SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Remember Sunday morning?
On Sunday morning, the Denver Broncos were on a blazing path towards the playoffs.
On Sunday morning, Vance Joseph’s seat was cooling down faster than San Francisco when the sun goes down.
On Sunday morning, the Broncos defense had finally found their groove.
On Sunday morning, it almost looked as if the Broncos had lucked into a strong offensive line.
On Sunday morning, Phillip Lindsay’s Rookie of the year campaign was getting stronger by the minute.
On Sunday morning, it looked like Case Keenum was turning the corner.
On Sunday morning, the Broncos were a rising 6-6 team and the San Francisco 49ers were a 2-10 team that had been accused of tanking.
Oh, how much can change in a matter of hours.
Not long after the ball was kicked at 1:05 PM local time, it became clear that these Broncos were not who we thought they were on Sunday morning. Denver came out as flat as we’ve seen them since “that day” in the Meadowlands when they got embarrassed by Isaiah Crowell, who averaged 14.6 yards per carry on his way to 219 yards and a touchdown.
This time, it was a tight end shelling out the embarrassment. Geroge Kittle, who—by all accounts—was the only weapon they had to worry about coming in, went off like nothing we have ever seen before in the first half. The budding star hauled in an eye-popping seven catches for 210 yards and a touchdown in the first 30 minutes of the game, breaking the record for yards by a tight end in the first half and falling just shy of the all-time record for yards in a game by a tight end.
“That was some BS what we were putting out in the first half,” said safety Darian Stewart.
And things weren’t much better on offense. Heading into the break, Case Keenum and the boys muster just 65 yards and, of course, zero points. Phillip Lindsay, who has carried the offense on his back this season, had just five carries for three yards.
All in all, the Broncos trailed 20-0 at the half, a hole they simply did not have the firepower to dig themselves out of.
Forget the comeback fallen short. Forget the fact that the defense switched to zone and shut out Kittle—and the rest of the offense—in the second half. Forget the fact that, even in his worst game as a pro, Phillip Lindsay still had a touchdown. Forget the resiliency to make it a game when nobody really had it going on either side of the ball. Everything we thought we learned about this team over the course of their three-game winning streak was undone on Sunday afternoon.
With all of their goals in front of them and an all-around bad team across from them, the Denver Broncos laid an egg in fantastic fashion.
“When you have a chance to play a 2-10 team, you have to put it away,” Stewart said. “Our mindset wasn’t right today.”
To review…
That path to the playoffs: Dark.
Vance Joseph’s seat: Heating up.
The defense: Still can’t cover a tight end.
The offensive line: Gave up three sacks, nine QB hits and left Keenum running for his life for most of the day.
Lindsay’s Rookie of the Year campaign: Severely dented as he went for just 30 yards on 14 carries.
Case Keenum: Still Case Keenum.
The Broncos: A losing football team
As Denver uglied their way two wins against the Steelers and Chargers and sucked less than the Cincinnati Bengals, we knew we weren’t seeing good football, but we knew with the schedule ahead, they could scrape their way into an interesting finish. After Sunday’s BS in The Bay, the last three games of the season become interesting for all the wrong reasons.
The Broncos are who we thought they were… Before we thought they were decent.
0 Comments (7 conversations)
MontanaBroncos
You forgot about the o-line which couldn’t block its way out of a wet paper sack and the fabulous Mr. Bolles, flagged for . . . holding. Again. Back to his old habits, I’d wager.
And Joseph with the challenges and coaching whiffs. Ugh. This team is a reflection of its ownership, disjointed, inconsistent and spinning down the drain. We’ve got a good rookie class but the rest of it is a total rebuild, soup to nuts.
Ryan Koenigsberg
AuthorThe o-line was referenced a couple of times in there.
cleonpack93
For the first time ever, I think I’m legitimately scared to hear the podcast tomorrow.
Ryan Koenigsberg
AuthorI literally just texted Zac, “Going to be an interesting pod” lol
MontanaBroncos
oops. seeing red, not words, my bad.
Dags
I can always count on you to speak my mind for me RK. Thank you. This one was just painful to watch. It felt like the team was playing without its heart. Like you said, it felt like the Jets game all over again. Disjointed and mentally checked out.
