I would have seriously considered going for it on the fourth and short at the end of the first half given the fact that we all know how slow the broncos Offense starts. When you’re in the neighborhood you have to punch it in 3 points does nothing for this offense at this point.

Bryce Callahan is a dude! I thought he played lights out this game and depending on his age I would like to lock him up for atleast the next 2 years, however the only way that may happen is by keeping Vic around.

Thoughts on Calvin Anderson????

Oh yeah and I almost forgot, Pat Shurmur has to GO! He’s been terrible for this season and Drew Lock’s development. From letting Jano go and using Cox as a replacement, to getting rid of Scangz who had an upward tragectory, we’ve really f’d this whole thing up offensively. I believe John Elway is 100% responsible for the poor leadership choices over the past 4 years. Hindsight is 20/20 but I have no faith left in him which pains me to say smh.

I really am starting to think that, barring somehow getting a generational guy like Lawrence who we have no hope of getting, we aren’t going to be able to develop a QB without organizational changes.

Since Peyton, the highest passer rating a Broncos qb has finished a season with is Drew Lock last year at 89.7. After that its 2015 Brock Osweiler’s 86.4. Yet Jacksonville has managed to get Gardner Minshew to a 92 career passer rating, San Fran has Nick Mullens with a 90.2. Jacoby Brissett had an 88 last year, Fitzpatrick between 85.5 and 100 the last 4 years, and Tyrod Taylor an 89.5.

Looking at this there is clearly something wrong beyond who has been under center. Even struggling franchises like the Jags have managed to put guys with way less talent than Lock in a position to outplay any Broncos qb since the Super Bowl.

Do Elway, the front office, and the coaching staff have the ability to develop a project from the draft and put him in a position to succeed? Do we have faith that they can turn around Darnold or Jameis? It really doesn’t look promising. Honestly I give Lock a better chance of succeeding under an entirely new organizational structure than this org has of getting QB figured out.

Sorry for the long comment and negativity, love the pod and go Broncos.

Fellas,

2 part comment

1. Saw this on Twitter, we need to start calling Jeudy ‘NASA’ because he’s always in space.

2. How much is coaching the problem? If you were to take the Broncos entire coaching staff and replace it with a random teams staff which teams would Denver be better with and which would they be worse with? I assume they would be better with the Chiefs and Rams. And worse with Jets and Bears. How say you?

Hey guys, I havn’t been able to get on in awhile but have listened to all of your pods. Thanks for all of your insights, and keep up your good work. I was really looking forward to this year but have been extremely disappointed, primarily with the coaching. Shurmur and McMahon have been terrible and need to be replaced. Is there anyway to get Scangs back? Are we going to be in a re-build mode, and what do you think will be our primary needs in the draft? Mase, I hope to be in Charlotte for the game in December! Can you recommend any good barbeque spots to check out? Lets go Broncos!!

Hey guys, long time no talk. I appreciate you guys keep the grounded mentality. (Inserting my summary of my TLDR here, to summarize, Pat Shurmur has called 2 good halves out of 18 halves but even though I want to fire him, bringing him back to make Drew the guy is still the best path forward. I still believe Lock can be the guy but this past Sunday was really tough to watch Drew, firing Elway before the final year of his deal is asinine, and if the Broncos had had Sutton and Miller all season long even with the other injuries, I strongly feel they would be a different team, please tell me fellas if that idea is way off base. Go DNVR & Go Broncos) I gotta be honest, I’m still on the Drew Lock is Denver’s franchise QB train, but after yesterday’s performance, I’m having a tough time seeing him struggle out there, even though it’s not all his fault but he’s taking a majority of the flak and owning up to mistakes that aren’t on him. Alright, I’ve decided I’m gonna vent a little bit, will try to keep it to a minimum, but Zach’s gonna need his beep machine ready. Out of 18 halves, I’ve counted Pat Shurmur calling 2 good ones, the 2nd half of the Jets game, and the 2nd half of the Chargers game. That’s not fucking good enough. When I shoot some flak his way, I get told he just called a good play or two. That’s great, but why isn’t it 3 or 4 in a row? Why isn’t it a complete drive ending in a touchdown? Did Pat Shurmur even watch tape of Jeudy, and Lock, and Fant from their college and early NFL days? It boggles my mind that even though we’re loaded with weapons, including Albert Ochocinco, but the OC can’t even use them correctly. I’m so sick of being tweeted by other fans telling me Drew Lock sucks, and I’m so sick of the negativity in Broncos country of writing Drew off, before he’s played a full season! I’m even more sick of the OC handicapping him every time he snaps the ball. Despite that, and despite my feelings that we should absolutely fire Pat at the end of the year, because I know the best thing for this team is just continuity and health. If Shurmur can make Lock the best version of himself by the end of this season and start of next, I’ll have hemmed and hawed for nothing. I just can’t fathom how draft a guy like Zach Wilson or Mac Jones or Kyle Trask fixes the QB problem overnight, because it absolutely doesn’t, even if they’re more talented then Lock it’ll take them a decade to figure out the offense when it’s never called to their strengths, and the only QBs to me worth pursuing aren’t available in Fields, Lawrence, and Rodgers. Firing Elway after this year doesn’t really do anything either, he has a year left on his deal anyway, and if the team is fully healthy, they will make the playoffs, and the Broncos org can transition away from Elway seamlessly. And all this nonsense about him not drafting well, he definitely screwed the 16 and 17 drafts up, but he drafted Courtland Sutton in the 2nd round of 2018, and Courtland had over 1000 receiving yards last year with 3 different QBs. RK, Mase, and Zac, I’m sorry for dragging on today, but please tell me if I’m way off base here. I think if the Broncos had just had Von Miller and Courtland Sutton healthy this entire season, even with the rest of the injuries still happening, we wouldn’t be talking about the team in this light with such negativity. I apologize for going long, I know we try to avoid those in the season but this was a breaking point for a lot of folks, for me it’s my bending point which is why I’m snapping a little bit, but not all the way. Still got nothing but love for you guys and Broncos Country, and I’m so excited to be down at the bar before Christmas coming up here. If you read this whole comment out on air, bless your heart for taking on the monumental task, and it’s why I put a TLDR summary up top. Go DNVR, and go Broncos.

