The Denver Broncos are a signature franchise in the NFL. Years of success do that for a team. It is the reason they have been on Monday Night Football for 18 straight seasons. It is part of the reason Peyton Manning picked Denver. It is the reason the last few weeks of football have been so disheartening.
The #Broncos looked like a team that needs to hit the reset button against the #Jets. On the @MileHighReport Radio Podcast, @AdamMalnati16 and I can’t believe how far the team has fallen, and that all starts at the top. #BroncosCountry https://t.co/0LriLoq14b
— Ian St. Clair (@IanStClair) October 8, 2018
The Broncos came out against the New York Jets and looked like they were going to carry the day. The defense generated a turnover, the offense scored a touchdown, and the world had somehow corrected itself. But that all changed rather quickly. As Ian St. Clair and I discussed on the MHR Radio Podcast, the one big takeaway from this loss is the simple fact that the Denver Broncos are not a good football team.
Top to bottom, front office, coaches, offense, defense, special teams. Nothing about this team is worth watching. Maybe that seems harsh. It is harsh. The truth is, I was going to become Polly Ana for this week. I picked Denver to win. I was going to inundate Twitter with positive tweets. Then the game started.
Sure, calling the team bad is a bit of a copout. I know that the intricacies of the NFL mean that several things have to go right for a play to work, and only one thing has to go wrong for it all to fall apart. Still, the collapse of the Broncos since Manning’s departure have moved this franchise all the way back to the Josh McDaniels era.
Is there a worse QB/coach combo in the NFL than Case Keenum/Vance Joseph?
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) October 7, 2018
In the last two weeks I called out Case Keenum, then the coaches. Now, it has to be about the franchise. The Broncos went into MetLife stadium in New Jersey and looked outmatched by a Jets team that is far less talented, and played a disinterested, embarrassing game.
The hardest part of all of this, for a lifelong Broncos fan, is looking at where the blame lies. There is really only one place to go, and that is John Elway. This particular iteration of the Broncos is missing key components.
Remember when John Elway “slept on it” before deciding to retain Vance Joseph? That must’ve been a damn good night of sleep.
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) October 7, 2018
Left tackle is bad. The offensive line is bad in pass protection. The secondary is awful. The coordinators don’t really seem to know what they are doing. Most of all, the franchise quarterback has regressed and the head coach is no leader of men. These have been Elway’s big moves since 2015, and they have failed.
As I said in the podcast, sometimes it is just time to throw everything out and start all over. After the embarrassment of the Week 5 loss to the Jets, it may be time for the Denver Broncos to blow it up and start all over. And that may extend all the way to Elway.