The injuries on the defense and the offensive line are the reason for this loss. Drew was running for his life for most of the game. I commend him for doing a. Better job of staying in the pocket this game. The team played as well as could be expected given the adversity of the situation. Drew improved in the loss and got valuable game reps. Nice write up on juedy Zac. This team continues to get better despite the adversity. Still standing by my 5-5 prediction. After the chiefs loss. Have a great week gang..

Fellas Fellas Fellas

Well Hell…Lots of things we could say went wrong but it is what it is. I will leave the analysis to you fine gentlemen. I do have a question that I would like to hear from all three of you.

How do you contain your inner couch coach on game day?

Once again thanks for the awesome commentary and

Live, Laugh, and Breck Brew

At what point do we say Elway was a great QB but just isn’t a great offensive engineer? How can after years of trial and error THIS is the product. Our offensive rebuild of 5 years has been poorly managed, lacks any cohesive strategy, unfocused, and riddled with bad drafts and hires. It is the Star Wars sequel trilogy of rebuilds (for Mase). I know it’s hard to find your QB. But plenty of other teams have found a way to have a serviceable offense without elite QB play or even find their QB outside of the top 3 pick range. Not having a top 3 is not a logical excuse

It’s irrational to believe team leadership isn’t seeing what we see, the question in my mind should be so we have the right people to fix it? Which leads me my ultimate conclusion and hot take of the day:

Elway is not the GM for an offensive rebuild and needs to go. That won’t happen until after the ownership dispute is resolved. Therefor, the broncos will not have a top 15 offense until after new ownership is settled. This teams issues run so much deeper than having a bad OC

Thoughts?

Ryan, you said it correctly: incomplete pass, run for three yards, incomplete pass. Just horrible play calling. My question is: at press conferences after the game, why are journalists in the States soooo nice to coaches??? In Germany, (soccer) coaches are getting grilled after horrible performances like that. And they have to answer to MUCH more critical questions after the game. In America, it’s like sacking a quarterback: put a pillow behind ones head and then quietly put him to sleep!
And don’t get me wrong: I am not talking about insults or being disrespectful, I am just saying: the outrage guys like y’all express in your podcast does not get reflected in those put me to sleep press conferences. Why is that the case? Thanks for explaining that to me and keep up the great work.

hey guys;

this may be a first segment worthy question or something for the offseason, but how would y’all rank drew’s performances in each of his starts? i think we’d all agree that the chiefs game this year was his worst, but how about the rest?

What lasts longer: the amount of time it takes you guys to read this comment or a first half drive by the broncos?

I bet you have to think about that for a second which is pretty sad.

Shurmur has no idea what he is doing with this offense. Sure we can make excuses about the line or injuries at skill positions but isn’t the coordinators job to adapt and come up with something to help them get through it? Now we could make a change in the off-season and get a new coordinator but how often do you hear about a qb succeeding with his third new coordinator in his first three years in the league? So is it just a lose lose situation?

Well the broncos just punted again so I guess it took longer to read the comment.

In Lock’s starts last year, it felt like scangs scripted games very well. Where we would get up in the first half only to be somewhat stagnant in the second half scoring little points. Now it seems like we cant do anything with the scripted game until we go off script at the very end.

Is this typical of schurmur offenses?

I think another offensive coordinator will do more harm than good. Idk though maybe these are just the growing pains Elway alluded to at the beginning of the season and brighter days are coming.

Thoughts?

Hi gents … thanks for picking me up after having to endure that first half offence.

Could one of you guys explain to me why coming out in two TE sets with two WR isn’t our base set ? With Albert O and Fant … it will aid play action! It will allow us to run the ball and if we want 3 or even 4 receivers having made the pre snap read, one of Albert O or Fant could easily play WR3/4

I’m relatively new to football but surely this makes sense ?

Man *beep * me. I just started a new fantasy franchise in Madden and the opening draft was great. Some awesome pieces to build the franchise around. I got;

Von Miller
AJ Bouye
Bryce Calahan
Jurrell Casey
Mike Purcel
Shelby Harris
Courtland Sutton
Graham Glasgow
JaWan James
Demar Dotson
Elijah Wilkinson
Jake Butt

And some dude called Mark Barron.