Boys and Girls this is a poorly coached and managed team. First off, if Schumur can’t see that Phil is the superior back he has no business calling an offense for any team much less our beloved broncos. Signing Gordon was Elway’s worst move in his GM career. That money could have been spent keeping Todd Davis. How do you cut your defensive play caller right before the season starts? That was a stupid move. Schumur has given Gordon the ball almost twice as much as Phil. I don’t care who is making more money, if you are a good coach, you play the better player. If Elway thinks Gordon is better, I have lost any confidence in him finding talent for our team. I like Vic but he needs to put the smack down on his offensive coordinator. There are three coaches that I think could turn this team around. First, Eric Bieniemy would be an awesome hire. He is ready to be a head coach. Second would be Lincoln Riley from OU. Hell, we could even try to hire Kubiak back. We have three super bowls and correct me if I am wrong they were all with offensive minded head coaches. Sorry for the rant but I have not been this unhappy with a coaching and managing staff in my 40 years as a fan.

Woof, guys. What a season so far ?

Trust me when I say that I am NOT jumping ship quite yet. I am team Drew until he’s for sure not the guy and I want Fangio/Shurmur to get their stuff together and be the coaching staff for the next few years at least. HOWEVER, it seems like it’s not trending that way so I’d love to hear yalls thoughts on a couple things:

1. Like Mase noted in his article, Darnold’s passer rating is only one of TWO that are worse than Drew’s. Why should Darnold even be in consideration? On the discord a couple of guys were tossing around names like Alex Smith or ol’ faithful Ryan Fitzmagic. Non-Joe-Flacco veteran names like these or Bridgewater seem to feel better to me than an almost completely unproven QB like Darnold or a rookie. Am I missing something?

2. I’m with y’all and what y’all were talking about on the pod Sunday evening with the concerns over Fangio the Defensive Wizard’s defense giving up 30 points a game for three games straight. 28.2 PPG allowed by our defense this season thus far, right? I’m curious how many points less our defense would be giving up every game without these injuries? A lot? Not much? I know it’s pure conjecture at this point, but that seems like an important data projection when considering the current worthwhileness of our defense. Is it a matter of a defense that actually can’t keep up or is it really just Murphy’s Law hitting Mile High in true 2020 style?

Hey guys, it’s the man known formerly as Lock the Casbah. Phillip Lindsay is trapped on a bad team with a bad offensive coordinator and a bad coach with a bad GM, being underutilized and disrespected. Free Phillip Lindsay!

I said I’d go the f**k in on Elway and the coaching staff today, but honestly I don’t know what I can say about their atrocious, disgraceful and laughably bad decisions and performance that hasn’t been said. Elway’s at the end of his rope and Fangio and Shurmur should be too, but I don’t want to find a new coach and OC.

