Well, my early-season optimism proved that once again, I tend to view things through orange-tinted glasses. Not that I was expecting all that much...I had them pegged for 8-8!
After last night's demoralizing 30-6 loss to the Chiefs, who played most of the game without Patrick Mahomes, it's obvious the Broncos will finish with their third consecutive losing season. Much of Broncos Country (including myself) was hopeful that last night would prove that these Broncos were capable of competing for the playoffs. If they could extend their winning streak to three games, at home, against the reeling Chiefs, they would find themselves only a game out of first place in the AFC West! And from there, anything could happen!! After all, the Broncos should have won those games against Chicago and Jacksonville!!!
Instead, the Chiefs win their eighth straight against the Broncos, extending all the way back to 2015, the year the Broncos won Super Bowl 50.
The knock against the Chiefs has been their defense, and yet the Broncos offensive line and Joe Flacco made them look like the Steel Curtain. Eight sacks of Flacco, and one more of Colby Wadman on a botched fake punt.
The Broncos offense was putrid. They actually scored minus one points. Although they scored the six points on the opening drive (although assisted by Kansas City penalties), they handed the Chiefs seven points on Flacco's fumble shortly after Mahomes exited the game. I didn't even need to pay attention in the second half because I knew the result of their drives would be three-and-out.
It was almost like they knew they had no business being on the field with Kansas City. What was the deal with going for two after their touchdown on the opening drive? I didn't understand the call. It was like they knew they weren't going to be scoring again so they might as well get what they could when they could.
I examined the remaining schedule after the game finally ended. Five road games left: Colts, Vikings, Bills, Texans, Chiefs. If the season ended today, four of those five would be in the playoffs, with the Colts losing a tiebreaker on the final wildcard in the AFC. The five teams have a collective record of 20-9 at this point in the season. The Broncos probably will not win any of those games.
The remaining home schedule is a little more manageable: Browns, Chargers, Lions, Raiders, with a collective record of 9-12-1. Yet the Broncos haven't done that well at home thus far, winning just one out of four. Even if you say the Broncos win three of their four remaining home games, that still leaves them at 5-11 on the season, which is not even as good as last season, and would beg the question: why did we get rid of Vance Joseph and Case Keenum, if their replacements yielded no better results?
I feared that if the Broncos had a rough start, the Drew Lock debates would begin. And so here we go: how long before they decide to play the rookie?
