The Denver Broncos are on the precipice of collapse, both on and off the field, and if something doesn’t change immediately, the team might as well just pack it in right now.
On Sunday, following a brutal loss to the Patriots where the Denver offense failed to compete, tempers flared in the Broncos locker room, as the defense finally broke. Sparked by Aqib Talib, the No Fly Zone jumped down the offensive line’s throat, and Gary Kubiak had to step in to calm the two sides, according to Michael Silver of NFL Network.
And while both units may say the right thing today and throughout the week, there’s clearly a chasm developing between the offense and defense that could pull this team apart if it’s not rectified right now; this team is not capable of taking down the Chiefs and Raiders in the next two weeks if they’re divided.
Leaders need to step up and heal the open wound while there’s still time. And make no mistake, there’s still time.
Here’s what everyone had to say about the mounting frustrations following the game on Sunday:
T.J. Ward on his frustration with the offense
“When you kill yourself with two early turnovers [and] you’re not putting points up, it’s hard to win games. Point-blank, period. That’s what we’ve been doing the last few weeks and you see we’ve got two [losses] on that side of the column.”
Demaryius Thomas on the offensive struggles
“I don’t know. I guess we’re beating ourselves. We had a couple penalties, a couple drops. That’s the main thing. If you get behind early in the game, then you have to try to change up the game plan.”
DT on the frustration level
“There’s no frustration right now. It’s tough that we weren’t able to put points on the board. We only got a field goal. We were able to move the ball a good amount in the first half, but still weren’t able to get points. It’s not frustration. It’s just trying to figure out how to get better.”’
Aqib Talib on the defense’s frustration with the offense
“That’s not really going to take us anywhere though. Just being frustrated and beefing with the offense. That’s not going to get us anywhere. We’re going to ride. We’re going to stick together and we’re going to go play Christmas night.”
Talib on keeping this team together
“It’s up to the leaders on the team. The leaders on the team have got to keep the morale good in the locker room. Most of the people follow what we do, so I’ll make sure we’re straight. The older guys on offense, the older guys on defense, they see us vibing and know we’re all good. The [young guys] are pretty much going to do what we do.”
Jordan Norwood on the offense failing to capitalize
“As an offense, we want to put points on the board. That’s part of being a professional, being able to do that. Our defense played great, holding [Patriots QB Tom] Brady to 16 points. We need to do a little better on our end.”
Von Miller on the offensive production
“I’m not looking at the three. I’m looking at the 16. The 16 is more than three, so we lost. It’s a team effort, no matter how you slice it. It’s not the play calls. It’s not the coaches. It’s not the front office. It’s us. We’re the ones on the football field. We’ve got to make it happen. We’ve just got to do it. Forty-five minutes after the game, I really don’t have too much information, but what I take away from the game is we’ve got to do more. We’ve got to do more on defense, and I know it sounds tough, but we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”
Miller on keeping the team together
“There’s not going to be any friction. I’m the partition here. There’s not going any friction. It’s just a tough loss. You’ve got grown men in here. It’s hard to accept it, especially after you put so much in during the week, and knowing what this game means to us and our organization and our fans. It’s just a tough loss, a tough one to swallow. But we’ll get over it. We’ve got two big games left and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be ready to go. We’ve got two big games left, and who knows what can happen.”
Chris Harris on losing when the defense plays so well
“That’s what makes it sick, when we come out and play stout like we did today. We could’ve played a little bit better, try to get some turnovers, but they didn’t really have to take a lot of chances. They didn’t really have to throw the ball down the field a lot. It’s hard to make plays when we don’t get that many targets.”
Trevor Siemian on his frustrations with the offense
“Frustrating no doubt. Especially earlier on when we were moving the ball really well and have no points to show for it. A lot of that’s on me. Missed a couple opportunities to get us points early on, and that comes back to haunt you for sure.”