The team has no leaders. None. The blush that was Teddy has left the bloom, and there are no leaders. There is a good collection of athletes, but no leader. Coach doesn't lead, and there are no leaders who are in the breach. With no leaders, players are just players. Just hasn't jelled. When coaches are milquetoast, players feel no need to lead.

I think it may have been less about the quality of the teams we faced, and more the quality of the coaching we have faced in the past two weeks. Opinions on Harbough and Tomlin may vary, but I think we can all acknowledge that you don't last as long as they do with their sustained success without doing something right. They know how to break down what a team is doing, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and game plan accordingly. I mean, just look how the Steelers were able to shift us into a formation where Miller was one one one with Chase Claypool for Chrissakes.

Teams have figured out what the Broncos like to do on both offense and defense and have started attacking that. They know Shurmur will abandon the run, they know our offensive line is weak up the middle right now so that is where they will scheme to bring pressure. They know the zone coverage we like to run on Defense and how to manipulate those into favorable matchups. And they know that our coaching staff isn't very good at making adjustments.

So, you're saying we don't have any leaders?

😀

The league has adjusted. We have not. That's the problem with these "scheme" coaches. They flop it out there. They aren't inventive as they need to be when they need to be and thus their viability and effectiveness are limited. Pat Shurmur is more successful than me, but as a coach in the NFL...he's bottom rung and not going anywhere. Vic Fangio has never been a champion in 40 plus years....there is a reason for it. They have talented football players but they are consistently put into Kobayashi Maru scenarios because our coaches are trying to jam square pegs into round holes.

Chew on this....right now...we would not beat the teams we have already beaten this season.

Quite.

Sadly I believe this to be true. This is why I'm asking what changed ? It's weird, I don't get it.

two first start QBs on teams that have at least in recent history sucked pretty bad. I was shocked we won agains the Giants on the road honesty, had that as a loss.

then…

you start playing teams that aren’t 0-9 combined. You play stable franchises that always compete/ contend. You play teams that are coached well, and whose staff adjusts quickly. You play teams with strong leadership and clear identity.

The is week will tell the story. If they pop back against a division rival, that’s growth as a team. If they get plowed over the doors fall off.

The Jets might be a tough out now….

I disagree you could see player like Sutton quit against the steelers this week. The whole team just went flat. We for got how to score again and our D forgot how to not let them score. They should have left Fuller there. Find your own way home. This season is over. At least we got to enjoy 3 games. That was fun.

So see ya next year then?

Shelby Harris has disappointed since getting paid…

Oh hell no, I'm riding this ship down !

As Dido once said.

" I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be. "

The Broncos don't "suck." They aren't the Jets, Jags, Lions or Giants. But yesterday proved they aren't serious playoff contenders either, and they will probably struggle to avoid the AFC West basement. Look for another draft somewhere in the 8-13 range.

Honestly, I don't think anything is going to change until the ownership mess is straightened out.

This was a 5 win team last year with pretty much the same roster. They overachieved the first 3 weeks thanks to the easy schedule, but reality is now starting to set in. This isn’t too surprising, many were saying this would happen all the way back to day the schedule was released.

With Lock and just a semi decent coordinator, real head coach, this is a 10 win team going for wildcard spot.

Instead we stuck w 2 floaters, pat shurmur, and below avg fangio.

I think the organizational culture died with Pat… we really need an own to set the tone top down. The Bills are the perfect example.

No owner = Limbo

It’s pretty simple to get this offense going, target Sutton and Patrick, they’re the offenses best 2 players and should be targeted the majority of the time. If you want to know what changed in the 4th quarter yesterday, Bridgewater started feeding Sutton and Patrick.

The Chiefs last year targeted Kelce and Hill with nearly 50% of their targets, they feed those 2 and everybody else got scraps. You get your best players the ball and everything else will fall in line.

What changed? 3rd downs on both sides of the ball is one of the many differences.

A ton of injuries and the Broncos not being able to convert better than 29-percent of their third-downs is a good start for their woes. They also stink in the red zone.

Losing Jeudy and Hamler in the passing game takes out their best options who can get open the most (Jeudy) and speed threat (Hamler). I think Shurmur's offensive plans have been severely inhibited by those two guys being out. There's no doubt the team had big plans for those guys this year. Them being out sucks. Probably why Shurmur's play-calling has been doo-doo the past two games.

Sadly, Denver doesn't have any viable replacements in-house for their skill sets. Basically, Denver has four boundary receivers (Sutton, Patrick, Cleveland, Williams) who can be singled out 1-on-1, a diminutive specialist who shouldn't see offensive snaps (Spencer), and the guy poached from the Raiders' practice squad (Moore), who could be a serviceable 5/6 once he gets acclimated to the playbook. Oh, I guess Kendall Hinton too, but who really cares?

Factor in an underachieving offensive line, ho-hum running game, as well as a defense having to be on the field far more than necessary [due to the aforementioned offensive woes] and you have all the fixings for a sub .500 team.

I was optimistic that a best-case scenario this team could win 10 games. Don't see that happening with all the injuries and the schedule ahead of us. Seven or eight wins might be best case scenario. The silver-lining in this is that Oakland and Kansas City have a lot of holes that are being exploited as well.

Wild-card berth isn't out of reach, but if they lose more than they win the rest of this month, a fork can be stuck in the 2021 Broncos.

This right here is proof and reasoning that some folks wanted Denver to lose a few meaningless games…A couple losses can equal years of competitiveness. Years. They rise in that draft likely it’s Herbert. instead they get Jeudy and a few meaningless wins for that year.

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Injury reason only gets so far. Especially how the “depth” was so pumped up in august. They lose that game Sunday at full strength IMO. Same as last week. Injuries are happening across the league. Tons of key players yet teams are absorbing their injuries. Steelers had all kinds. Ravens OL was back up JAGs. Good teams can absorb WRs OLs going down. Why? Cause those teams have good QBs who make players better, as well as good coaching.

this team fires blanks on all fronts.

Nothing changed, just reality is setting in with the crazy fans who thought this team was going magically double its win total, with the same roster and coaching staff as last year.

And yes, the injury excuse is getting so lame, 2 years of it…