Can you guys ask Shurmur how he’s changed his playbook and molded his offense to Drew Lock’s strengths? If his answer is closer to “well, we kind of have a system” or anything hedging or noncommittal instead of some kind of breakdown or semi-enthusiastic explanation of what he’s done to play to Lock’s strengths then I think Schurmur should be gone as OC tomorrow.

Locking down your franchise QB is the most important thing a franchise can do, fitting your scheme and playbook to a QB’s strengths is a non-negotiable necessity for a good, capable OC. Your OC is less important than potentially getting a QB for 15 years, the OC should give ground to help the QB more than the inverse. An OC that’s stubborn and could help doom a QB with that stubbornness should not be an OC. It worries me that this question even needs to be asked of Shurmur based on the play-calling we’ve been seeing and I’m not confident he’ll say the right things.

Lets have some fun my boys!
If you were gonna be roommates with any non bronco nfl player who is it and why?

Also can we talk about Kyler my lil man is a Grown man.

For all three of you,

Who would you rather be? The 5-5 Bears or the 3-6 Broncos?

Gents,

Just a quick question – haven’t both Munch and Donatell been away for three weeks now? I’m guessing that their absence is being felt strongly.

I think I’m probably going to get some hate here but whatever.

This community is turning in to an echo chamber of Elway-ejecting and Lindsay-loving lunatics. First of all, who is going to replace Elway that is better? We can’t get Lincoln Riley to come be coach because the ownership situation sucks…well who is going to come replace John Elway? Who is available that is superior and wants the job?

And its a fantasy to think that feeding Philip Lindsay is the answer to anything. The hope is that he can break a big one here or there if he doesn’t get stuffed like a turkey. I’m not saying he’s bad or that Gordon is great. I’ve seen him run well. He was gashing KC! But come on, making him the focal point of the offense isn’t the answer.

And one last thought. Mase was skeptical about Lock all throughout the last off-season but RK and Zac were writing him Valentine’s since the senior bowl 2 years ago. Maybe there is just a big element of randomness to it and the chance of success is just low regardless of by whom or how the pick is made. How can many of us want to get rid of Elway for moves not working out that many of us, myself included, thought were great and going to lead to a playoff berth?

Thanks for the awesome coverage,

BroncosOnly.

My boys! Well this season has certainly not lived up to expectations. I have always considered myself a patient fan and am generally on the side of giving coaches at least 4 years before deciding to move on. However, with this team spiraling and looking like a 4 win team, I don’t think Vic is the answer. I am not advocating for, but am simply curious in a guy like josh mcdaniels. I know I know awful experience 11 years ago but he has to have matured since then right? Is he still viewed as an eventual head coach by NFL people?

Whats up guys? I am so confused on Ojemudia not playing any snaps on Sunday. It seems to me that the three guys we should be rolling with are Michael O and Bouye outside Callahan in the slot. At the very least we need to have those three out on the field. Ojemudia has been so impressive this season and we reward him by benching him? This coaching staff whether it is Fangio or Shurmur just have a tendency to take the players who are balling out and make them disappear.
Looking back a few years when we hired Vance Joseph over Kyle Shanahan, and while Joseph was having the time of his life that was obviously a mistake. My question now is would you rather have Shanahan or Fangio at the helm right now, and if Shanahan what is the chance that we could have gotten Fangio as our DC or do you think we still have Wade Phillips?

Hi guys

Look I understand Drew hasn’t played well. But I think there is a lot more to this than just Drew. I’m still a fan, I think he will get it fixed. Though I do agree that he may take a while to get where we need him. If he doesn’t make the plays needed to prove himself this season, bring competition in next season to let him know we need better play. I think shurmer needs to be fired. Immediately.

Thanks for the content.

hey guys!

nfl.com ran an article the other day about future head coaches. it was split into two sections and the first section mentioned the obvious candidates and other guys like joe brady and byron leftwich and at the bottom of the article, he had a list of ‘names to watch in coming years’

at the top of the list was zach azzanni- ahead of more high profile guys like kellen moore, mike kafka and mike mcdaniel. these kinda lists are usually well sourced by front office types so it got me thinking- should the broncos make a concerted effort to keep azzanni around?

i’ve said it before but the broncos made a mistake in not giving brandon staley a promotion and a co-ordinator title like kyle shanahan does with his position coaches (mike mcdaniel went from running backs coach to running game co-ordinator, mike lafleur went from qb coach to passing game co-ordinator) so should they consider doing the same with azzanni and making him a passing game co-ordinator moving forwards?

There are so many problems that I don’t even know where or how to start. Elway, ownership, coaching, quarterback and so on. Tough scene.

