Denver Broncos fans should have a strong rooting interest the rest of the way.
It’s counterintuitive, but it rhymes with boss.
Loss, loss, loss. And throw in five more for good measure.
It’s hard to stomach now, just about two weeks from Thanksgiving, but the best long-term answer for the Broncos is to suck in the short-term.
Get to the gas pump while you can. It’s time for the Broncos to fill up the tank.
3-13 is the goal; tanking the rest of the way is the answer.
Denver isn’t going to beat New England on “Sunday Night Football” – they’ll be lucky not to get embarrassed – and once they sit at 3-6 the season will be essentially done.
The sooner we can get this over with, the better.
A quick look at the NFL standings reveals only two teams are difficult for the Broncos to catch, in a roundabout way. Both Cleveland (0-8) and San Francisco (0-9) should finish with worse records than Denver.
After that, there’s no reason the Broncos can’t be the third-worst team in the league. That, of course, would land them the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
It would require a 12-game losing streak to finish the season, and an overhaul to the coaching staff and roster, but would that be the worst thing?
Face it, the Broncos are rebuilding.
John Elway signaled as much on Thursday when he passed on Martellus Bennett on waivers. Tight end might be the Broncos’ weakest position group – and that’s saying a lot – yet No. 7 didn’t bother to claim Bennett after he was cut by the Packers.
Instead, Bennett ended up back in New England – and Elway declined to add a weapon to an offense in desperate need of playmakers. Heck, Bennett may play in Denver on Sunday night, except he’ll be doing it for the Patriots against a Broncos’ secondary that hasn’t been able to cover the position all season.
If you’re a C.J. Anderson fan, enjoy his last eight games in Denver. He has no money guaranteed after 2017 – that means he’s gone in NFL terms .
Aqib Talib is a key cog on the Broncos defense and my favorite player in that locker room, but his contract structure suggests a departure might be near, too.
Talib is due $12 million in 2018, but he would only count as $1 million in “dead cap” money if cut. If Denver knows they’re not going to contend next year, saving $11 million would be tempting.
And we haven’t even talked about quarterbacks.
Trevor Siemian is painfully average. Almost surely a backup the rest of his career, it probably won’t be with the Broncos.
Brock Osweiler is playing for his starting QB life on Sunday. Somehow win, and he’ll get another start. Lose, and it’ll be Paxton Lynch time. The odds Osweiler is in Denver’s QB room a year from now are low.
And Lynch? Where to begin? The first-round pick has been unable to get on the field for a variety of reasons. Depending on who you talk with, those reasons can be jarring. Regardless, he’s creeping closer to the “bust” label without even playing. Unless Lynch goes all “Tebow” on us the final seven weeks, he could be another offseason casualty.
Finally, the future of Vance Joseph seems uncertain. NFL head coaches going one-and-done is rare, but not unheard of. It looked like he had lost the locker room last weekend in Philadelphia. If that’s the case, imagine what the next eight weeks will hold.
All the sudden, 3-13 doesn’t seem that unrealistic.
That wouldn’t be a bad thing for Denver. You’ve surely heard how loaded this draft class is with quarterbacks. Whether your preference is Sam Darnold (USC), Josh Rosen (UCLA) or Josh Allen (Wyoming), there’s a little something for everyone. That debate can rage all spring if the Broncos “do their part” and secure a top-5 pick.
Don’t like a QB that early? Use a top-5 pick to continue fixing the offensive line. There’s plenty of depth in the 2018 quarterback class, including Luke Falk (Washington State), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) and Lamar Jackson (Louisville). A quality signal-caller is bound to be available in the low 30s, as well.
It’s counterintuitive. It’s hard to accept. But it’s the right thing to do.
Denver fans should be rooting for losses the rest of the way.
You can take it to the bank, the Broncos need to tank.