What does Vance Joseph need to do to keep his job with the Denver Broncos? Will a loss against the Chiefs in week 17 seal his fate?
With every passing day, the anticipation for ‘Black Monday’ in the NFL grows. Not because we enjoy watching men be relieved of their jobs, which would be insensitive and borderline gross, but because the NFL is a business unlike many others where a lack of instant results are often not tolerated.
So, we talk about it.
For the Denver Broncos, we’re nearing closer to John Elway’s decision of whether or not to keep Vance Joseph as the team’s head coach.
One season in, it’s really hard to make a decision like that, but the Broncos have to look at the big picture of things, as well as the possible alternatives available on the coaching market.
If there’s the possibility of an upgrade at head coach, you have to explore it. If you determine that Joseph failed to meet any expectations for this season, you consider it.
There are many reasons why firing Joseph would be justified at this point, starting with the fact that this season will be the worst the Broncos have had since 2010 when they fired Josh McDaniels.
With an opportunity to close the season out against the Kansas City Chiefs (and their backups) with a win, we have to wonder if week 17 is a ‘must win’ situation for Joseph, and if winning will make any difference at all.
The report from Mike Klis a few weeks back was that Joseph had to win two of the Broncos’ final four or five games, and he did that, with the Broncos winning two games in a five-day span.
Those wins, despite coming against the Jets and Colts, were rather impressive considering the Broncos were coming off of an eight-game losing streak, and many players being placed on injured reserve throughout that span of time.
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It’s sort of sad that Joseph would be evaluated on a game-by-game basis at the end of the season, rather than the whole of the season, which was a complete disappointment from a Broncos fan’s perspective.
This team was competent enough in 2016 with Gary Kubiak at the helm to win nine games, and with a couple of other games ending in coin flip, lucky fashion for the opponent, the Broncos could have easily been a 10- or 11-win team and made the playoffs.
This year, they’ve been getting bludgeoned. Embarrassed. They have lacked discipline for most of the year. Decision-making during games has been suspect.
Playing rookies and getting a look at the future of the franchise has not happened.
The Broncos have been spinning their wheels with no direction this season and it has cost them clarity for the future.
One win against a Chiefs team sitting a bunch of starters isn’t going to prove that Joseph deserves to stay, but losing this game at home with the opponent playing a rookie quarterback for the first time this season could be the final nail in the proverbial coffin.