With a 3-6 start to the 2018 season, it’s become abundantly clear that time is running out for Vance Joseph as head coach of the Denver Broncos.
Time is running out for Vance Joseph as head coach of the Denver Broncos, and we saw his work against the Texans with clock management.
In all of the press conferences I have watched of Joseph over the past two seasons and everything he has said and put out there, I genuinely think he’s a good guy with the best intentions, so I don’t fault him for not trying to help the Broncos be the best they can be.
Unlike Josh McDaniels, who cheated and sabotaged the Broncos’ sterling reputation.
Over the past two seasons, in terms of the standards the Denver Broncos have set as a franchise, Joseph has simply not done enough to hold onto this job, especially considering many feel he’s already an entire offseason and nine regular-season games into borrowed time.
No statistic is more damning for Joseph at this point than the team’s win/loss record in Denver. In 13 regular season home games, the Broncos shockingly have a losing record of 6-7 following the team’s loss to the Houston Texans.
The Broncos have lost their identity. They’ve lost cohesion in the locker room. Accountability has turned into public blame. Just look at some of Demaryius Thomas’ post-game comments about the team:
Demaryius Thomas to @MikeSilver on Broncos going passive at the end, settling for long FG attempt: "That's what they do over there. I ain't a part of that no more. We like to win over here” https://t.co/dszzVJcwnJ
— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) November 5, 2018
DT on his 4th quarter mistakes: "The good thing is they don’t blame over here, which is good." https://t.co/2ld8c19U96
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) November 5, 2018
While you can sense some of Thomas’ bitterness in those quotes, he wasn’t the problem in Denver but he’s making sure everyone in the public eye knows exactly what the problem is.
The problem is the leadership of the team. The Broncos need a leader at head coach which is ironic considering the reason we were all told by John Elway that Joseph was hired in the first place was for his abilities as a ‘leader of men’.
For the first time since he inherited a huge mess, John Elway is going to have to push the reset button himself and make some major changes. The Broncos feel like such a mess right now but this is a team that is much better than its record indicates.
That sounds like the oldest excuse in the book but the Broncos played well enough to win on Sunday and unfortunately, Joseph’s decision-making at the end of both the first and second half cost the team a much-needed home victory and almost certainly solidified this Broncos team as a non-playoff team (if that wasn’t the case already).
The Broncos now head on the road after their bye week to face the Los Angeles Chargers, who are nipping at the Kansas City Chiefs’ heels for first place in the AFC West.
If you thought Joseph’s record at home (6-7, in case you missed it), you should see his record on the road (2-10).
The Broncos’ two road wins came against the hapless 2017 Indianapolis Colts and the similarly hapless 2018 Arizona Cardinals.
The Broncos have been unable to put together quality wins against really good football teams. The most quality victory in Vance Joseph’s time with the team might be his first ever when the Broncos beat the Chargers in week one of the 2017 season.
After that, the other wins for Denver include a blowout against last year’s horrid Cowboys team, the Raiders (twice), the Colts and Jets (who both had top six draft picks in 2018), the worst Seahawks team since Russell Wilson was drafted, and the Arizona Cardinals who will contend for the number one overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Broncos can’t beat quality opponents. They can’t finish games. The locker room seems to be out of control (assuming Demaryius Thomas is to be believed, and I see no reason why he isn’t). They don’t manage the clock well. They are not the sum of their parts.
The Broncos are not a well-coached football team and they haven’t been for the last 25 football games.
This lack of success will certainly not stand and there will be major changes made. The first change that needs to be made to rally Broncos Country together again is to make a switch at head coach. As tough as it is to speculate on the future of a human being and their professional career, everyone wants what is best for the Broncos.
Will they make the change in-season? Will it be following their week 17 game?
Whatever happens, the Broncos need to do something to galvanize the players, and the trade deadline move to rid of Demaryius Thomas doesn’t appear to have done the trick.