How do you cheer for a Denver Broncos team that just lost four in a row?

Happy Game Day, Broncos Country!

It’s hard to know how to be a fan right now.

After all, this Broncos team should be a lot better than it is.

It should not be struggling to get a touchdown in the red zone. It should not be so one-dimensional in its run-versus-pass plays when the offense has the league’s highest yards-per-carry average. It should not get burned by running backs having record-setting games.

But alas, this team is not better than that. And despite some obvious fixes, coaches continue to stay on the same destructive path.

So I get it. It’s hard to hope for meaningless wins if it’s going to result in a mediocre W-L record and therefore a mediocre draft selection.

But at the same time, who wants to cheer for our favorite players to lose or play badly? Not me.

But with our Broncos hauling a pathetic 2-4 record into Arizona, we are trying to figure out the proper cheering approach to this game:

Do we hope for sudden improvement by the QB and defense so a win against the Cardinals spurs them on a winning streak that could possibly, maybe inspire a playoff run but just as likely result in a barely winning record overall?

Do we hope for a total meltdown so John Elway will pour gasoline and light a match on the entire coaching operation?

Do we just start cheering for our favorite players to have a good game and then begin studying potential draft prospects for the spring?

Do we stay home and turn off the TV until this team is winning games?

No.

We do none of those.

Instead, we play Bingo! .... Because if there’s one way to enjoy a game no matter the performance or the outcome, it’s playing Bingo! - where good and bad results can mean a win!

So now when the Broncos get two holding penalties in a row to set up a 3rd-and-30 and Case Keenum gets sacked, do we get mad? No way! Because that means we just got two squares to check off on our Bingo card!

And when Demaryius Thomas scores a touchdown but David Johnson runs for 25 yards on the Cardinals’ first play of the next possession, do we turn off the TV and refuse to watch?

Absolutely not! Then we’d have no idea that we just got three squares with that trifecta. And how would we ever know who won Bingo if we stopped watching?!?

No. Tonight’s game is no time to be apathetic. There’s too much at stake. We have to check off that box if Bradley Chubb gets a sack and then Rosen throws a pick-six.

Of course, you are free to keep throwing things at the TV and shout obscenities because a ref missed a pass interference call that negates a first down or because the offense once again abandoned the run after just four plays.

Yep, those reactions are definitely working and making this season better for the Broncos.

Or...you can join me in cheering the good plays and hoping the last box to check off for a win is the team actually “kicking the Cardinals’ asses.”

Bingo!

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