Instant reactions: Broncos bungle season in loss to Bengals

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Not too long ago, the Denver Broncos were the crème de la crème of the National Football League after earning their third Lombardi Trophy by defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Twenty-one months later, they have become one of the game’s bottom-dwelling franchises. Isn’t it funny how things can change so quickly?

The Cincinnati Bengals hadn’t beat the Denver Broncos in their last ten trips (spanning four decades) to the Mile High City, but bucked that trend with a 20-17 victory on the road. Denver dominated almost every statistical category imaginable, but somehow, someway, still managed to lose the game. It’s pretty easy to see why folks — the turnovers are a reoccurring nightmare every Sunday and the continuous gift that keeps on giving for their opponents.

The team had two more turnovers today, courtesy of a Brock Osweiler interception and C.J. Anderson fumble. It’s hard to win on Sunday when you keep making mistakes and consistently shoot yourselves in the foot, but this year’s Denver Broncos just can’t seem to help themselves in that regard. On the season, the Broncos now have more turnovers than they do touchdowns. That will never be a recipe for victory, but inquiring minds want to know, “How good of a practice did the team have this week, Coach Joseph?”

Certainly not good enough to win.

With today’s loss, Denver is now 3-7 on the season and close to be eliminated from the playoffs. It isn’t for certain yet, but no team that has started out the season 3-7 has ever made the playoffs. But look on the bright side — this loss puts them in the top five selections for the 2018 NFL Draft and in a prime position to land an impact player (preferably on offense, perhaps a quarterback) who can help turn the franchise around. Well, that is if John Elway and his tag-team partners Tom Heckert and Matt Russell can find a way to actually pick a quality offensive player. So far in their draft history together, they haven’t chalked up many good choices on that side of the ball.

Have you embraced the tank? If not, you probably should. Barring divine intervention from the football gods, this season is over for our beloved Broncos. It may not be easy to admit, but at this point in time tanking for higher draft selections provides more satisfaction and peace of mind than hoping they will finally walk the talk in regard to getting their train wreck of a team back on the rails.

April can’t get here soon enough, but let’s all pray that the team doesn’t find a way to bungle up those prime draft picks like they have this season.