As the Denver Broncos prepared to face the Minnesota Vikings on the Sunday morning of Week 11 an interesting narrative was presented by Jason LaCanfora on CBS Sports. Read it. I know you don’t want to, but you should. It will help you to understand what the Broncos are facing as they move forward.
Broncos Country has been locked in a quagmire of losing seasons, rotating QBs, and 3 different coaching staffs since winning Super Bowl 50. With the most recent head coaching change, reports have been presented that there is a rift in the locker room between Vic Fangio and his players, Fangio and his offensive coaches, and Fangio and anybody else that might not enjoy his gruff style.
I’m not here to lend credence to those reports, and I certainly can’t speak to what the tenor of the locker room is. The report does present an interesting question, does any of it matter?
As Denver prepares to play the Buffalo Bills it is clear that most fans are focused more on whether or not Drew Lock will be given a chance to play in Week 13, almost like the game in Buffalo is inconsequential.
Ian St. Clair and I tackled this topic on the MHR Radio Podcast (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify). Whether or not the reports of issues between players and coaches is legitimate doesn’t really matter. The response to this article should be a resounding, “WHO CARES!”
Sitting in last place, with a disappointing 3-7 record might have some people angry about the state of their team. Oddly, I don’t think that’s the case in Denver. It has to be due to the culture change that Fangio and his coaching staff are bringing. And if there is a player or two that don’t like it, who cares?
As Ian said, they had a coach that wanted to be their friend the last two seasons. That didn’t work out at all. Now they have a coach that doesn’t like music at practice. Get over it. Be professional, and stop whining.
We have reached a point in this season where the results on the field might not be as important as they were earlier in the year. Denver’s struggles have made the playoffs a fleeting goal. However, the needle is pointed up. The Bills game will be a good barometer for how the defense can bounce back from their second half collapse against the Vikings. Brandon Allen will continue to make his case for leading the offense the rest of the way.
Whether or not some players are happy with Vic Fangio is a pointless discussion. There is a clear change in culture happening in Denver, led by Fangio and the rest of his coaching staff. Any player that doesn’t like what Fangio and his staff are creating can certainly look for employment elsewhere. Although, I get the feeling a lot of the players are going to want to stick around.