Emmanuel Sanders is ‘mad’ over this offense

There have been public rumblings of frustration among the Broncos defense, but on Wednesday morning there was evidence the offense is mad too.

Speaking on Orange and Blue Radio with Tyler Polumbus and Andy Lindahl, Emmanuel Sanders did not hold back on his own frustration with the inept offense.

Sanders, who didn’t play against the Chargers due to an ankle injury suffered during the Giants game, watched the game on TV.

“I was pissed off. What I saw was an offense that couldn’t move the ball, kept hurting themselves, kept turning the ball over,” said Sanders. “You know it was just making me madder and madder and madder.”

Sanders noted that the defense has been holding its own game after game, season after season - and it’s about time the offense can do the same.

“So, you know, we’ve got get our stuff together, and it starts today,” Sanders added.

The fourth-year Bronco didn’t blame just one entity on the offense, but he certainly spread some fault around - from the line to the QB to the skill players.

“It’s not always coaching. Sometimes you have to have pride in what you do - in not letting a guy beat you, and if you do get beat, get back and line up again,” Sanders said.

The wide receiver also called out his unit for not being able to handle defenses that aren’t “throwing any surprises” at them. With a playbook of 60 plays, the Broncos offense should be able “to win 80 percent of those downs.”

“The offense sees the same look every week,” he said. “We’ve just got to handle business - from a studying standpoint and a physical standpoint.”

Polumbus, a former Broncos offensive lineman, asked Sanders how hard it is to watch the quarterback take such big hits, but the wide receiver had little sympathy - yet some words of advice - for Trevor Siemian.

“You know, it’s tough but at the same time, that comes with playing a position,” Sanders said, adding that in meetings he lets Siemian know there are options. “I tell him, ‘You’ve got to get the ball out. Sometimes you gotta throw the ball away, get the ball out of your hands. It’s a hot potato.’

“At the same time,” Sanders continued, “I tell the offensive line, ‘that’s [bleep] that he has to deal with that. You’ve got to take pride in what you do. You have to go out and take responsibility.’”

Polumbus also tried to pin some blame on receivers not being able to get open, particularly for quick three-step routes.

But Sanders shot down that theory, arguing that teams are playing zone coverage, so it hasn’t primarily been about receivers not getting separation and being open.

“Guys are getting open. They’re not even playing us man,” he said. “So to say ‘Guys aren’t getting open,’ you can’t break it down like that. It wasn’t man, it was zone. That’s all about knowing the direction to go with the football.”

At the end of the day, though, No. 10 acknowledged that it’s an entire offense problem.

“We just gotta get better as an offense - Trevor, myself, Demaryius, the offensive line. Everybody has to get better and that’s just what it is because it’s showing. It’s showing,” he said. “The last three weeks offensively we’ve been slacking since the Cowboys game. Trying to pick it up and get back on the same page this Monday.”