Denver Broncos’ startling collapse to AFC West basement should lead to action

The Denver Broncos couldn’t have scripted a better start to their season.

Shortly after installing a new quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater to help captain the offense with a steadier hand than the unpredictable (and inaccurate results) of Drew Lock and aided by a championship-caliber defense, the Broncos looked like a team that was ready to turn the corner from annual losers into a potentially pesky playoff contender in crowded AFC West.

Through three weeks, the Broncos sat unbeaten and tied with the Las Vegas Raiders at 3-0 in a shocking overturn of the AFC West. The preseason favorites, the Kansas City Chiefs, were sitting at 1-2 overall with serious questions about their defense and a sloppy penchant for turnovers on offense. The Broncos, on the other hand, looked like they might employ the league’s best secondary and the array of offensive weapons available to Bridgewater was going to carry the offense far enough to make some noise.

Then they stopped playing the league’s cupcakes.

The Denver Broncos collapsed to the AFC West basement after starting 3-0.

Look, it’s not the Broncos’ fault that they played who they did when they did. It’s not as if John Elway himself is in charge of the regular season schedule or even has any influence over it. But suffice it to say that as the Broncos realized they were going to lose last night to the Cleveland Browns backups on Thursday Night Football that their entire season had changed. In fact, it’d collapsed out from under them in a matter of four weeks.

That’s because Denver had gone from first to worst just because the competition was tougher.

Thursday night’s primetime loss was the worst in the Vic Fangio era—and there have been some ugly losses in that stint. But the Browns were playing without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield and their two-headed rushing attack of backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb. Instead the Broncos watched Case Keenum perform just as well as Bridgewater (or even slightly better) while allowing D’Ernest Johnson to rush for 146 yards on 22 carries in his first NFL start—even when the Broncos knew the Browns would run the ball.

The Broncos 17-14 loss to the Browns dropped them to 3-4 overall. After consecutive wins to start the season against the likes of the New York Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the New York Jets (literally three of the very worst teams in the NFL), the Broncos have now lost four straight. The Baltimore Ravens were a given in Week 4, but the Pittsburgh Steelers have looked very mortal this season, the Raiders are a known (lacking) quantity, and the Browns were as decimated as ever.

In short, if the Broncos were really a team turning the corner, a franchise on the verge of starting to upend teams in that middle tier of competition, then they should have taken care of at least 1-2 or even 3 of those matchups over the last month. Instead, they rolled over in all four of them.

The Broncos might find some light in coming games against the NFC East in which they will play the Philadelphia Eagles or the Washington Football Team, but that’s about as easy as it gets. They also have to face the Chiefs twice, the Charger twice, and the Raiders one more time—and that’s all within their own division. That’s not to mention games against the Dallas Cowboys or the surprising Cincinnati Bengals.

If this is as good as the Broncos are going to be going forward—and they’re going to get worse if the injury to Von Miller is anything serious—it’s quite possible that a late-season contest against the Detroit Lions is the Broncos only win remaining on the 2021 schedule.

That seems audacious, to be honest, and some other team is likely going to fall just because that’s what happens week to week in the NFL.  However, it’s looking very possible that the Broncos will end the season with 4-6 total wins in 17 games, and that’s after starting 3-0. If that’s true, then it likely means we’re going to see yet another regime change on the coaching staff and at quarterback for the umpteenth time since John Elway began stirring the pot. Yes, George Paton needs a chance to make this roster in his own image, but this is not a great start.

Can the Broncos turn things around? At the very least, they need to shift gears to a different quarterback and maybe make some other drastic decisions to move things along. Otherwise it’s going to be an ugly season in ’21 with an even uglier offseason looming as Denver will likely clean house.