Meanwhile, the other teams competing for that last Wild Card spot won their games and charged ahead. Baker and the Browns are set to roll into Mike High next with a full head of steam after upsetting the Panthers this week.
How much farther off the rails does this season need to go before the organization starts to make moves and begin preparing for next season? As a season spirals downward, do players prefer to continue balling out to pad their season stats or limit their playing time to stay healthy for next season?
kenoy28
I was there, along with a sea of Orange (props to Broncos Country, you could tell they sensed something special was brewing, too bad). I shelled out for 40 yard club seats to sit back and enjoy the pounding that was sure to come. My worst fear was that I would invest this money in the tickets and get crappy Broncos football in return, and my worst fears were obviously realized. I’m hoping in the Monday podcast, you guys touch on the following:
1. Please don’t let VJ off the hook with that amateur decision to review the Marquise Goodwin catch and fumble – I don’t even care about the consequences. In what world would a coach challenge that at that moment with anything less than 99% certainty? To my naked eye, there was a 20% chance at best. To the replay, there was a 5% chance at best to overrule that.
2. Please don’t let Bill Musgrave off the hook with the horrendous 4th down playcalls and the too predictable 2nd down runs. Would be interesting to see some stats on % that Broncos run the ball on 2nd downs with more than 7 yards to go vs. the league. It must be higher. Peyton used to say “First down, Second down, FIRST down, right?” Bill Musgrave is First down, second down, third down, maybe fourth down. Phillip had no chance. Did he really think the first lob to Courtland was really going to keep the defense honest? You have to do it multiple times to make it real, not just the first play of the game to “soften” up the defense. It was as if he had his obligatory Courtland lob and got it out of the way on play 1 so he could go back to his predictable ways the rest of the game. Sidenote, damn it Keenum – just throw the ball at Courtland’s helmet and stop trying to lead the guy. SMH
3. Can’t complain about the secondary giving up yards, we all expected that. But you’re right on on Kittles being the one guy you could not let beat you coming in. Please don’t let VJ and Joe Woods off the hook on this one either.
The things we’ve been saying about the coaching staff having this team competing and together, etc are all worthwhile and noteworthy. But if the purpose of the coaches are to put the players in the best position to win, once again, they have failed miserably. I love the players on this team, and I honestly think the character and heart they come in with make it easy for any coach to have them competing. So while it may seem that VJ is heavily responsible there, I say give John Elway and his GM team more of the credit there, and put the blame of losing games squarely on the shoulders of this coaching staff. I hope John Elway cleans house. Talk about the dead money on coaches instead in that scenario!
That's what She said
Where to begin? I feel shocked yet not surprised, frustrated yet resigned. What is it about games we should win, we can’t? Do the Broncos become complacent to easily? Is this a coaching issue? I know we are racked with injuries, but yesterday it seemed we just rolled over and quit. I know the injuries to Sanders and Harris cannot be understated, but I was surprised to see how crippled we looked.
On the up though, it was cool to see Chubb tie for the record, and Hamilton made a few great plays. Also, Lean Pockets made up a third of my food pyramid in college along with rice and ramen, so Hot Pockets are life ;).
smitty31
I’ll keep it short. I’m not mad, just disappointed.
JDC15
Welcome back to reality Bronco fans. First and foremost this is at BEST an average team and the little win streak is what it took to get there. What this team truly is, is a poorly constructed poorly coached team with no identity to hang its hat on. It WAS a dominant defensive team, now emphasized with the injuries a team with great pass rushers that has trouble stopping stopping the other teams offensive go to guy. On offense, where your best play makers are PL30 and CT14 there was zero creativity getting them the ball in space. Keenum is what he is a bottom third qb who is the worst qb in the division. The offensive line for at least the 3rd yr is a borderline joke, Bolles is substandard, Turner a 7th or 8th o lineman, Wilkinson the same, Veldheer not what he use to be, and McGovern ok. Coaching gag. VJ is a joke. He has managed to lose to a 9 loss team and a 10 loss team or in other word the Broncos represent nearly 30% of their combined wins. Joe Woods, come on bro the 49ers started a 3rd string qb, had ONE offensive weapon and they let him go off in the first. Musgrave, whom has blown an absolute golden opportunity to establish himself as a HC qb by trying to do thing the o-line and QB have no chance of succeeding at. In other words this team is on the verge of being a dumpster fire with Captain Quig at the helm.