Super pumped to have these guys as the foundation for my franchise.

Look.

I know it’s boring for everyone, feels like a cop out, and seems intellectually lazy to do so, but a very large amount of blame can be apportioned to injuries.

I think I’ve said it a thousand times on here – we all overvalue our own control and influence over things in life. The reality is that it is often the unexpected, the random, that has a disproportionate impact on us. Doesn’t mean you give up – you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket after all, and I’ve never seen an NFL team win a super bowl without trying. Hell, I want my players and coaches thinking and acting like they control everything as it’s pragmatic to do so. But for the fan, don’t lose perspective on just how improbable winning a super bowl is, and just how many things need to go right to be competitive.

Lady fortuna is a just *beep* sometimes.

Question: Of the 13 injured/ineligible players as at Sunday I listed before, you can bring back 7, and replay the first half of the season. As a bonus, Drew doesn’t get injured against the Steelers as fate doesn’t spite him.

Who do you bring back, and what’s the revised Broncos record?

Man, oh, man…
There was a play in the first quarter that had Melvin Gordon running the ball. I could swear, watching the broadcast, that there was a MASSIVE hole for him to run through, but only got about one yard. I watched it and immediately wondered why that wasn’t Phil.
Watching the two of them is like watching a sports car and a Mack truck trying to leave a gas station. The sports car (Phil) punches it right out into the street going from 0 to 60 in two seconds. Melvin is the Mack truck. Slowly navigating its way out of the parking lot trying to dodge the curb and not hit any cars, while barely getting past first gear.
Who knows, maybe Phil wouldn’t have done much better on that one play, but I am actually dying to see Melvin justify the contract he got.

Guys, I’m old enough to remember John Elways early years in the league playing in Dan Reeves “3 yards and a cloud of dust” run-first offence, and remember how John made a name for himself as captain comeback when in the 4th quarters of games he was unleashed to lead the team to wins. Then when Shanny took the helm we saw some of Elways best statistical years, and of course 2 rings! I can’t help making the comparison to what We’ve seen the last 2 weeks with Drew. I’m 100% with what RK was saying yesterday that Shurmur is holding Drew back. Elway needs to look back on his own history and convince his coaches that they need to “unlock the Lock” to succeed.

Hey guys! I’m sure people are going to be critical of Drew Lock’s first half performance, but if you dig into the numbers it was the running game that failed him. The Broncos ran on first down 4 times in their 4 possessions of the opening half and averaged just 0.8 yards per carry. This left Drew in 3rd and long throughout the half, with 3rd and 12 being the average yards to go. Last week against the Chargers BTW, Denver averaged just 1.3 YPC on first down runs in the opening half. No quarterback is going to be successful in those situations.

Gentlemen,
I consider myself an optimistic football watching fan. For the entirety of every 3 hour broadcast while the Broncos play I will cheer my backside off for this team and always believe there is a way to win. But the good lord tested my metal yesterday when Jake Rogers wondered onto the field.
This O-line is a massive massive problem today and long term.
I get why you guys had the “should the Broncos look a different QB” talk yesterday but for what? Give up a draft pick to get Sam that we need to spend on a tackle? Give up a pick and some cap room on stafford so he can get sacked and we can let some defensive pieces walk because we don’t have the money?
Bringing in another QB at a significant cost will just exacerbate the leaky boat syndrome.
Drew Lock can be a starter in this league and do great things but he’s not generational which means you gotta win up front. Put all resources into offensive line. If you do I guarantee you Phill has a 2,000 yard season.

Thank you guys for what you do. Go Broncos.

Hey Gentlemen,

Tough one yesterday… Your conversations about Shurmur on the post game pod got me thinking; if we were to change offensive coordinators next year, who would YOUR choice be? Who do you think the Broncos would go with? Try and only think of coordinators who would actually be possibly available. My dream has always been Kliff Kingsbury but there is no way we would get him.

Thanks for everything you do! Stay happy and healthy!

Drew Lock is thinking too much.

What Lock needs more than anything is a consistent environment. He needs a normal off-season. He needs time to get in sync with his receivers. He needs the same offensive coordinator and scheme for two years in a row. He needs reps, and experience so that he stops thinking and starts playing.

