Former Denver Bronco proves that the locker room just doesn't get it

Su'a Cravens, who played for the Denver Broncos in 2018, almost accidentally proves why the franchise has experienced so much losing lately. This all just makes perfect sense. It's nothing new, but it's more so just a confirmation or an additional reason as to why the Denver Broncos are such a poor team over this last half-decade.

Su'a Cravens played for the Denver Broncos back in 2018 and is apparently still on terms with some current players. He took to Twitter recently and had this to say about the current team:

You can choose to believe Cravens here. You can also choose not to. I tend to believe what he has to say. The NFL is a brotherhood and I don't think Cravens is lying or fabricating anything here. He claims that numerous players don't seem to care for how Sean Payton operates as a coach. "Vic 2.0" is something that he notes in the Tweet.

So apparently, when Vic Fangio was head coach of the team, there were some players in the locker room who were not a fan of how he ran things. Fangio seemed to be viewed as egotistical and arrogant by some, and evidently was not universally liked in the locker room by some of his players.

Well, it seems to be that some of those players who are still on the team with Payton now at the helm feel similarly about the former New Orleans Saints' head coach. Here's the thing though; the coaching styles of Fangio and Payton is precisely what this team needs. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that those who have a problem with the way Payton is coaching and running this team should not be on the roster in the first place.

Both Payton and Fangio have objectively been pretty successful in the NFL as coaches. Payton is a Super Bowl-winning head coach with over 150 career games won. Fangio is largely seen as a premier defensive mind and an excellent DC. You'll also notice that we really didn't hear much of this when Vance Joseph and Nathaniel Hackett were head coaches of the Broncos.

Both Joseph and Hackett are seen as players' coaches. Hackett specifically almost seemed to be more of a friend than a coach, and both Joseph and Hackett were disasters in Denver. To me, the type of personality that Vic Fangio and Sean Payton have as coaches is exactly what the Broncos need, and frankly, I personally want players on my favorite team who want to play for Sean Payton.

Back on Fangio for a second; he was easily this team's best coach since Gary Kubiak stepped down. The 2019 and 2021 Denver Broncos were two very disciplined teams who were a few bounces here and there away from making the playoffs as a Wild Card team.

In 2019, Denver finished the year 7-9. They started the year 0-4 and proceeded to go 7-5 in their remaining 12 contests. They had the 10th-ranked defenses in the NFL and a stretch of going 4-1 over the last five games. They also committed the 14th-least penalties in the NFL that year, and that's been a huge sore spot for recent Bronco teams.

In 2021, the Denver Broncos were actually a pretty solid team. I'd argue the 2021 team was the best squad since the Super Bowl 50 team back in 2015. In 2021, Denver had the 23rd-best scoring offense but did have the 3rd-best scoring defense. They had a positive point differential, committed the 4th-least penalties, and had EIGHT seperate weeks during the season when their record was above .500. They were 7-6 going into a Week 15 game versus the Cincinnati Bengals, the AFC Super Bowl team that year.

The Denver Broncos also had six wins that year of at least two scores, so they were blowing out opponents regularly. You see, the players who complain that Sean Payton is just "Vic 2.0" as Su'a Cravens noted in his tweet are simply complaining about good coaching, and frankly, they shouldn't be on the roster.