The Denver Broncos are a hot, hot mess following bad loss

There is a point of anger as a football fan that goes beyond seething mad. It goes beyond denial, and it goes beyond even apathy.

The furthest point of anger for me as a fan is when there’s nothing I can do but laugh.

The Denver Broncos were beat so bad on their home field by the Kansas City Chiefs, it was comical. It was comical watching Peyton Manning float some of the worst passes I’ve seen all season into the waiting arms of Chiefs defenders. It was hilarious watching Charcandrick West (WHO?) take advantage of a complete breakdown of the vaunted top defense in the league with Sylvester Williams in coverage and nobody else in sight as he raced downfield for a huge touchdown.

It was funny watching Brock Osweiler come in, and all of a sudden the football starts getting spread around.

The Denver Broncos looked like a hot mess on Sunday afternoon, and everyone involved should be embarrassed. What happened to ‘kicking and screaming’? Or did that just refer to the fact that we’re now going to lose one defender per week to a stupid, senseless, moronic personal foul penalty?

What difference did it make between January and November, to see the Broncos losing to the same Colts team they fired an entire coaching staff for? What is going on that you barely escaped getting shut out on your home field against a division rival?

Why is Vernon Davis already causing distractions with the media by complaining about his playing time?

If you want to be really nice about it, you can say that the Broncos are at a crossroads. Just about one year ago at this time, Peyton Manning killed the momentum of the team by trying to play through a quad injury that he had no business doing. Now, word has gotten out that Manning has a serious foot injury, and he has no business trying to play through that one either.

He did on Sunday, and it was the worst performance I’ve seen by an NFL quarterback in my time of watching the sport. I respect Peyton Manning, and I am proud to have watched some of his best years in the NFL as a Broncos quarterback, but the jig is up. If you’re hurt, you’re hurt — don’t make me suffer through watching you on Sunday because you can’t swallow your pride and let someone else take the reins for a few weeks.

The Broncos’ coaching staff knew Manning was hurt, and they let him play anyway. The number of drives that ended in a punt or interception on Sunday was sickening, even if you were the worst team in the NFL, which I don’t believe the Broncos are.

But they certainly looked like a contender on Sunday…

It’s no time to make wholesale changes, but for the foreseeable future, it would behoove the Broncos to make Brock Osweiler the starting quarterback. Peyton Manning is broken, ineffective, and downright bad right now. He has thrown 17 interceptions this season, something I can’t remember seeing a quarterback do within the first nine games of an NFL season.

It took 17 throws to the other team for the coaching staff to put in no. 17, and that sickens me.

With Kyle Orton we expected it. With Tim Tebow, it was also expected and there was somehow magic at the end of the game. With Peyton Manning? There’s a point where winning trumps the unwritten rule of respect, and it’s time the Broncos made the right decision for their team rather than continue to try and let Manning etch his name in the record books.

The Broncos are 7-2, and still have a sizable lead in the AFC West, but the AFC playoff race is all but decided with the Patriots and Bengals still undefeated 10 weeks into the season.

There is nothing the Broncos have done since demolishing the Green Bay Packers to indicate they can contend if or when they make it to the playoffs, but there’s still time to figure things out. Make the change at quarterback. Let Peyton Manning rest himself and fully heal. If you don’t trust Brock Osweiler to win you a few games, then there are bigger problems at hand.

This is the perfect time and situation to see what Osweiler can do. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved, but letting Manning continue to go out there and embarrass himself and the team is not working out.