If Pat Bowlen were alive today, general manager John Elway would leave tomorrow.
The Broncos ended the strangest season in NFL history in a very familiar way, doing what they did best in the past five years. Denver found a way to lose.
Although coach Vic Fangio is everyone’s favorite uncle, he deals with endgame management in the same way that Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels did comedy: dumb and dumb.
Las Vegas beat Denver 32-31 when Fangio inexplicably restored the order of a confused Raiders sideline by asking for a timeout before the two-point conversion that proved to be the decisive score during the final seconds of the game.
The same as before. No news. Is anyone else in Broncos Country besides me tired of this? This is not football. It’s slapstick.
“It’s more or less like that,” said Fangio on Sunday. “We just can’t finish games when we have the right lead.”
And do you know what is sad? While the Bowlen kids’ tough guys go to court, arguing about the family jewel Daddy bequeathed them, there’s no way the franchise president, Joe Ellis, can fire Elway or Fangio.
So what next? The Broncos need to do something more dramatic than going back in the same mess and hoping for the best in 2021.
Elway’s first off-season change should be to sign an extension contract for Justin Simmons’ security, immediately after the Broncos make a painful farewell.
He’s our Vonster. It always will be. But as a 31-year-old linebacker recovering from a serious injury that cost him the entire 2020 season, linebacker Von Miller is not what he used to be. In return for the nearly $ 100 million that Denver has paid him since his performance as an MVP in the Super Bowl 50, Miller provided a terrible return on investment.
Unless Miller is willing to accept a massive pay cut, Elway would be wiser if he saved $ 13.875 million from the salary cap, letting Miller go in search of happiness with the Dallas Cowboys, or elsewhere in the league.
The Broncos need to open the barn doors and clean up the stench.
His climb back to respectability became a circular stairway to nowhere. This franchise stubbornly redoes the same mistakes, muttering that everything will be fine with a little more patience and a hint of good luck.
Well, that’s a big pile of delusional bullshit.
For five long seasons, the Broncos were common and monotonous. On your best days.
While Denver may be home to the league’s most loyal fans, how many season ticket holders are extremely happy that they didn’t waste their money in 2020? During this pandemic, a football-crazy city was reminded that there are far more important concerns, from Grandma’s health to toilet paper in the pantry, than whether the Broncos are going to organize.
Since winning the Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have won 32 of the 80 games, exactly the same amount of victories won by the humble Detroit Lions during that period.
The Duke of Denver was reduced to Johnny Try Hard. Elway is not doing the job.
This is not to say that Bowlen would unceremoniously kick No. 7 out the door, because Elway deserves more than a pink paper written in a hurry. But Mr. B would not be afraid to throw a farewell party for a Colorado football legend, which no one now in charge of team headquarters has the courage to fire.
So the Broncos seem content to pass the time, waiting for a judge to settle this ridiculous food fight between the Bowlen kids’ brawlers, who destroy their late father’s legacy with an ugly fight over control of a $ 3 franchise. billion.
Why is Uncle Vic still here, assigned to take care of the team for another year? Because no promising young coach in his right mind would accept this job until the confusion of ownership was resolved.
Unless Beth Bowlen stops complaining about Ellis (good luck with that, man), or the Broncos are sold as a new owner, does it really matter who plays the defender?
Before any idiot suggests that Elway should go out and rescue Detroit veteran QB Matthew Stafford, let me say three words.
Stop, please.
Stafford is not the answer. During a dozen seasons with Lions, Stafford won exactly as many NFL playoff games as you and me: zippo. Winning is the only statistic that really matters for a QB at this level. If Stafford was unable to make Detroit respectfully competitive, anyone who thinks he can join the Broncos’ elite should probably grab a Coors beer to swallow a pill to stand out.
With a choice in the top 10 in the next NFL draft, do you really trust Elway to find a better quarterback than Drew Lock? Well, Brigham Young’s Zach Wilson marks many items on Elway’s wish list.
Lock, however, swears he is worthy of his trust. And your responsibility is the same as the task taken on by all NFL quarterbacks worthy of elite status.
“Make the other 10 guys around us all look like professionals. This is our job. If they mess up, it’s our job to fix it, ”said Lock. “It is the most difficult job in the world, in my opinion. And I love doing that. ”
I admire Mr. Lock’s arrogance. But he will need a bigger shovel to clean this barn.