Five things we learned from Broncos blowout loss to Redskins

After two fluke wins, the real Denver Broncos stood up.

Did they ever on Sunday against the Washington Redskins in a 27-11 loss. It was the eighth double-digit loss of the season. Chew on that, even though it doesn’t taste that great. It wasn’t all bad, as I tried to find the positives after the game.

Here are the five things we learned from the latest Denver (5-10) debacle.

Vance Joseph needs to get fired

We learned so much from those two wins over the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, right? Not only did the real Broncos stand up on Sunday, so did the real Joseph.

Once again, anytime the camera panned to him on the sideline, he had the look of a deer-in-the-headlights who had no idea what the hell was going on. That ties in with all of his other decisions (who is active and isn’t, where players line up, who plays when they are active, in-game adjustments/decisions, clock management, putting the team in the best possible situations to have success and on and on and on).

The results speak for themselves.

It bears repeating: For the eighth time this season, Denver had a double-digit loss this season. It gets even better. The Broncos have lost four games this season by 20 points or more. The Cleveland Browns have one.

That all ties back to the fact Joseph is wholly out of his element and has no idea what he’s doing. That will not change with another season of experience because he’s doing the same crap now that he was doing in August. Joseph hasn’t adapted or evolved. It’s time for John Elway and his minions to admit their mistake and move on.

Don’t let those two meaningless wins against putrid teams mask reality. The Broncos are a bad team that is coached by a man who led them here. What we saw on Sunday is what Denver and Joseph truly is.

But, hey, the Broncos have had great practices for those eight games.

Kirk Cousins would look great in orange

So that’s what competent quarterback play looks like. And when you consider Cousins did that against the Broncos’ No. 2 pass defense in the NFL, with a makeshift offensive line and receivers, it makes makes you yearn for that even more. Yet Cousins still put up 299 yards on 19-for-37 passing with three touchdowns and one interception.

If Elway decides to go after Cousins this offseason, he saw more than enough to tell him he will win games in Denver. At the same point, it won’t matter who the Broncos quarterback is as long as Joseph is the head coach. The issues noted above won’t get fixed with a better quarterback.

Still, it will be fun to watch competent quarterback play when it comes to the Broncos again, if Elway decides to go that route.

Where was De’Angelo Henderson?

Someone should put a flier out on the Broncos rookie running back. While you’re at it, put one out for Jamaal Charles. Henderson had one carry on Sunday and Charles was inactive. Charles has been wasted by this organization all season, and as I’ve said for months, should have been released by now. But Henderson follows a similar pattern of Joseph not seeing or even wanting to see what he has in young players (unless he’s forced by injury).

What does it hurt to see what Henderson can do? I get that he was the training camp and preseason stud. He might not carry it over, but the games don’t matter anyway. See what you have and give Henderson the chance. Alas, Joseph is coaching for his job and thinks if he wins, his job is safe. Thus the future of the franchise is put on hold for the shortsighted approach.

Denver has the No. 6 pick

Tank re-engaged?

Thanks to Sunday’s performance, the Broncos jumped three spots in the NFL Draft, from No. 9 to six. So, again, it wasn’t all that bad. Now they just need to follow it up against the Kansas City Chiefs. Even if the AFC West rivals rest their starters, Andy Reid will out-coach the incompetent Joseph. Here’s hoping Denver has another great week of practice.

“The Broncos are awful”

For a dose of needed humor, that comes from my mother-in-law, who is a football novice (to say the least). She just learned what third-and-eight means, yet even she can tell this team is putrid.

“What’s wrong with the Broncos?” she asked me on Sunday.