Denver Broncos: Does the D stand for disaster?
After two straight, the Denver Broncos crashing back to reality with a lopsided primetime loss to the Chiefs. What has happened to this franchise?
It appeared to be a perfect opportunity for Vic Fangio’s team. The Denver Broncos had rebounded from the team’s worst start since 1999 and came up with back-to-back wins over the Chargers and Titans. They were facing the first-place Kansas City Chiefs, losers of two straight games after a 4-0 start.
It was a short week and the game was in the Mile High City. Certainly the team could take advantage of a reeling Chiefs’ team whose defense had been vulnerable to the run all year. Instead, the result was Chiefs 30, Broncos 6.
Sure to form, Denver used the running game and offered a balanced attack from the start of the game to take a 6-0 lead on a 10-play, 75-yard march. Fangio opted for a two-point conversion and that was that. But the Broncos had the lead on a team they had dropped seven straight games to, including four in a row at home.
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Denver totaled 130 yards the remainder of the game. The club finished 1-of-13 on third-down conversions. The Broncos not only allowed 30 unanswered points but quarterback Joe Flacco was sacked nine times, fumbling on three occasions and his one lost fumble was returned for a score by Kansas City’s Reggie Ragland.
And never mind the fact that the Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes (via NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman) for the vast majority of the game. It was an ugly showing in primetime in front of the Mile High faithful.
The club is averaging exactly 16 points a game and held to that number or below in five of their seven outings. The veteran signal-caller has eight of Denver’s nine turnovers.
At 2-5, there is a lot of football left to be played. But what has happened to this franchise since that Super Bowl 50 championship campaign? General manager John Elway has struggled to find a quarterback and he’s gone through his share via free agency, trade and the draft. Even with Fangio in town, the defense has had its ups and downs. The offensive line is a major problem and the team seems devoid of a lot of big-play weapons.
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In 2016, one year after winning their third NFL title, the Denver Broncos opened 4-0. Since then, one of the more successful franchises since the merger is a combined 18-33 in its last 51 contests. Are there any solutions in sight? This is a team that is apparently more than one or two pieces away from getting back into serious postseason consideration.