Broncos at Titans: The No Bull Review

Listening to the post-game media conference, I honestly got the most infuriated at someone in the Denver Broncos organization that I’ve felt in years. It came to me when I heard Nathaniel Hackett say these words when asked how he continues to preach the same message to this group after so many losses in one-score games:

For me, it’s about accountability. It’s about holding myself accountable first, the coaches accountable and the players accountable…

This isn’t the first, second, or third time I’ve heard words like this out of coach can’t-Hackett’s mouth. Since he says it so much, I have to believe he means it at some level.

So coach Hackett, here’s my only question: Since you believe so deeply in true accountability, which day this week are you turning in your resignation as head coach of this team?

Let’s get to the No Bull truth here, my guy. Unlike what you’d like to keep hinting toward (that the players aren’t executing), the problem is you and your snake-oil salesmen out-of-your-depth offensive coaching staff.

This offense is putrid. You had a bye week after the best offensive performance of the team’s season and your offense put up a measly 10 points.

Pound sand with the coach-speak.

Shut it with the nonsense about the players not executing.

I don’t want to hear the nonsense about what plays were out there to be made.

This offense continues to be a complete insult to the game of NFL football and that responsibility first and foremost falls on your shoulders.

If you and your coaches had even an inkling of true accountability, you would all resign and give back any unpaid portions of your coaching contracts.

So, Broncos Country. As much as I would love to dig into the offensive players, we’re going to continue to skip that nonsense until they wake the hell up and decide to play NFL football again. I get it, the offensive line was decimated…sure. But if you have coaches worth anything (like, I don’t know…maybe Mike Munchak?), your backups would be coached up enough to be at least serviceable.

Here’s your offensive review: The run game is pathetic. The passing game is pathetic. Congrats Jalen Virgil and Russell Wilson for the audible TD. What speed! It is too bad our clueless play caller couldn’t find a way to continue to utilize that talent for the rest of the game. Also, our offensive line is trash which leads to all the other problems this offense has. Now, on to the actual NFL-quality units on this team.

Defense

Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

It is criminal that Ejiro Everett’s defense is saddled with the clown fiesta that is the Hackett offense. They are absolutely stellar at every level. They lose players and the backups perform. They stop the run (against the league’s best back). They stop the pass (missing some really important players due to injuries that are plaguing this team).

And they still do it at an elite level. THAT’S what good coaching looks like.

Front 7

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

One of the more welcome sights for this defense is having Jacob Martin step in after the trade deadline move to bring him to Denver. He had a sack, a TFL, and a QB hit showing good pressure off the edge. That was on short notice with only a week or so of work to get into the playbook.

Overall, the really encouraging thing this season is seeing the consistent play-making ability of the front 7 on defense. We got pass knockdowns from both DeShawn Williams and D.J. Jones in this game. Josey Jewell was in good form leading the team in tackles. Also, I was impressed with Alex Singleton’s coverage ability in a couple of spots.

Secondary

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

I honestly can’t say enough good things about how well the depth cornerbacks Damarri Mathis and K’Waun Williams have played for the Broncos. Neither has been perfect by any stretch, but they are playing really sound ball across from the always excellent Patrick Surtain, II. That’s a big factor in this defense being as good as it is.

This secondary really missed having Justin Simmons on the field. Kareem Jackson got himself into trouble on a couple of plays. I love the guy, but you may be seeing the last season of K. Jack in a Bronco uniform.

Special Teams

This is going to sound really nit-picky, but I’d like to see more production out of our punting unit. Corliss Waitman’s stats really failed to wow and a lot of it had to do with poor placement. He’s got a hell of a leg but needs to get a little more nuanced about how to get excellent punts out of odd situations where we’re punting from the 40-50 yard line.

Final Thoughts

We’ve lambasted Nathaniel Hackett plenty this season, so let’s close by turning our focus just a bit to another name that deserves some scrutiny: Butch Barry.

Barry got a promotion this year to come to the Denver Broncos and take a solid offensive line under his wing to coach them up in order to have a reborn offense with Russell Wilson at the helm. Instead, he’s taken chicken salad and turned them into a runny, watered-down stew that is trickling through the creases on the floor of what the offense is built off of and making everything else slippery as hell. They open up nothing in the run game and they are not cutting the mustard at pass blocking either. I didn’t expect Barry to fill Munchak’s shoes this year, but I sure as hell didn’t expect to see him using one of them as a canoe to paddle himself up unemployment creek in such amazing fashion.

So yeah, this Sunday I’m hoping to see my Broncos flash a 4th time this season with something that approaches competent NFL play and somehow pulls out a win against the joke of a team Las Vegas Raiders. But I fully expect us to fail to get the job done because that is who this team is. They suck. They suck so bad that Josh McDaniels is likely going to win an actual football game against us in our house next week.