The biggest thing he lacks right now is the ability to throw with anticipation. He lacks that because he’s still learning a new scheme and getting on the same page with his receivers. He needs to be able to take his 5-step drop, know where Jeudy or Fant is going to be, and make a clean on-platform throw.

The only way he will get better is by running the same plays over and over in game-time situations with the same receivers. He’s shown signs of being able to get better, but we need to be patient and let him develop.

Offense line was horrible, Play calling was horrible as usual but of course gets better when things start to not matter anymore, and unfortunately We saw a big reason why Lindsay isn’t in on 3rd downs. He’s a better pure running back than Melvin Gordon, but all the nuances about the position he just can’t handle. Blocking and Catching. I’ll probably get a lot of hate for that but it’s obviously true. I’d still like to see him resigned but I’m not sure if that will happen.

Four Seasons Total Manscaping –

When you can’t afford the trimmings at the “other” four seasons

Love
The Count

The lack of first half success has been seriously frustrating and, while I’m still fairly optimistic about him, Drew hasn’t confirmed for us yet that he’s the future. That being said, I think we could use a bit of perspective on the amount of points this team has put up under lock. Since he took over, 4 of his starts have resulted in the broncos scoring at least 27 points. With the exception of Brett riepen against what may be one of the worst teams in nfl history, the last time the Broncos scored 27 points with another player under center was week 6 of 2018. And of all the times it’s happened in the last 3 seasons worth of games (7 times in 48 games) drew lock has been the qb for 4 of them. There is still a long way to go for this team to be truly competitive, but I’m starting to think they need to try at least one year of continuity. Considering how young they are, and how unsuccessful the constant changes have been in recent years, I personally would give Drew and Shurmer one more year to see if they can put it together. That being said, bringing in a backup plan is probably smart if things continue this way. Curious to hear your thoughts.

Kareem could have used some medieval armor out there. Actually, scratch that. Full, effing Roman armor, the giant shoulder guards and all. Might as well have had a battering shield. What a torpedo.

I’m encouraged a lot by Drew, actually. Perhaps he’s a too loose with the ball, but a lot of great quarterbacks have been that way. No, Lock is good. Shurmur isn’t right for him. No one else will do any good out there. I don’t want Ryan because he’s too old, I don’t want Stafford because he’s from a losing culture, I don’t want Winston because he’s got long term issues that are worse than Lock’s, and I don’t want Darnold because he’s just too far gone. Drew would be the best option next year, unless you could go get Trevor Lawrence. What would be the chances we could have Kubiak back but for OC? To me, that at least gets Drew into a system he is familiar with, that gets him out of the pocket on those bootlegs and gives Phil a damn fullback. If not Kubiak, who else out there could be considered? Anyone coming in from the college ranks?

Lynx

Hey guys! So I remember in the off-season being kinda confused when we let Rich go and brought in Shurmer. Especially when Rich and Drew seemed to be developing a nice connection in those last 5 games. What are the chances of bringing Rich Scangarelo back to Denver? Not sure where he is now. Keep up the great work guys!

Came here again to say wishing Albert O. a great recovery. Some really really tough news. Apparently, the injury bug is not going to let up this season. Ugh.

Man, Pat Shurmur is a problem. This is the darkest timeline of the decision to fire Scangarello. Just look at the data. There are only four teams in the entire league that run the ball more than 40% of the time on second and long: the Jets, the Football Team, the Broncos, and the Vikings. That’s not company you want to be keeping.

It gets worse. Shurmur called 15 run plays on Sunday. Of the 15 designed running plays, a whopping seven of them came on second and long. Not only was Shurmur not running the ball often enough early in the game, but when he was running it, he was picking the absolute worst times to do so. What an absolute mess.

The story of the offense of late has been unsuccessful first downs leading to rushing attempts on second and long, leading to check down throws on third and long, leading to punts. It’s insanity.

Anyway, from a process standpoint, I think Drew had an okay day on Sunday. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t the problem either. The Titans, Patriots, Chargers, and Falcons games have all felt like they were something to build on. So let’s hope we get our Cornerbacks back on the field and it all comes together for Drew in a beatdown of the Raiders this week. Go Broncos!