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2 winners, 5 losers from the Broncos 34-13 drubbing to the Chargers

The Broncos were officially eliminated from the playoffs and now have six-straight seasons not playing in the playoffs and five-straight losing records.

And that’s a wrap.

After the 34-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, the 2021 Denver Broncos are officially eliminated from the playoffs. This now marks six-straight seasons not playing in the playoffs. And at 7-9, Denver will have five seasons in a row with a losing record.

This now opens the speculation on what could be one of the most interesting offseasons in Broncos’ history. But before that, Denver will close out the season against the Kansas City Chiefs, who just lost to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Per usual, I’m bound to forget someone, leave them off or put them in the wrong category, so please mention them in the comments.

Winners

Brandon McManus

Aside from a garbage-time touchdown, the Broncos kicker was the offense. Plus, he made a 61-yard field yard at the end of the first half.

Noah Fant

The Broncos tight end finished with a game-high six catches for 92 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown. Hopefully this is the precursor for Fant?

Losers

Joe Ellis

He’s overseen one of the worst stretches in the history of the Broncos. Here’s hoping there’s a sale to finally get rid of Ellis.

Vic Fangio

Great defensive mind, horrible head coach. His decision to keep Pat Shumur and Tom McMahon is just baffling. Plus, in Sunday’s game, we once again got the customary stupid challenge. “Death by inches” indeed.

Pat Shumur

At least there’s only one game left in this debacle.

Tom McMahon

How the “teams” coordinator was kept on the staff after Vance Joseph was fired is something I will never understand. As Andrew Mason pointed out, the 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the fifth TD on a kickoff or punt return given up by the Broncos in the Fangio era (2019-present). That is the most in the NFL in that span.

The Broncos

To put a cap on the 2021 season, Denver is now the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl and miss the playoffs the next six seasons.