By: Adamo Marinelli
December 10th, 2019
In this article, I plan to analyse the talent, coaching, management and ownership situation of the Denver Broncos to uncover the reason behind their recent struggles.
The Talent:
Ever since Peyton Manning retired months after their glorious Super Bowl 50 win, the Broncos were no longer one of the best teams in the NFL. In the past four seasons, one thing stayed consistent. The defence continuously plays well every season and the offence, well not so much.
Including Drew Lock, who got his first win against the Chargers in week 13 of the 2019 season, the Broncos have started 7 QBs since the departure of the Sheriff. Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Chad Kelly, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, and Drew Lock. It seems they have yet to find stability at that position, which has a direct correlation with their recent lack of success.
This season, the Broncos have a top 5 defence and are top 10 in red-zone defence, points allowed, passing yards allowed, rushing yards allowed. In the first half, they can score at ease, but the Broncos’ inability to score points in the second half even with all the talented players they’ve had on offence, especially the fourth quarter, to close out games has haunted them, in multiple last-second field goal losses to the Bears, Jaguars and Colts and a heartbreaking loss to the Vikings who overcame a 20-0 halftime deficit.
The Coaching:
After winning Super Bowl 50, Gary Kubiak coached the Broncos for one more season, leading them to a 9-7 record, one game back of the sixth seed in the AFC. Defensive coordinator Wade Philips kept the defence playing at an elite level and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison had a great year of game planning, leading rookie QB Trevor Siemian to a pretty good rookie season throwing 18 TDs, 10 INTs and 3,400 yards. The Broncos started 7-3 and then lost 4 of their next 6 games to finish 9-7.
In 2017, John Elway considered hiring Mike Shanahan but decided to hire Vance Joseph. In two seasons with Denver, Joseph had a lackluster record of 11-21. His time management wasn’t that great, especially at the end of games; he wasn’t the best at evaluating talent in some players - particularly known for keeping a healthy Demarcus Walker off the field all season, and there were moments in both seasons where he completely lost faith of his locker room given their 3-1 start and 5-11 record in 2017 and 2-0 start yet 6-10 record in 2018. Granted, he did win some amazing games against the Chargers and Steelers to get the Broncos back to a 6-6 record in 2018 with an easy schedule remaining and a chance at the playoffs. The Broncos were unable to beat teams worse than them, played down to their competition, one of the many reasons why Joseph was let go.
In 2019, they hired longtime Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. At 61 years old, he would finally get his first coaching job. His Broncos started the season 0-4 with zero sacks and turnovers and many questionable calls which led to two losses by last-minute field goals. Critics everywhere were discrediting Fangio; fans hitting the panic button, but he wasn’t worried. In weeks 5 and 6, in wins against the Chargers and Titans, the Broncos rallied up 5 interceptions, 7 sacks and 2 forced fumbles, adding two more turnovers with a 4th down stop at the 1-yard line and forcing a missed field goal against the Chargers. Their defence seemed to be back to normal.
As of today, they have 31 sacks, 9 interceptions and are a top 10 defence in points allowed, in the red zone, in passing yards allowed, in total yards allowed. It is the Broncos’ offence that has been struggling, and offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello has faced a lot of criticism as a result. The Broncos are in the bottom half of the league in points scored, passing yards, rushing yards and total yards. Joe Flacco was sacked 26 times and was very immobile in the pocket, he threw only 6 TDs and 5 INTs. The Broncos thought signing Flacco and putting him into Scangarello’s offensive scheme - which is very close to Kubiak’s scheme in 2014 that he excelled at - would lead to his success, but Flacco appeared to be past his prime. There were some injuries to the offensive line, like right tackle Ja’wuan James, and Flacco played with a very young core of receivers, running backs and tight ends, but his lackluster play and his injury caused him to get benched. Brandon Allen played well against the Browns and Vikings but was benched after a 20-3 loss to the Bills when the Broncos registered only 100 yards of offence.
The Broncos still had hope. Their second-round draft pick, Drew Lock, QB from Missouri, was thrown into the Broncos offence and immediately excelled. He threw two first quarter touchdowns to Courtland Sutton, one of the best receivers in the AFC, and did enough to help the Broncos preserve the win. In his first road start against an amazing Texans defence, he threw for 309 yards, a Broncos record, 3 TDs and only 1 INT and helped the Broncos beat the Texans 38-24 after having a 38-3 lead in the third quarter. The Broncos finally scored a touchdown in the final two minutes of a half and also finally scored in the third quarter. They still didn’t score in the fourth quarter but their defence recorded 2 interceptions, three sacks, a forced fumble touchdown and played a near perfect game defending a high powered Texans offence who dominated the Patriots last week aside from a few garbage time Texans touchdowns. Drew Lock has passed for 443 yards, 5 total TDs, only 2 INTs and has only been sacked once in two games thanks to a now healthy Broncos offensive line. I believe the Broncos have found their franchise QB. Drew Lock is not perfect yet but he is their long term QB. Scangarello’s game planning is helping Lock succeed with ease. Also, Elway is finally getting better at drafting QBs and drafting in general drafting Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, OT Dalton Risner and DE Dre’mont Jones. They are now 5-8 on the season and Lock can further solidify his talents on the road against the Chiefs on December 15th. Fangio is finally putting the roster’s elite defensive talent on display and Rich Scangarello and the offence have appeared to find their groove with Lock. All the players trust Fangio and his staff which has led to recent success. The Broncos had talent on both sides of the ball all season. They just were unable to finish games. Now they are showing us they can.
