Broncos decision to stick with Vance Joseph lacks accountability

Give it to John Elway and the Denver Broncos: they’re good at sticking with bad decisions.

The move to give Vance Joseph another year as head coach has a feel of Trevor Siemian Part Two. The organization and fans know how this story ends, but because failure is made by nice guys, they get a second chance anyway. Elway and the Broncos are, again, victims of a cult of personality. There’s no evidence to suggest Joseph will improve, but there is plentiful evidence Denver is afraid to make bold moves.

For what? Continuity? Right, the same players who quit when they faced a little adversity on the field in 2017 will suddenly fight a little harder because their buddy is back.

Because you don’t quit on a quarterback after one season, so why do it with a coach? We saw how well that played out with Siemian. At this point, Elway and the Broncos are fighting the inevitable. You have to at least see something, anything, to lend that kind of trust to someone who failed in such epic fashion. Instead, what this shows is the expectation to win and compete for Super Bowls has been replaced with hope.

Let’s “hope” this works, because the pool of head coaches isn’t that great and Denver isn’t exactly in a state to compete for top-tier candidates. That way of thinking says a lot about the state of the franchise and how far it’s fallen. This is a franchise that just won a Super Bowl two seasons ago and has more Super Bowl appearances than losing seasons, yet now it can’t attract a top candidate? If that’s the case, why would a quarterback like Kirk Cousins come here?

Fans always look for the positive in what their favorite team decides. Hope always springs eternal, especially in Broncos Country. You may want to find the positive in this, but the evidence shows there’s little to be had. The Joseph we saw at training camp is the same Joseph we saw in Week 17. He still seemingly struggles with basic decisions, such as who is or isn’t active, where players line up, in-game adjustments, clock management, putting the team in the best possible situations to have success, development of young players and on and on and on. New assistant coaches will fix that?

The last 24 hours have shown how inept the Broncos are right now. That comes from a lack of leadership at the top. You have to wonder if those leaders are on the same page when there is so much indecisiveness. First Joseph is out, then it’s 50/50 and then it swings the other direction. Now you have a lame duck coach who couldn’t handle the pressure of Denver in his first year, but “hopefully” will with even more heat on his butt?

As a Broncos fan, the expectation is always to compete for Super Bowls, just as owner Pat Bowlen would want and expected. We saw that when John Fox was fired after a winning season. At that point, there was accountability. Where is it now after a 5-11 season and what many view as the worst in a generation? You blame the quarterbacks and the assistant coaches, yet with a competent head coach, this same roster went 9-7.

Where is the accountability?

Where is the expectation to succeed?

Where is the kicking and screaming?

Where is the “winning from now on?”

Since the Super Bowl 50 win, the Broncos are lost in the woods without a clue what direction they’re headed and with a coach who has no compass. Elway has now staked his job to an incompetent coach who lost the fanbase. When Joseph fails in 2018, that’s also on Elway and he needs to be held accountable since he put the franchise in this mess.

At least Elway and the organization are good at one thing, even if it’s sticking with bad decisions.