Heading into this game I read all the headlines and honestly got completely bent. So I decided to watch the game as if it were a high school game I didn’t care much about and try my best not to be frustrated.

The first thing I learned is that without an NFL-trained QB taking the snaps, you might as well go watch high school football because that’s about what you can expect to see on the field of play.

The next thing I learned is that I’m a Broncos fan to the core and am not capable of watching them play without wanting them to look the part of a NFL team (I can handle losing, I just want them to be able to compete).

Needless to say, Broncos Country, you aren’t going to get my analysis on the game because by the end of it, I concluded that game was not worthy in any way of serious review. Anything about this game or this season for the Broncos should carry an asterisk next to it as it falls into the category of “completely outside the bounds of normal NFL football.”

But what I can do is share my thoughts on the situation and maybe at least we can all get something out of a good vent.

First off: The QBs are most at fault

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Don’t worry, there is more blame to go around, but the issue at hand starts with a group of adults at their professional jobs the better part of a year into a pandemic who should know better than to not wear their masks.

Anyone who’s response to this is that the QBs are all considered in each other’s “ecosystem” (like Laura Lock) needs to stop and apply actual thinking energy to what they are saying.

1. Yes, technically they are all part of the normal biological systems that each engage in.
2. That doesn’t matter because Covid-19 gives no shits about who you normally interact with...it is absolutely pleased to infect everyone in your personal ecosystem if it finds a way in.
3. Every adult with connected brain cells knows that if you go to work in today’s world, you mask up and keep social distance. It is not one or the other, it is both.

So Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, Jeff Driskel, and Blake Bortles - let’s be abundantly clear about this: You are all irresponsible idiots and should face consequences far sharper than hate on this article or anywhere else on the Internet for costing the team any chance of being able to win on Sunday against the Saints.

Next up: the Broncos leadership is absolutely in question

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For all the PR nonsense coming out of Dove Valley about how great the Broncos organization is at following appropriate protocol, we got to see front and center plain, clear, and damning evidence that the Broncos organization is NOT being successful at following protocol. Aside from the asshat coach from the Ravens, this poor choice by the whole QB room of the Broncos is front and center of the public’s eye on the NFL NOT being successful at handling their business.

Who does the buck stop with? The QBs? The QB Coach? Pat Shurmur? Vic Fangio? John Elway?

I’m curious about this, as for the most part, what we are seeing is everyone make excuses for the QBs making a mistake. It is the same kind of nonsense we’ve been hearing for five years about why the team has not been successful in any way, shape, or form since Super Bowl 50.

My conclusion: Yes...all of them. Every one of them all over the organization. There is no accountability to be found, only excuses.

Yes, the NFL handled this as poorly as it possibly could

I think the blame starts with the QBs, then goes on the coaching and GM, but at the end of the day it isn’t inaccurate to say the NFL was absolutely wrong in making the Broncos play the Saints sans QB.

The problem here is one of consistency. If the Broncos were a playoff team, or had a marquee QB you and I both know the NFL absolutely would have moved the game. Them not moving the game was punitive and inconsistent with everything they’ve done to date. They have moved MANY games to accommodate the covid safety concerns of multiple teams. Why is this team different? Why were we made to play a game without a competent player at THE most important position on the team?

It was a total jerk move by the NFL, and the Broncos team should be awarded an additional first-round pick to make up for how wrong it was for the NFL to make them play this game.

Positives from the game

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First and foremost, thank you so much Kendall Hinton for playing QB for us in this game. It was a shit show of a situation and I’m proud to have watched you play. I’m happy for what this did for your wallet, and I along with all of Broncos Country give you a big Mile High Salute for stepping up and busting your tail to try to win.

I also will say that I now appreciate all of the backup-quality QBs we have on our roster far more than I did prior to this game. Doing what the NFL needs a QB to be able to do is no easy task, and Hinton (who has experience playing QB in college at least) showed that it is really frigging tough at this level.

I have been very pleased with the effort of our defense. We have a lot of talent on that side of the ball and because I respect what they are doing, I’m not going to try to convey my normal opinions on this game. They played without an offense...truly. They had to be on the field and deal with turnovers far more than they should have.

Final thoughts

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I can’t help but think that if Pat Bowlen were still with us and of sound mind, either Vic Fangio or John Elway or both would be unemployed today after this bullshittery.

I’ve been a fan for decades and have trumpeted “The Bronco Way” at least as much as any Bronco fan there is or has been. I’ve been a prime voice in the past decade making excuses for John Elway and Joe Ellis and how they’ve handled this team. I’m as of today done with that.

This team needs to be done with the trust situation it has for ownership because until it does, we are stuck with John Elway and his ineptitude at running this team as its General Manager to make steps that will help them become successful once again.

And let me be clear: John Elway is a failure as a GM. Hindsight tells us that he rode the coattails of signing Peyton Manning to the success he had early in his career as GM for the Broncos. I love what he means to this franchise, but the GM experiment needs to end for Elway. This team is a punchline and without a more effective, skillful hand at GM, they will continue to be so for the long term.