NFL: The Broncos in Crisis: Not Another Year of Transition

The defeat against Los Angeles Rams was the fourth consecutive defeat for Denver Broncos. The Run-Defense is a disaster, Case Keenum doesn’t seem to be the hoped-for solution on the quarterback position. General Manager John Elway is under pressure, the chair of Head Coach Vance Joseph wobbles. In the Thursday Night Game against the Arizona Cardinals (Fr., live on DAZN from 2.20am) the Broncos are doomed to victory.

Exactly 13 minutes and 21 seconds were played in the match between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams, when it collectively fetched the fans from their seats in Mile High Stadium. Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders had beaten Rams cornerback Troy Hill on a go-route and controlled Case Keenum’s 44-yard pass on the edge of the final zone.

A touchdown? It’s a possibility. In any case, it was a Big Play – First and Goal from the 1-yard line included! I guess Sanders thought so too. He built himself up in front of Hill and waved his index finger in front of his opponent’s nose. Performance of the referees: The hard but justifiable decision: Unsportsmanlike behaviour. 15 yards fine. Instead of First and Goal from the 1-yard line, it was First and Ten from the 15-yard line. Denver had to settle for a field goal.

“I think we could have brought the ball in easily [into the end zone] and got four more points,” Sanders said bitterly after the match. “I think this defeat is on me.” It’s commendable that Sanders didn’t try to talk down his own mistake after the game. And yet: it was ultimately just one of many avoidable mistakes. The Broncos seem to be getting in each other’s way again and again.

Just one look at the next drive is enough to confirm this picture: Already clearly in the field goal range, Denver underwent two holding penalties at once. The result: one punt. Three more points, which the team left behind without a hitch. “We must finally succeed in not always beating ourselves,” Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. rightly complained. “We just have to give ourselves a chance at victory. We beat ourselves every week. It’s hard to win like this.”

In fact, the team’s performance against the undefeated Rams was not as bad as a fourth consecutive defeat might suggest. Denver was the first team this season to score less than 30 Los Angeles points. As the first team this season, the Broncos stopped Jared Goff at only 201 passing yards. And the first team this season was five sacks against the Rams.

And yet Head Coach Vance Joseph’s team finally lost their deserved reward. Offensively, Denver individual dropouts cost important points. Defensively the Rushing-Defense was a total loss. Again.

As the first team in the history of the NFL, the Broncos allowed 200 Rushing Yards from an opposing player for two weeks in a row. Isaiah Crowell ran in week 5 for 219 yards, Todd Gurley missed this mark with 208 yards only by a hair’s breadth. These are values that would be unacceptable to any NFL franchise. But this is all the more the case with a team that has a strong defensive line with calibers like Von Miller, Derek Wolfe or Bradley Chubb.

No team allows more Rushing Yards per game (161.3) after six games. In addition, no team has a worse score at Rushing Yards per attempt (5.6). Especially Miller, who is regarded as one of the best Pass-Rusher and Run-Defender of the league, doesn’t miss out on these values. “I was not good against the run in the last weeks and as a Rusher”, Miller showed himself self-critical even before the Rams game.

The former Super Bowl MVP is indispensable for the Broncos. If he plays well, Denver often plays well. If he catches a bad day, it’s usually the same for his team. Miller recorded four sacks in the first two games of the season. Both games won Denver. In the following three matches Miller didn’t come to the quarterback once. All three games ended in defeats.

Hardly any other player saw himself exposed to more double teams and chips last season than Miller. This is another reason why the Broncos chose Bradley Chubb, another potential Star Pass Rusher, to take fifth place in the draft. Chubb and Miller were to become the renaissance of the two-headed Pass-Rush monster that led Denver to the title three years ago. At that time, Miller and DeMarcus Ware had nightmares about opposing quarterbacks.

Joseph had announced before the matchup with the Rams that they would allow Miller and Chubb more pass rushes together. Even if it did not result in a victory, this plan at least worked out: Miller finished his dry spell of three games without a sack, he and Chubb together scored four sacks. A ray of hope.

A defeat against the Rams, a close one at that, is of course not a catastrophe for Denver. The games that should have been won can be found in the weeks before. And yet the comparison with the franchise from Los Angeles might be an unpleasant one for the Broncos.

As uneven as the two teams may be today, they have had as many parallels over the last few years. Both Denver and Los Angeles were looking for their quarterback of the future in draft 2016. And they both thought they found him then. The Broncos were Paxton Lynch, the Rams Jared Goff. In addition, both franchises carried out a coaching change in spring 2017. The Rams could convince offensive genius Sean McVay of themselves, the Broncos decided for the defensively oriented Vance Joseph. Furthermore Broncos-GM John Elway let the highly respected Wade Philipps and Aqib Talib go this summer. Both found their new home at the Rams.

In 2018 the teams hardly resemble each other anymore. While the Rams finished their 13-year playoff abstinence last season and are currently the best team in the NFL, the Broncos are threatening to miss the postseason for the third time in three years.

The Broncos fans, who have been spoiled with success for almost 40 years, clearly showed their frustration last Sunday. More than 9,000 seats in the stadium remained empty. When the Rams increased their lead to 20:3, this number should have increased significantly. Perhaps the most acclaimed scene that evening was not a Broncos touchdown or sack, but the moment when backup quarterback Chad Kelly ran onto the field for a snap just before the break as Starter Case Keenum had to be examined for a possible concussion.

Keenum has not yet played half a season in the Broncos jersey and seems to have lost the confidence of the fans again. In just six games, the 30-year-old already threw more interceptions than in the entire previous season (eight). Keenum currently seems closer to his Texans and Rams years than to his strong performances for the Vikings. “This isn’t the first time that the fans are dissatisfied with what’s happening on the field I’m playing on,” Keenum (still) says cool. “You should be mad, I’m mad too. We have to play better. We can say that every week, but we have to do it sometime.”

As Keenum’s game grows, so does the pressure on Elway. The 58-year-old is a living legend in Mile High City. Twice he brought the Super Bowl as quarterback to Denver, once he succeeded as manager. And yet he is not untouchable. Already three players should become quarterback of the future after the career end of Peyton Manning Denver. Two failed and the third is about to do the same.

Just last week, Elway was spotted on the sidelines of the Oregon Ducks game. The fact that Justin Herbert is probably the biggest college quarterback talent for the Ducks at the moment is no coincidence. One thing is clear: Elway won’t get countless chances to find the right quarterback for the Broncos.

Even (clearly) hotter than Elway’s chair is head coach Vance Joseph’s chair. He recently announced that he wanted to take on more responsibility himself, including defensive play calling. The 46 year old’s conversions have so far, however, only begun to bear fruit at best. With only seven victories from 22 games to date, Joseph needs a sense of achievement as quickly as possible. Another season with a high draft pick will not survive his coaching career (at least in Denver).

However, there is still no time for quick conclusions. With the Arizona Cardinals, the Broncos in Thursday Night Game have a beatable opponent in front of their chest. For Joseph and Co. it is an absolute must-win game. With a 3-4 balance it would look at least a little rosier in the Mile High City despite brutal further program (@KC, HOU, @LAC, PIT, @CIN). “The last thing we should do is lose hope,” Pass-Rusher Shane Ray explained after the game against the Rams. “We still have plenty of time. But we’ve got to get something done.”