Brock Osweiler's ignored outburst a perfect microcosm of the Broncos' two biggest problems

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Give Brock Osweiler credit. At least he’s trying.

On Sunday, the veteran quarterback did something that we have not seen anyone—player nor coach—do publicly this season. He exploded on the sideline, yelling at a group of offensive players as he paced in front of them, attempting to light a fire under a seemingly-uninspired team.

There was just one problem. Nobody was listening.

In a video that has now gone viral, Osweiler can be seen looking like a parent at a dinner table full of millennials on their iPhones, spouting off to absolutely no avail. The quarterback du jour may as well have been invisible, hardly able to even gather the eye contact of those he was trying to ignite.

At best, it was awkward. At worst, it was concerning.

On Tuesday, in his first meeting with media since his post-game presser, Broncos head coach Vance Joseph addressed the ugly visual.

“I haven’t seen it. I’ve heard about it,” he said. “That’s Brock. One thing about Brock, guys, is he provides a leadership quality that we hadn’t had on offense—from that position—in my opinion. If Brock’s doing that, it’s for the good of our football team. I’m not surprised that happened, and I’m encouraged by it because we need more of that. We need more players pushing players. We need more players helping our young guys become pros. So I’m not opposed to that, at all. That’s a good thing, in my opinion.”

There are a few layers to unpack here, but let’s start with Brock. Joseph is right, that type of leadership has been missing from the Broncos quarterback situation for two years, but guess what, there’s a reason for that, and that reason is perfectly detailed by this exact video.

If you weren’t watching the game and you just saw the clip, you may not know that Brock Osweiler’s outburst came directly after Brock Osweiler fumbled the ball away in Redskins territory. Sure, his offensive line let him down on the play, as pressure came hard from both sides and the middle, but the veteran signal caller did himself no favors in the ball security area. He cost the team points.

Do the Broncos need better leadership from the quarterback position? Absolutely, but leadership can’t be forced. The ability to lead must be earned.

Remember last season when Aqib Talib abruptly halted an attempt at leadership from Russel Okung? The idea then was that Aqib didn’t want to hear it from a member of an offense that just scored a measly three points while the defense put together an incredible effort against Tom Brady. This was similar, but nobody was there to let Osweiler know he was out of his lane, so he just yelled into a void instead.

Sure, you need a leader at quarterback, but first of all, you need a quarterback at quarterback. Brock’s efforts fell on deaf ears because—for lack of a better phrase—he’s not a baller. True leaders lead from four phases—on the field, off the field, with their words, and with their play—without the fourth aspect, you often just look like a coach’s pet.

Unfortunately for the Broncos, they hardly have any, if any, four-phase leaders right now and that’s been a massive problem.

Now, let’s get to the players, because they aren’t free of any wrongdoing here. About 20 Broncos were certainly within the spectrum of Osweiler’s outburst, and a grand total of zero of them reacted. Come on now.

It’s understandable, as detailed above, that Brock Osweiler hasn’t exactly earned the right to lead, but it’s not like he was ripping into anyone in specific. A bit of lip-reading will tell you he was saying something along the lines of “Let’s freaking go!” The least anyone could have done is given a clap in his general direction.

Alas, they ignored him at best and at worst looked at him like someone that belonged in an institution for being so gosh darn fired up.

At least pretend to care, right?

Joseph, who repeated multiple times that he had not seen the video, was asked if he thought he should watch it to have a chat with those who had no response.

“No need at all,” he said.

Where Joseph may be right is in the sense that he doesn’t need to specifically address the players seen in the video. Why? Because this is a team-wide issue.

There’s an old principle in coaching—and many other forms of management—known as the 10-80-10 rule. If you aren’t familiar, the 10-80-10 rule suggests that 10 percent of your team will be the exemplary leaders; the film room junkies, the coach’s-dream types. The 80 represents the percentage of your team in the middle; they are the players that can be influenced, the followers. The final 10 percent represents the players that are too cool for school; the slackers—these players are leaders in their own right, but not in a good way.

During any given season, the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent indirectly compete for the following of the 80 percent in the middle. By the end of a season for a successful team, a large percentage of that middle group will be following the top group and often times middle tier guys will be converted into top tier guys, increasing the ability for the top to pull in from the middle.

The lack of response from the sideline when Brock Osweiler, an obvious member of the top 10, attempted to lead, was indicative of a team that had fallen victim to the bottom 10 percent, a common symptom of a losing team. As the losses have piled up, it’s simply become less cool to be a member of the top tier and much easier to follow the guys who clown their teammates in the film room or skip the optional lift.

As the Broncos move forward and attempt to repair their broken football team, a four-phase leader at quarterback is essential. As Vance Joseph attempts to repair his rough start as a head coach, identifying his top-10 percent and finding way to empower them will be huge as well.

The good news is that step one of that plan will go a long way towards assisting step two. The bad news is that step one is no cakewalk.

Happy hunting.