The Broncos lost in painful fashion to open their 2020 season. The Titans drove the field, burned the time down to embers, and Stephen Gostkowski made his first field goal in 11 months to win the game. The worst part of the ordeal is how Vic Fangio held onto timeouts as Derrick Henry ran the ball and churned clock. Even he admitted it was a big mistake.
It was totally my fault there. I had too much thought into what I was going to call next on defense and I missed it.”
There’s been a few prevailing narratives hanging around Broncos’ Country since the 14-16 loss on Monday. Worst among them is this idea that Elway needs to sack his second year head coach a week into the season. It’s so dumb I gave plenty of thought to ignoring it altogether, but I hope to nip this idiocy in the bud before it grows legs.
- As it currently stands Drew Lock has six starts under his belt.
- Denver played all of Monday without their best offensive and defensive player.
- By the end of Monday, they were without Von Miller, Courtland Sutton, A.J. Bouye, and Phillip Lindsay.
- Without Bouye, two rookie corners played more than half of the defensive snaps. Both did so without a preseason game to acclimate.
- Without Sutton, the Broncos number one wide receiver was a rookie in his first NFL action.
- Tennessee was Patrick Mahomes away from a Super Bowl trip in 2019 and returned the core of their roster.
A pessimist could laugh at the list above as excuses. There’s plenty of teams around the league with injuries and rookies, right? The Tennessee Titans played a rookie corner and Jadeveon Clowney logged significant minutes for them a week after joining the roster. Neither held them back, but maybe that’s the point.
Ryan Tannehill is a veteran quarterback playing his ninth season in the league. Derrick Henry and every starter on the Titans’ line has played in an NFL game before Monday. Same with every Tennessee receiver who caught a pass. Arthur Smith will be Tannehill’s offensive coordinator for the second straight year.
The reality is the Broncos were going to suffer for the way Covid-19 wrecked havoc on the NFL offseason. Back in July John Elway said he was tempering his expectations because of it. Back when it happened most who bleed orange and blue seemed to support it.
The last thing a young roster needs is the kind of dysfunction that would ensue if the head coach was fired so early. Vic Fangio also calls the plays on defense. It would create a vacuum at the top. Let’s say Pat Shurmur steps into the void. Now he has to double dip as the offensive play caller and head coach without the benefit of preparing all offseason with his defensive staff. That’d be a big deal because firing Fangio would also mean Ed Donatell or another assistant would need to take over those duties.
I understand the frustration over Monday’s loss. Believe me I was throwing things as I watched the clock tick away too. That doesn’t mean it’s time to burn things to the ground. This 2020 season has always been about laying the foundation for the Broncos to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs for the long haul. Doing so requires patience.
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