The Denver Broncos players were punch-drunk after Sunday’s humiliating defeat.
How the Denver Broncos go about regrouping after the worst defeat in franchise history will test everyone’s mental stamina. At some point, head coach Sean Payton’s soul searching might quickly give way to practical decision-making, which many Broncos fans hoped would see embattled defensive coordinator Vance Joseph being relieved of his duties.
That isn’t happening, it appears. Not right now, anyway
Until any internal moves are made, all the Broncos players can do is dig in for the long haul and hope that sticking together can somehow turn things around.
Fractures between the offense and defense can bring a ball club to its knees, and while it certainly looks like the Broncos have reached their absolute rock bottom, quarterback Russell Wilson insisted post-game that they remain a united unit.
We’re all in this thing together as a team, and there is a lot to learn, there is a lot to grow from,” Wilson said. “Like I said, there is also a lot of perspective to understand that 0-3 doesn’t feel good, but the reality is we’ve got 14 games left, and you got to put your blinders on, and you got to know it’s a race, and you’ve got to know that you’re starting in the far outside lane. All we can do is keep focused on the fundamentals and the details, and that’s what will get us to where we want to go. It’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a journey. It’s going to be ups and downs. I think the biggest thing we can do is continue to focus on what we can do together as a team.”
For what it’s worth, right tackle Mike McGlinchey believes the Broncos are still bought into Payton’s program.
I don’t think anybody’s not bought in,” McGlinchey said post-game. “I think everybody has the utmost confidence and respect for Coach Payton and our staff and things that we’re instilling in our team. I think, obviously, when you’re in Year 1, and things go differently, and you’re with a new staff and new players and a new locker room, there’s going to be growing pains. But this today was not a growing pain. Today was unacceptable. We’re going to get this right. We’ll make sure that this is only temporary and that we can use this as momentum to get better from here.”
Despite McGlinchey offering up his rationale, the prevailing notion that his teammates on defense quit on Sunday holds plenty of water. How else do you explain allowing 70 points?
Joseph’s defense will carry the label of relinquishing the most single-game points in team history, but on offense, wide receiver Courtland Sutton was well aware of how costly his pair of fumbles were in the grand scheme of things.
Can’t put the ball on the ground; it’s unacceptable,” Sutton said post-game. “We always say that when we are carrying the ball, we’ve got everybody’s dreams, goals and aspirations. I put the ball on the ground twice today, which is very frustrating. The overall outcome of the game is—there’s losing, and there’s getting your butt handed to you. I think that we got our butt handed to us today. But the positive part of it is that it’s early… Coach told us it’s going to take guys going to different levels that they haven’t been to so that we can make sure this does not happen again.”
Despite Sutton’s impassioned locker room remarks, complete chaos has descended upon the Broncos. Therefore, the players facing up to adversity might be admirable, but until the Broncos walk the walk, all the talk is hot air.
Considering the apparent dearth of talent and unprecedented level of incompetent coaching on the defensive side of the ball, Broncos Country had best buckle up for a painful ride. For Payton, an uncomfortable truth will nag away at him until he does the right thing, admits he was wrong, and runs his defensive coordinator out of town posthaste.
