DENVER — 10 minutes. After each game, win or lose, the Broncos get 10 minutes in the locker room before the media is allowed in.
On Saturday, within 10 minutes, many players were already gone. Gone like their playoff chances. Gone like their head coach will be. Gone like the 11-game winning streak against the Browns that lasted 28 years.
“Where is everybody?” One player asked.
That’s what Broncos fans have been asking for the last two weeks.
For those who were in the locker room, they were speechless. They couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that, with all of their goals in front of them, they lost two straight games to the 49ers and the Browns.
Me either.
For the second straight week, the Broncos just looked flat out bad, but at least the players on the field have a bit of an excuse. Hell, for an entire quarter, the defense had one total healthy cornerback. One.
On offense, the loss of Emmanuel Sanders has allowed defenses to key in on Phillip Lindsay and Phillip Lindsay only, making the Broncos offense, led by a mediocre-at-best quarterback, simple to stop.
Where the excuses don’t apply is with the game management of the coaching staff, namely head coach Vance Joseph. Sometimes it feels like Joseph is cursed, no matter what he does, it always ends up being the wrong decision.
This time, it was the decision to kick a field goal down four with less than five minutes to go. Yes, the points gave Denver the opportunity to win the game with a stop and a field goal, but it was just another case in which Joseph showed he doesn’t have a philosophy or identity as a coach.
Back in November, Joseph intimated that he does have a philosophy.
“I told our guys that — 4th-and-1, we’re going to go for it,” he said of a fourth-down attempt that eventually failed. “We’re trying to win the game. It’s as simple as that, and I’ll do it again.”
On Saturday, he second-guessed himself and decided to trust his defense. The same defense that was down to one total corner and had watched Baker Mayfield shred them for a touchdown their previous time on the field. The Browns went on to drive the ball 58 yards and take 2:46 off of the clock.
Denver did eventually get their chance after a fantastic fourth-down stop by Adam Gotsis, but with less than two minutes remaining and no timeouts, they weren’t able to get the job done, and the team lost to the Browns for the first time in more than 10,000 days.
I’ll put it this way, if you’re taking a multiple-choice test and you don’t know any of the answers, but you just guess “A” on every one, you guarantee you’re going to get some right.
Too often, it feels like Joseph is guessing freely on each question, opening up the chance of getting them all wrong. And unfortunately, he’s nearly gotten all of them wrong.
Now, with one loss in their last two games, Denver will ensure two losing seasons in a row, something that’s never happened in the Pat Bowlen era. In the same year that Bowlen will likely go into the Hall of Fame, that hurts.
What it means for Joseph is that his time in Denver is likely up, whether the team wins out or not. In the end, his resume in Denver has too many inexcusable losses and too many games in which his coaching cost the team.
As for Case Keenum, his time as “the guy” in Denver may be coming up, too. How can you possibly justify paying a guy $18 million when you can’t count on him to beat the 49ers and the Browns on his arm when the team needs him most?
On Saturday, Keenum was 31-of-48 for 257 yards and two interceptions, both of which looked more like a friendly game of “500” than a pass by an NFL quarterback.
Denver could save eight of that $18 million by moving on from Keenum after the season. Or they could have an expensive backup for the new guy. Or they could have an expensive backup as their starter. Again.
If I know anything about John Elway, he won’t be able to bring himself to do this thing all over again next year. Big changes are coming.
To recap…
Season: Over.
Winning streak over the Browns: Over.
Vance Joseph Era: All but over.
46-year run without consecutive losing seasons: Likely over.
Case Keenum Era: Over if they can figure out a way to do better.
Broncos fans: Over it.

0 Comments (9 conversations)
Bronco Jimmy
Thanks,Ryan. You put the emotion that we are all feeling into words, when all some of us can do is sigh.
elroyjetson
Like Bronco Jimmy said, thank you Ryan. You said exactly what I was thinking after that game. Oh well…on to the draft. With this staff and the injury bug i dont see how we take the Chargers down as hot as they are and I can no longer confidently say we should beat the Raiders.:(
Dags
Best thing this team can do now is loose out…and that really hurts. That long streak of winning seasons in the Mr B era encompasses my entire life as a Bronco fan. I have never had to endure more than one loosing season in a row and have always enjoyed the feeling that no matter what, the Broncos were going to compete.
Those days are gone, but I remain optimistic that through all this fire and tribulation, a new Bronco team will emerge. On to next season.
Mautry
Top tier stuff right here. You captured the mood of the fans perfectly. Thank you!
Ryan Koenigsberg
AuthorThanks for the kind words!
JDC15
From the Super Bowl team to now there has been an incredible talent drain on this team. Add in horrible drafting outside of the last draft and horrible coaching and the future is in all honesty pretty dark. Think about this for next year:
Strengths:
Edge rushers
Running back
That’s it.
Adequate but could use improvement:
DL – Wolfe, Gotsis, Petko, Harris but youthful talent infusion needed
MLB – definite talent infusion needed but Davis and Jewell a start
S – Simmons is great, Parks a nice 3rd S but Cravens and Stewart eek
K/P – well they haven’t killed the Broncos
Serious Upgrade Needed:
WR – Sutton is player, Patrick looks like a find, Hamilton a maybe and Sanders health being a serious issues means right now this team has 1 starting wr that’s healthy and a lot of question marks
TE – sigh, it’s possible that none of the active TE’s right now could even be on the team next year
CB – does anybody feel comfortable giving Robey $8M a yr?
Train Wreck Status:
OL – They have been man handled for years. Wasted draft picks, injuries, and they have been flat out dominated for years.
QB – Case ‘Keesum’ the Broncos basically have TSim (5-5 as a starter last year) at $18M. Kevin Hogan as a back up. God awful
Coaching – think how awful OL play and QB has been and the coaching has been worse.
Steve Cañon
It has been painful to watch this team go from the penthouse to the outhouse. Can’t wait for a fresh start.
O'Doyle Rules
As a season ticket holder I bleed orange and blue and last night I sat in my seats thinking I will cheer when they give me something to cheer about. It never came. I didn’t cheer. Pretty bad when other teams come into our house and leave only to troll us on twitter! We need to restore our pride and make Denver a place opposing teams dont want to travel to! A new coach and a new infusion of hope!
Ljkoby2003
Very disappointing and at times painful to watch. Looking forward to the changes, we need them!
FLBuff
User name pronunciation guide: FL: Florida (where I’m from), Buff: like the CU mascot, where I went to school
Favorite Hot Pocket: Broccoli Cheddar
TLDR: keep Keenum and Vance, and Tank for Tua
I took advantage of the Black Friday deal, and wore my Lindsay Homegrown shirt to the game on Saturday (just like Phil!) Great article, Ryan. I felt much the same with this Broncos team as this year’s CU team. Finding a way to win the early games (a hot start), then injuries and suspect coaching catch up with the team. Add in that the talent in many areas of the team (OL, QB, etc) is suspect, and this is what you get. Here’s my thought: keep Case, keep Vance, improve other areas (OL, MLB, CB) in the draft this year, and hope for a top 10 draft pick in the 2020 draft (Tua), as this year’s QB class is not exactly lighting it up. I’m not as high on Haskins as RK is, but I didn’t watch much Big 10 football this year. I’ll watch him in the Rose Bowl against Washington. What are your thoughts on keeping the status quo with the head coach and QB, with an eye to 2020?