KJ Hamler: “We have to execute better as an offense.”

If you read the title and thought, “Well, THAT’S obvious,” you’re not alone.

The glittering promise of a franchise quarterback falls flat on its face during nights like Thursday, when an offense consistently underperformed so much that one of the most loyal fanbases in the NFL walked out of the stadium before overtime even started.

To make this particular night even worse, the same franchise quarterback couldn’t execute a TD on fourth-and-1 because he neglected to identify the open receiver. WR KJ Hamler was ready for that pass, but it was targeted for WR Courtland Sutton instead.

Defense tried to carry the team; but no matter how many times you give the ball back to your offense, you can’t force them to churn out results.

I don’t think it’s fair to pretend Broncos Country is overreacting. At the end of the day, whoever walked out of that stadium wasn’t intending to walk out; they were intending support the Broncos. They purchased tickets (or even annual passes) to say, “Hey, this is my team and I’m going to cheer them on tonight.”

No sports team is entitled to blind approval of every move they make. We’re still going to bleed orange and blue. We’re not going to stop watching these games or rooting for them to get their crap together. We’re still holding the proverbial umbrella over them (and each other) in this ugly rain. And you know what? We’re allowed to be upset.

Denver’s had a borderline-atrocious beginning to the season: losing to the Seahawks, beating the Texans in a victory so sloppy it seemed accidental, providing a ray of light with that win over the 49ers, and now last night’s game.

Despite these factors, WR KJ Hamler — who referred to their fiasco as “self-inflicted wounds” — insists they have to keep moving forward.

“You have to [move on], you’re forced to. This is the NFL,” Hamler said, “I know we are all professionals, but you know, that’s how games are going to be sometimes...So, you know, we just have to execute better as an offense.”

Hamler continued, giving props to the defense for fighting their [butts] off, and acknowledging that the offense needs to deliver the same courtesy. “So, we just have to back them up, but overall, I think it was a great play call...but there’s always things we can do differently.”

WR Courtland Sutton also acknowledged the disappointment, pointing out that the team has a long weekend and it’s up to them to use it to figure out their stuff.

“We can be upset about the loss and whatever else we want to be upset about, but then we have to wake up and figure out ways to get ourselves individually ready so that we can go out and help the team be successful,” Sutton shared, “Then we have to go in next week and have the best week of prep that we’ve had, whether that’s in the meeting rooms or on the practice field. “

Sutton confessed that he knows he’s spitting out the same information over and over. “I feel like I sound like a broken record, but we have to be even more locked in and be even more keyed into the details and just ready for anything.”