretty fair. He's getting some one-on-ones, and he's winning."
The Broncos have also gotten more from third-round rookie Jonah Elliss than they expected, deepening an outside linebacker rotation which already had Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto and Baron Browning. Elliss had his first career sack against the Steelers, Cooper leads the team with three sacks (including one against the Bucs) and Tillman will get a chance to build on his debut with Browning (foot) on injured reserve.
"We need everybody," Cooper said. "Us, the guys in the [secondary], linebackers, up front everybody. ... We've shown some of what we can do, and [in Tampa] we really showed when the coverage and rush work together."
The Broncos have also used former All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II in matchup situations more to force quarterbacks to hold the ball a bit longer. Surtain followed Seattle's DK Metcalf in the season opener and allowed Buccaneers' wide receiver Mike Evans only one catch on Sunday when in coverage on him. (Evans had two total receptions.) Joseph has said he intends to find ways to keep opposing quarterbacks from avoiding Surtain.
"Matching up with a guy like that is pretty awesome," Surtain said. "... I did my part, defensively as a whole to do what we did, we played like we prepped. ... I ain't going to lie, it's a great feeling knowing [the pass rush is] getting back there, knowing there's a short amount of time for the QB to get the read.
"It makes your job much easier, makes you more aggressive on the back end when the pass rush is there. ... We just have to keep doing those things, every week, with that consistency."
The Broncos' defense will face plenty of tests soon, starting with a matchup against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets this upcoming Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Meetings with Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are also on the docket before mid-November. But they hope their performance over the first three weeks provides a glimpse of what they're capable of this season.
"We want the defense to keep stepping up like we did [against the Buccaneers]," Cooper said, "Get to the quarterback, get turnovers, do what we need to do."