Broncos Power Rankings Around the Web: Week 9

Let’s recap. A bad loss to the previously winless Giants. A shutout suffered against the division rival Chargers. And now a sound defeat by the Chiefs amidst a complete collapse by Trevor Siemian. It isn’t going to be pretty, folks. But at this point maybe pretty isn’t what the franchise needs anyway.

It’s getting uglier in the Broncos’ Week 9 power rankings around the web. Two main points dominate: When will Trevor Siemian be benched? And is the Broncos’ season slipping away? If you’re not in the mood to see more negative reports on the Broncos’ erstwhile starting QB, you might want to skip this one.

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Mile High Report:

23. Denver Broncos

Last Week: 21 (-2)

The defense absolutely balled out last night, people. Add Kareem Hunt to the pile of running backs who tried and failed to conquer Ground Control. They did more than enough to win the game, as did the offensive line and running backs.

Unfortunately, it only takes a little poop in the brownie to ruin it, and the man under center Monday night dropped a lot of poop in the brownie. Look, this defense dragged a badly declining Peyton Manning to a Super Bowl victory, or at least that’s the narrative. Maybe Manning had a (slightly) bigger chunk of that triumph than we thought, because this defense can’t drag the Trevor Siemian show anywhere.

Dumpster Fire of the Week Award again, Broncos Country. This time it’s not for the loss itself, but for the absurd decision to not bench Trevor Siemian when he so glaringly needed to be pulled. Same goes for the two spot drop. 95% of the team deserved to win. But their quarterback utterly failed them, as did their coach.

SB Nation:

Hope Ranking: 24 (Last week 22)

Denver Broncos

Per usual: Note that these are “hope” rankings based on the outcome of the most recent game, not power rankings and certainly not standings.

Bleacher Report:

16. Denver Broncos

Last Week's Ranking: 12

At some point, you are what you are as an NFL team. The Denver Broncos are the team that somehow finds a way to turn the ball over every week. The Denver defense is special, but the offense and special teams manage to screw things up over and over.

Quarterback Trevor Siemian should be worried. His job will officially be evaluated this week. Denver has the defensive talent and enough offensive weapons to make a deep playoff run, but Siemian seems to be holding the team back.

If the Broncos don't figure out how to fix their problems quickly, their season is going to slip away.

ESPN:

17. Denver Broncos

2017 record: 3-4

Week 8 ranking: No. 17

The Broncos' defense is feared, but no one fears their offense right now. Trevor Siemian has thrown three touchdowns and eight interceptions over the past five weeks, with Denver going 1-4 in those games. The only thing scarier than his poor performance? His backup is currently Brock Osweiler.

Yahoo Sports:

20. Denver Broncos (3-4, LW: 17)

Take note of this quote from cornerback Chris Harris, via Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post: “It’s hard to win when you don’t score points.” It has to be frustrating for this world-class defense to see a season slipping away. The Broncos’ next step is probably benching quarterback Trevor Siemian, but I’m not sure that fixes everything.

USA Today:

19. Denver Broncos (3-4)

With six interceptions in Denver's current three-game losing streak, how much more rope does QB Trevor Siemian have before he gets yanked?

Answer: Not much. (We desperately hope.)

NFL.com:

21. 3-4 BRONCOS

No team looked as different from September to October. All the (negative) attention centers around Trevor Siemian, who looks nothing like the quarterback he was the first two games of the season. His three interceptions hurt on Monday night. But he didn't lose a fumble (like two of his teammates). Nor is he playing right tackle. Nor did he drop a sure touchdown pass. The defense is the only part of Vance Joseph's outfit that is playing above board. I'm all for do-it-yourselfers, but Von Miller and friends can't do it by themselves. That group looked outstanding most of the night, minus a few offside penalties. Not as outstanding: watching Jamaal Charles fumble early, giving the Chiefs the first points of the game on a scoop-and-score. Not after the fantastic career he built in Kansas City. Classy, great player.

Chris Simms is always pretty reasonable with his takes on the Broncos, but I think he’s going a bit far to excuse away Siemian’s performance here. And he didn’t give credit where it’s due to the offensive line & running backs on a very nice night of rushing.

Sports Illustrated/MMQB:

17. Denver Broncos (3-4)

Last Week’s Rank: 18

Points in MMQB Power Poll: 253

Highest-Place Vote: 15th (3)

Lowest-Place Vote: 26th

Last Week’s Result: Loss at Kansas City, 29-19

Week 9 Opponent: at Philadelphia

Did these people actually watch the game? Or at least the offense? There’s no way you move this team up even one spot after that pathetic offensive performance.

Washington Post:

25. Denver Broncos (3-4) | Last Week’s Rank: 20

Trevor Siemian is not the answer at QB and the season is slipping away from the Broncos.

Nothing new or notable on the Broncos in this one, compared to the previous rankers on the list. So I’ll take a moment to call the Washington Post & writer Mark Maske out for being full of crap: You don’t drop the Texans from 12th to 16th because their owner’s a racist jerk. Not when they just put up a game like that Seattle shootout. They need to remember they’re evaluating the team on the field, not the jerk in the executive box.

CBS Sports:

20. Broncos

Is it time to make a change at quarterback? They just aren't good enough on offense with Trevor Siemian right now.

Yep. Pretty much.

FiveThirtyEight:

#17 Denver Broncos

Not much impact here from this game, except that FiveThirtyEight now sees the Chiefs as a virtual lock to win the division. If they do, it’ll be the first time they’ve ever won the division back to back.

NumberFire:

#9 Denver Broncos

I’ve officially given up trying to understand what the heck NumberFire is doing. The Broncos are maintaining as a top 10 team according to their nERD metric, and actually jumped 0.58 points after the loss to the Chiefs. And the Patriots fell out of their top 10? And it thinks the Jaguars are still the best team in the NFL? Metrics this severely divorced from reality aren’t worth serious consideration.

DenverBroncos.com:

Pending

Unfortunately, Mason’s power rankings from the Broncos’ home website aren’t up yet for this week. I’ll add them as soon as I see them.

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I’m honestly pretty amazed that the Broncos are standing pat in as many of these rankings as they are. The defense is likely arresting the team’s fall- what else is new?

Trevor Siemian had a great week 2 game against an already bad Cowboys secondary that then spent a significant chunk of its game without all of its top three corners. Frankly, his 4 touchdown day that day isn’t something by which we can set expectations for future performance. His 5 touchdowns and 9 interceptions across six other games? Yeah, that’s the true indicator.

Things already don’t look good for the Broncos in next week’s power rankings roundup, if only because John Elway and Vance Joseph refused to make the decision to publicly bench Siemian. The other QBs might not be any better, but they at least deserve to get a shot at it since Trevor’s at the point where he habitually craps the bed anyway.