Well now that the *beep*ing off-season is here, I thought I would table a topic for your discussion to promote a nuanced debate that will engage us all.

What is the go to meal you eat for take away / take out, right after moving into a new place? What meal are you eating sitting on top of unpacked boxes, or sprawled out on the floor?

Pizza or Chinese? Or something else?

Lol I laugh at all the fans that say we should’ve drafted Josh Allen over Bradley Chubb, Allen wouldn’t last in Denver after two shakey seasons fans would be calling for his head… locks 11 games in with no off-season and two different offenses and Denver fans lose their minds

‘@Mase, I remember a while back, a podcast in which you were waxing lyrical about Trey Lance as a prospect. I know he’s only played one game this year, which was an up and down performance, but do you still feel as good about him as you did before? Cheers

Hey gang.
Picture this: a crisp, orange, DNVR t-shirt. On the back is a scene of a theme park. Its name, BRONCOLAND 2020. In the background is the Elway Coaster, you know, since we love him in the draft and hate him mid-season. In the foreground is a lovely horse carousel. And no, not for the quarterbacks or lineman of past campaigns, but caricatures of our illustrious and noble hosts of the pod (you aren’t expendable!). Don’t forget the Injury Tilt-a-Whirl, cause that makes me sick this year and it has hindered the team’s stability. Lastly, the Rock Bottom Carnival Hammer. Only the strongest will help us reach the bell. Who the strongest will be? Your guess is as good as mine. Oh, wait! And a Breck Brew Bar to get you properly prepped for any of the rides!
Cheers guys!

So I don’t want to be unfair to John Elway and I want to be realistic so I’m going to ask you fellas a few questions and you tell me if it adds up to why John Elway needs to relinquish Gm duties ok….????

Is Drew Lock ruining Jerry Jeudy Rookie Season

Is Drew Lock ruining Noah Fants break out year

Did you ask Rick Scangerello his main reasons for wanting to not go downfield as much (Mase I bet Drew’s Deep ball accuracy is horrendous on this stat )

Why is Devonte Booker having a better season then Melvin gordon ? Why is he having a better season then Phillip Lindsay ?

Did you think the offensiveline was set at tackle that it needed not be addressed in fa or the draft ?

If your Oc is supposed to do this (screens , commit to the run feature the te run west coast ) WHY IS HE NOT DOING THESE THINGS …..

IS THIS ALL ON DREW AND IF SO ??? WHY WAS THE BEST INSURANCE FOR HIM JEFF DRISKEL !!!!!

IF there’s viable excuses for this I’ll stop calling for Elways Job but if there isn’t ….. I think it’s time he updates that resume or moves on I don’t think John Elway is capable of building a viable offense and that’s a Detriment to this organization

Hey guys! This season has turned into the most 2020 thing ever. Just wanted to make a handful of points and ask a question.
1. Really disappointing to see how the team is handling Phillip Lindsey, if they can mess up a hometown kid with Pro Bowl ability, then it’s difficult to see any success from this franchise.
2. I haven’t given up on Lock yet, but until this moment I had consoled myself with the point that he hadn’t had a complete meltdown of a game yet and then Sunday happened.
3. For Mr. B
4. I watched Calvin Anderson quite a bit on Sunday and he seemed to get bull rushed and lost on inside moves. From what I could tell, he had good quickness against speed rushes however, and he seemed to have the opposite issues that Elijah Wilkinson struggles with. Did this match with what you saw?

This is the first comment I have left in quite some time, so I apologize in advance for being negative. I’m usually the guy who will go out of his way to make excuses for this team. But I’m done doing so. We just put out one of the all-around worst performances I have ever seen from the Broncos. The O-line was porous, the D-line got bullied, Lock made terrible decisions all day, play calling was status quo for this season, and the players were entirely undisciplined. Absolutely embarrassing from top down. Callahan was the only guy who played well. If you want to throw Jeudy into that category too, fine. With that said, I don’t think we are at rock bottom. This staff seemingly goes out of its way to sabotage relations with its homegrown/drafted stars, only to turn around and pay average guys ludicrous salaries. Why reward Lindsay for his play the last two seasons when you can pay Gordon $8mil? Why bother with a long-term deal for Simmons after his career year? Let’s lowball Shelby Harris and guarantee he won’t come back again. Oh, and let’s pay elite money to an underperforming guard and perennially hurt tackle. In 2021, its entirely possible that Denver will be without Lindsay, Simmons, Shelby, Von, and Bolles with nothing to show for it. Why would any player want to come to Denver in FA, or stay beyond a rookie deal, if this is how we treat our talent? And this isn’t even mentioning the fact that we keep missing on coaches and coordinators. But given the state of the franchise, no A-list coach is going to want this job. Think Lincoln Riley would have any interest in coming to Denver, especially if the team can’t salvage Lock? This organization is more than a handful of players away. It needs a factory reset. I’m talking all the way down to reevaluating its mission statement and culture. I’m sorry yall, rant over. I love this team almost as much as anything else in the world. I’m just tired of seeing it in this state.

