For Denver Broncos fans, their defense has been a blast from the past. For the Arizona Cardinals, it will be anything but a blast going against Vance Joseph's unit on Sunday.

Week 7 features a Cardinals-Broncos matchup at State Farm Stadium that figures to be a low-scoring affair, as they're only one of five games with an over/under line set under 44 points.

That's partly due to struggling offenses, but also due to a Denver defense that ranks as one of the best in the league.

And while they're not quite their famous "Orange Crush" defense or their dominant 2015 unit that won a Super Bowl, Denver's defense is doing things in an old-school fashion.

“They’re very smart. They’re very well coached. I have as much respect for ‘VJ’ (Broncos Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) as anyone in this league. They do it their own way. I don’t want to say they’re not with the times — whatever that means but it’s got an old-school approach to it in terms of some of their coverage and that’s a credit to them," said Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur.

"You can tell ‘VJ’ and those guys believe in what they believe in and they’re unapologetic with it. They play really hard. I see 11 guys working in unison. It’s a challenge. Yes, it’s the last two weeks, but it’s really been all year, and it’s been for a few years now. We have our hands full with this group, for sure.”

The Broncos are allowing just 20.8 points per game and are tied for the league's second-most takeaways at ten.

"Oh yeah, no doubt. No, it's how they play their football from the front structures to the back end," Cardinals offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said when asked if Denver's defense was truly old-school.

"Everything. It's funny the league has changed so much to a certain extent from how they play the back end, and it's evolved, and we've evolved on things. I mean, in the past couple years there were certain routes you could never even consider hitting, and now you can hit those. But now you face this team, and you can't hit those, so it's an adjustment. Every week has great challenges, and this defense is — I feel like I'm a broken record. I've said it every week — but the reality is we've gone against some really good defenses, and this is one of them."

The Broncos feature two former Cardinals (DC Vance Joseph, DL Zach Allen) among other pieces in a vastly talented Denver defense. In a league that primarily utilizes zone coverage, the Broncos are one of eight teams who use man coverage at a 22% or higher clip.

More interestingly, their usage rates of specific Cover 2 man looks are tied for the second-most in the league. If that coverage sounds familiar, it was the play that baited Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold into an interception late in Denver's win on Thursday Night Football in Week 6.

Only 13 teams run Cover 1 at similar or higher rates than Joseph. When they do run zone, they primarily use Cover 3 — which is standard for NFL defenses.

The Broncos blitz at a top ten rate in the league and have a stacked box rate (8+ defenders) of 31.1%, which is fourth in the league.

"I don't care what scheme you run on defense, as long as you have conviction in it, which they do," LaFleur continued. "There's clarity with the players, which they do. You have good players that matches the scheme that they're trying to run, which they do. ... But as we know, this defense has been playing really well for a few years, and it's going to be a challenge not only because of the scheme, but because of the players that are actually running the scheme."

Modern NFL defenses mostly adopt a "bend but don't break" rule where they'll always opt to play conservatively. The Broncos' defense, rather than sitting back, brings the pressure to opposing offenses on a weekly basis thanks to a strong mix of personnel and scheme.

LaFleur's a new head coach — but we're about to see how he handles a defense from the past.