There is plenty to discuss as the Denver Broncos wind down the 2021 season, but unfortunately, all those discussions are going to be negative.
It has been a negative feeling surrounding the Denver Broncos for several years now. This is a middle-of-the-road team that can’t get out of its own way. It has issues in some of the most important areas in the organization, and those issues must be addressed.
So what will it take to make Broncos fans happy again?
The Broncos are one of the league’s proudest and most successful franchises. Pat Bowlen instilled that success within the organization and since the team won Super Bowl 50, that expectation of greatness has gone by the wayside.
Fans need to have something to cheer for again, to get excited about again.
So here are five things that would instantly bring about a positive attitude in Denver.
Giving more playing time to certain players
We’ll start with something small and though it wouldn’t bring on a sustained cheer, it would potentially uplift the spirits of some fans to see the team give more snaps to some of the younger stars on the roster.
The Broncos are 7-8 and though not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, let’s be honest, they are done.
So hopefully, Drew Lock is the guy starting at quarterback for the final two games of the season but if Teddy Bridgewater is cleared to play, you can bet Vic Fangio will probably have him out there.
But guys like Mike Boone need to see more action. He was signed early on in free agency and though injuries have slowed him down, he has done next to nothing this season. The same goes for last year’s third-round pick McTelvin Agim, who has been a colossal waste to this point.
Linebacker Jonas Griffith had a great game in Week 16 and should see more snaps as a result and then there are guys like Jamar Johnson, this year’s fifth-round pick, who has suited up for just one game as a rookie.
Let’s see what these guys can do. What is there to lose?
Beat the Chiefs
Again, this would bring forth a small cheer since it still won’t lead to a playoff berth in all likelihood, but this losing streak to the Kansas City Chiefs has to end.
The Broncos have lost 12 games in a row to the Chiefs including a disheartening defeat earlier in the season. The two teams meet to close out this season.
The Chiefs have already clinched the AFC West division, winning it for the sixth year in a row. If the Broncos are lucky, the Chiefs will rest all of their starters for that season finale and the Broncos can end that streak on that day.
Yes, that would put a bit of an asterisk next to that statistic, but the losing streak, which dates back to when Peyton Manning was still on the roster, would be over. If nothing else, it would be nice for fans to not have to hear about that anymore.
In addition, it could provide a bit of a morale boost to the team heading into the next season. Perhaps not having to face a Chiefs team that it hasn’t beaten since 2015 would make the task look a lot less daunting.
The Chiefs have turned it around and look like they are clearly the best team in the AFC right now, but when Denver faced them on the road just a few weeks ago, they were quite beatable on that night, the Broncos just didn’t execute.
Moving on from this coaching staff
This is a must and should bring about a big cheer. A big, sustained cheer.
Though it was already pretty clear, it was quite evident following the recent loss to Las Vegas that massive changes are necessary. Whether those occur now or at the end of the season, it’s not in question anymore.
Fangio has done what he could. He did install a pretty solid defense, but his shortcomings far outweigh that.
Fangio has failed to properly prepare the team on a week-to-week basis, his clock management has been laughable and his insistence on sticking with certain players and coaches has been maddening.
It’s his stubborn ways, above all else, that has led him to be on the hot seat. And that seat should be so hot at this point that he can barely sit on it.
But it’s not just Fangio. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has been incredibly bad at calling the offense and putting his team in the best position to succeed and special teams coach Tom McMahon has to even be wondering himself why he’s still around.
If the Broncos can retain offensive line coach Mike Munchak, do it. But the rest of the staff needs to be shown the door as quickly as possible.
Somehow, get Aaron Rodgers
Yes, this is the dead horse that I (and several others) am going to continue to beat. The Broncos need to make this happen.
Whether Aaron Rodgers wins the Super Bowl and back-to-back MVPs or not, it still shouldn’t be hard to lure him away from a place he clearly did not want to be in this year. Will the Packers trade him away is the real question.
And maybe the answer, at least on the surface, is no. But everybody’s got a price in the famous words of Ted Dibiase and Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst does too. George Paton, or whoever is making this decision when the time comes, needs to figure out what it is.
Rodgers may be a quirky dude that likes to troll the media, but he can play some football and even in the latter stages of his career, could take the Broncos to heights that no quarterback on the roster or in the upcoming draft is going to do anytime soon.
Find out what that price is and no matter what it is, meet it. The Broncos obtained some extra draft picks with trades made this season and there are some good young pieces that they could part within this deal.
Just make it happen. And stop listening to the reports in the media that Gutekunst just absolutely won’t make this trade. For the right price he (and anyone else, for that matter), will.
Peyton Manning becomes part-owner
Broncos Country would absolutely love this. And the idea is starting to pick up some steam.
The Broncos could leave the Bowlen family this offseason as power of the team shifts away from the Bowlen Trust. Very few people on the planet would be able to buy the team on their own, but a guy like Manning could become part of an investor group to purchase a stake of the team.
If Manning could get back involved with the organization, there is little down that things would start to take a turn for the better.
Manning is one of those guys in which everything they touch turns to gold and it’s reasonable to believe that a new commitment to excellence and winning football would be instilled if Manning was part of the organization in any way.
This kind of news would create an uproarious cheer within the team’s fanbase.