Denver Broncos: Top 10 things that have defined 2020
Top 10 things that have defined the 2020 season for the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos, like most NFL teams, have not exactly had an easy go of it in 2020.
Every NFL season is difficult for its own reasons, but the 2020 campaign was especially challenging for the young Broncos who faced overwhelming adversity at seemingly every turn.
With 2020 nearly in the books, the 2020 season nearly at its conclusion, and many eyes already on the 2021 NFL Draft and offseason in general, how can we look back on the season that was for the Denver Broncos?
Here are 10 things that defined the 2020 season for the Broncos.
10. Firing Rich Scangarello, Hiring Pat Shurmur
As the Houston Texans were blowing a colossal lead over the Kansas City Chiefs and I, personally, was falling asleep peacefully at the sight of it, my phone started blowing up with notifications that the Denver Broncos had made a huge move.
Just a couple of weeks after Vic Fangio said he thought all three of his coordinators would be back for the 2020 season, the Broncos fired first-year offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello with a more veteran name in mind.
That obviously turned out to be Pat Shurmur, who was fired from his head coaching gig with the New York Giants.
The Broncos were expected to attempt continuity with Scangarello, but there were apparently enough inconsistencies with his game management as a coordinator that the Broncos decided they wanted Shurmur’s system and experience in place.
Shurmur, a veteran coordinator, inherited the youngest offense in the NFL “by a thousand snaps” he said at his most recent press conference, and while that’s not an excuse (because the Broncos are talented) it is context for the way this team has been so inconsistent.
But hopefully, most fans knew there would be growing pains with some moments of brilliance along the way, even with a veteran coordinator. Shurmur is now poised to lead the unit into at least a year two in 2021 with some decent success (or at least, progress) down the home stretch of the 2020 season.