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Denver Broncos: How hot is Vance Joseph’s seat?

By Sayre Bedinger

CARSON, CA - OCTOBER 22: Head Coach Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos is seen during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center on October 22, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA - OCTOBER 22: Head Coach Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos is seen during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center on October 22, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Approaching training camp, how hot is Vance Joseph’s seat with the Denver Broncos as the team’s head coach? We examine…

Despite the fact that many are cautiously optimistic for the Denver Broncos heading into the 2018 season, some significant questions remain for head coach Vance Joseph.

Just how hot is his seat heading into his second year with the organization?

The Broncos selected Joseph over some other very strong candidates in 2017, specifically Kyle Shanahan who went on to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Many Broncos fans saw a natural fit between Shanahan and Denver, given his family’s history with the team, their need for an offensively inclined coach, and Shanahan’s interest in joining the team.

After an incredibly disappointing first year, many of the fans who were outraged by Joseph being selected instead of Shanahan seem to have been at least somewhat correct, though Shanahan’s success as a rookie head coach did not coincidentally get better when Jimmy Garoppolo arrived.

Joseph was working with banged up versions of Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch with a little bit of Brock Osweiler sprinkled in.

I talked about Joseph being on the hot seat with our friends at Orange & Blue 760 Denver Broncos radio:

Denver Broncos fans have high expectations.

Considering the team’s success since Pat Bowlen took over as Owner, the expectations are not completely unjustified. The franchise has more Super Bowl appearances than losing seasons, and a very low tolerance for losing football games.

That’s why, after a 5-11 season that included an eight-game losing streak, many believed Joseph wouldn’t last the duration of his first season as head coach. Many felt like Elway would pull the plug early and start over this offseason, but he did something quite surprising and stuck with Joseph for another year.

For the fans, Joseph’s seat is going to be incredibly hot, even in the preseason.

Every single mistake will be irrationally tied back to Joseph, and losses will be added grease to a fire that is already getting out of control among Broncos Country.

Many fans already don’t want Joseph as the head coach of the team, but imagine if the team loses the season opener against Seattle.

The Broncos have two home games to start the season against the Seahawks and the Raiders. What happens if the Broncos are not 2-0 after those first two games?

Joseph needs a couple of wins at the start of the season to settle down the fan base and get his approval rating up a bit.

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Otherwise, the Broncos are going to be hearing a chorus of ‘boos’ every time the offense stalls, or every time the defense gives up a score.

And those boos will be directed right at Joseph, fair or not.

The seat is hot for Joseph, but winning is a great cure-all. If Joseph can help lead the Broncos to a couple of wins at home to start the season, fans may give him a fair chance to show what he can do over a larger sample size.

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