2. 2020 is not the year for your head coach to be a scapegoat
Even though the NFL (like everyone else in the world) has been impacted by COVID-19 in 2020, teams are still going to make coaching changes. The business side of the NFL will press on, and as a matter of fact, a number of teams have already fired not only head coaches in the middle of the season, but general managers as well.
With that being said, every situation and circumstance is different. Teams like the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, and Houston Texans have much more precedent with their head coaches than the Denver Broncos have with Vic Fangio. The Broncos’ situation is a difficult one for everyone involved.
The offense is the youngest in the NFL as it is, and that side of the ball has been dealing with injuries and the opt-out of Ja’Wuan James all year.
With a new coordinator coming in on that side of the ball to work with the youngest group in the league, combined with all of the Broncos’ injuries on both sides of the ball, combined with the fact that the team didn’t have an offseason or training camp to really prepare like normal, how can you justify blaming Vic Fangio for the Broncos’ record at this point?
The answer is — you cannot.
While Fangio has not been perfect in his time as the Denver Broncos’ head coach, it’s abundantly clear that if any rookie or second-year head coach deserved grace from the front office, it would be Fangio in 2020.
If the Broncos were fully healthy and still playing poorly, it might be a different conversation, but this has been one of the craziest years for injuries I have seen as far as the Broncos are concerned.
Even considering all of the injuries and growing pains of the offense, Fangio has had this Broncos team fighting tough in just about every game.