Broncos and Vance Joseph’s decision to bench Trevor Siemian is not bold

Remember when Vance Joseph said the move to Trevor Siemian was permanent?

Remember when the first-year head coach said, just last week, that despite visual evidence, the Denver Broncos offense, “Is not a Trevor problem?”

So much for all of that nonsensical coach speak.

We now have concrete proof to take anything and everything Joseph says with a grain of salt. But, hey, kudos for a “brave” move that should have happened three weeks ago.

This decision by Joseph and the Broncos is reactionary, as is often the case in situations like these. It screams, “We have no clue what we’re doing, but give us credit for doing something.”

This is akin to pouring a cup of water on a three-week-old blazing inferno, rather than pulling out the fire extinguisher from the get-go.

A leader of men would have known after the embarrassment at the hands of the then-winless New York Giants that his team was in deep trouble. He would have sensed the split in his locker room had started and that there was no future for Siemian. He should have known his team’s season was in peril. At that moment, Joseph should have named Brock Osweiler the starting quarterback in Denver.

But he didn’t.

Joseph should have made the move after the first shutout loss in 25 years to the Los Angeles Chargers, but didn’t.

Joseph should have benched Siemian at halftime of the Halloween Eve horror show against the Kansas City Chiefs, but didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even consider it.

Over the next few hours, there’s a good chance you’ll hear from the “hostile” Denver media how “bold of a move this was.” “He deserves a lot of credit for making a tough decision.” “He really is a leader of men for making this move. It’s not easy for a coach to do this.” This is the same group of people who called the now-benched Siemian “Peyton Manning’s heir” and said he had “an arm of the gods.”

Don’t let the public relations blitz fool you: This is a reactionary move by a head coach and franchise lost in the football wilderness without a compass to find their way back.

It never should have gotten this far to begin with.

Do you remember all of that talk about how Paxton Lynch wasn’t ready? Imagine how different things would look right now had the franchise gone all-in on the first-round pick last season or even this one. Had Lynch performed as Siemian has so far, at least the Broncos would know it was time to move on to a new quarterback. Had he shown promise and growth, at least he would have two seasons of development under his belt by now. But Denver didn’t. And where does that leave the Broncos? With no clue what they have in Lynch.

So on top of reactionary, Joseph and this franchise are shortsighted.

Before Osweiler was even named the starter, Joseph should have told his team, the media and anyone listening, that this move was for two games. Regardless of how Osweiler plays, Lynch is the starter for the Cincinnati Bengals game and all subsequent games. But now we’re left to wonder if the same mistake is being repeated once again, only with a different player.

Stop kicking the can.

Stop being reactionary.

Stop being shortsighted.

Stop being the Cleveland Browns.

Show some long-term vision.

This organization has wasted two seasons on a terrible quarterback. It’s wasted two seasons of this special defense. But, remember, “We want to win from now on.” A better mantra for these two seasons would be “Losing from now on because we have no idea what we’re doing.”

Remember what Joseph said when asked what Lynch needed to become a starter in the NFL? “Experience.”

It’s time for Joseph to put action behind those, as of now, hollow words. That would show true boldness.

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