Management:
John Elway, since becoming the general manager in 2011, has led the Broncos to lots of success. Two Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl win, four division titles, three 13-3 seasons, a 12-4 season and more. He brought in many free agents like Peyton Manning, Chris Harris Jr. and Demarcus Ware and helped acquire many talented players in trades like Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas, Aqib Talib and Wes Welker among others. He has even had lots of success in drafting elite talent like Von Miller.
Recently, he has struggled in drafts, however. Ever since Peyton Manning left, he was unable to find a QB. He drafted Trevor Siemian who was mediocre, Paxton Lynch, who was a bust, Brock Osweiler, who only played well as a backup for Manning, was not good as a starter, Chad Kelly who was a bust and traded for Case Keenum and Joe Flacco, who were both underwhelming. It appears he has finally found his guy in Drew Lock, but only time will tell.
He has also drafted several questionable players like RT Garrett Bolles in the first round of the 2017 draft, who has the most flags of any offensive linemen this season and in his short career. He has improved a little, but still has a lot of work to do. He also drafted CB Isaac Yiadom in 2017, who was underdeveloped and not ready for the NFL. He has improved since then but is not all-star CB. In 2018, he drafted CB Brandon Langley who was cut before the 2019 season after his conversion to a WR failed.
In 2019, however, he had one of his better drafts, drafting QB Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, OT Dalton Risner and DE Dre’mont Jones, who have all balled out this season.
His coaching choices have been a bit concerning as well. He had the opportunity to hire Mike Shannahan in 2017 but decided to go with Vance Joseph, who finished with a record of 11-21 after two uninspiring seasons. It was the first time Denver had consecutive losing seasons since 1970 and 1971. He made questionable play calls at crucial times, had lackluster time management at the end of halves and games and wrongly evaluated talent. He is meant to be just a defensive coordinator. Elway made up for Joseph by hiring Vic Fangio, ex. Bears defensive coordinator. His confidence, will to win, amazing play-calling ability, defensive mind and “death by inches” motto has really connected him to his team and the locker room. As a result, we have seen improvement over the course of this season despite a rough start defensively with no turnovers or sacks in the first four games and the inability to close out close games in the 4th quarter. OC Rich Scangarello had a rough start to the year but is being more aggressive in the second half and with a lead which has led to more success with Drew Lock and DC Ed Donatell is only helping Fangio improve the defense. The Broncos staff looks to have a bright future in the coming seasons, with playoffs on the horizon.
Ownership:
The ownership feud has been something that Broncos fans cannot overlook anymore. Broncos longtime owner Pat Bowlen passed away in August of 2019 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. However, in 2014, Bowlen decided, with tears in his eyes, that he would no longer be involved in team operations.
There would be a trust consisting of three people that would control the team. Richard Slivka the vice president, Mary Kelly an attorney and the team’s president and CEO Joe Ellis would control team operations. GM John Elway would be right under the three co-owners.
However, after Bowlen’s death, three of his daughters all wanted combined ownership of the team. To do so, they would have to somehow eliminate the trust. Two of Pat Bowlen’s daughters Beth Bowlen Wallace and Amie Bowlen Klemmer have filed a petition claiming the trust now running the team is invalid. They asked a court to determine if their father was mentally able to create and agree to the trust when he did.
A judge ruled that there was overwhelming evidence that Bowlen lacked the required capacity to make a decision of that magnitude in 2009, five years before the trust was made.
A lawyer in favour of the trustees said it is disappointing and unfortunate that Bowlen’s daughters wanted to contest their father’s plans to have a team of trustees running the team.
On August 30th, the court sided with the trustees, denying the daughters’ request for an ‘advisory opinion’ and a ‘probable cause determination’ on their ability to challenge the validity of the trust and how it started. By choosing to challenge the validity of the trust in court, Bowlen’s two daughters risk losing their inheritance in the Broncos’ organisation if they are found in violation of the no-contest clause and if Bowlen was deemed capable of making a decision of that magnitude in 2014 when he did in appeal courts.
The fight between Bowlen’s daughters and the members of the trust has been happening in the background for several years now, however, it is no longer a background noise. The fight for ownership is at its peak and everyone in the building is trying desperately to not let it affect their work ethic.
