In a matter of hours, a whole lot changed for the Denver Broncos

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.