Hey gentlemen,

Mase, is it time to seriously start thinking about the possibility of Trey Lance in Denver? I know RK said once that he doesn’t want to go for the third QB in a draft but in recent years there have been some really good QB’s taken as the third option (Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert).

There have also been some stinkers like Blaine Gabbert, Christian Hackenberg, and Garret Grayson (?) but most of the bad ones went in the later rounds. I think Lance with his mobility would be a great fit in Denver IF Drew Lock doesn’t show improvement these last 7 weeks.

Thanks for everything you do. Stay happy and healthy!

Let’s say there were a coaching change at the end of the season:

1. Who would be your dream hire as head coach for the Broncos from the college ranks or coordinators in the league if we could pry anyone away from their current position? Head coaches of NFL teams are off limits.

2. Who would be a realistic hire from available head coaching candidates this year that would get us the most excited for the 2021 season?

Well boyz,
I think I’m just going to say it 2020 as a whole has been trash, the year and now the Broncos. Offense ain’t doing nothing defense is ass I think we should just flush this year down the toilet and start from scratch next year with no expectations kinda like watching a B rated movie. Peace and much love.

MY BOYS! I have to disagree some with the argument that Pat Shurmur is not scheming players open. He is. Drew Lock is not seeing open receivers and/or the offensive line is not adequating blocking to allow more completions. I wish I could post a screenshot of All-22 of this play from the Broncos’ first drive of the series on 3rd-and-5. On that play, Lock unnecessarily threw a checkdown to Royce Freeman. There was no pressure, a clean pocket, and Jerry Jeudy breaking free on a rub/crossing route. Noah Fant was wide open on a corner route, too. A good play design and call by Shurmur and execution by Jeudy and Nick Vannett on the play as well. This was all on Drew. This would have been a big gain, and possible touchdown, on third down on the Broncos’ first series of the game. Instead, they went three-and-out en route to losing by 25 points. At some point, Bronco quarterbacks, now Lock, just need to make plays regardless of who the play designer and caller is. Why is this happening with Lock? He says he’s not seeing ghosts, but what else could it be? DNVRMY SALUTE!

I fully support supporting Drew Lock, and will resist the temptation to shock evaluate him. The end.

I don’t understand the desire to burn it all down. Fire Elway, fire Fangio, Fire Shurmur, move on from Drew, etc etc etc. Does Broncos Country realize that if we do that we will quickly become the next Browns? I’m not interested. The only guy that should be fired this offseason is Tom McMahon. It is highly probable that Fangio, Shurmur, and Lock will all be wearing the Broncos logo on Sundays next year. I’m sure we’ll add a QB like Darnold, Fitz, or Alex Smith to the mix, but Drew’s gonna be around.

The closest comp to Drew Lock right now is his buddy Baker Mayfield. Baker started last season with 7 TDs and 12 INTs through 8 weeks. He has 15 TDs and 7 INTs so far this year. He’s not great, but he’s serviceable, he has upside, and he provides stability for a franchise that desperately needs it. Hang on, folks. Love him or hate him, the Drew Lock roller coaster is not over.

In my opinion, I think it’s becoming clearer each week that Lock is likely to end up a middle of the road QB. A starter who has moments, but also struggles mightily at times. Fitzmagic version 2?

What is killing this franchise more than anything, is bad decisions on top of bad decisions. We hire Scangarello and fire him after 1 year and bring in a fired coach of a bad team. You just doubled down on the mistake, by forcing the team into a new offense. Shurmur was hands down the wrong person for the job. Now you are going to have to pull the trigger again or look forward to 3-6 in 2021 again. 🙁

On Sunday, he called pass plays on the first 5 1st down plays, followed by a run on 2nd, unless they got a 1st on the play. In the first 3 quarters before it’s catchup mode, He called pass plays on 12 1st down plays and runs on 6. He’s making Lock solely responsible for winning the games. Another observation, he constantly goes with empty backfield on 3rd and long, inviting the blitz and getting the QB hit.

If Elway loves this team, he should hire a GM and just move back into his team president role and let that GM evaluate the staff and players and have the power to change the culture.

Who might be a good candidate for GM?