The Denver Broncos were coming off a bye. The New York Giants were coming off their fifth loss of the season and missing six starters, including their top three receiving options. The Broncos had the top run defense in the league. The Giants' run game had been nonexistent all year. Would you believe me if I told you the Giants dominated the Broncos in Mile High Stadium? The Broncos' play was pathetic, and they looked like the Denver Broncos of 2016: poor offensive play, terrible run defense, and poor coaching. Elway has been in this spot before, and he failed.
We'll see if he learned from his mistakes in the coming weeks based on what he does to fix the roster. There are a few ways the Broncos can get back to the Super Bowl.
Step 1: End the Trevor Siemian experiment
Last season Trevor Siemian was awful for the vast majority of the year. The jury was out on the reasons why. Some people blamed the offensive line. Others blamed the lack of a running game. Many people blamed the weak and predictable coaching. Well, here we are with a new offensive line, solid running game, and a new coaching staff. For some reason, the Broncos are still losing, and it's time to blame the person responsible: Trevor Siemian. In the first two weeks of the season, Siemian looked like he made massive strides in his development and was playing with a high level of confidence.
Now, here we are after three consecutive games of terrible play from the third-year product from Northwestern. Siemian has thrown four interceptions in the last three games and has consistently failed to score in the red zone.
Now, let's address how Elway can address this issue. There are two free agents that I think are worth exploring.
Tony Romo loves his job in the booth, and CBS loves him, but something tells me a real chance to win the Super Bowl is going to be worth taking a break from broadcasting for the former Dallas Cowboy. A veteran presence at quarterback with the running game, weapons at receiver, and a defense that's already in place will make the Denver Broncos a tough team to beat.
The second free agent that I think can help this team is Colin Kaepernick. This article isn't about politics, it's about football, and Kaepernick can play football better than any quarterback on the Broncos' roster. Free agency isn't the only place the Broncos can upgrade the position. The Indianapolis Colts have a new General Manager to rebuild their team. General Managers, especially the ones who are rebuilding, love having draft capital and I think the Colts would be open to taking a phone call for Andrew Luck. It'd be costly to acquire Luck, but at this point, the Broncos need to address the position if they want to win more championships. The defense is in its prime, and Elway is wasting another year of their dominance by not addressing the most critical position in football.
Step 2: Improve the coaching
The coaching has been pretty inconsistent this season, and coaching should be the most consistent part of a team. One week the Broncos have a perfect game plan to dominate the Dallas Cowboys, and another week the Broncos are getting destroyed by a formerly winless Giants. Head Coach Vance Joseph cannot allow his team to come out flat, especially not after a bye week. Teams are supposed to come out of a bye week rested and rejuvenated. The Broncos looked dead. With an extra week of preparation time, the offense was only able to muster ten points. The red zone issues are still not fixed, and considering Brandon McManus is the worst kicker in the league, the offense needs to be scoring touchdowns if they want to win games.
Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy needs to figure this out; otherwise, the Broncos will fail to make the playoffs yet again despite a dominant defense.
The defense has been dominant in the run game nearly every week this season. The weakness on this defense is the secondary. Yes, you read that right. After being the best pass defense in the league by a mile for the past two seasons, they have dropped to tenth. The reason for that is that Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods seems to think running zone coverage is the best way for this defense to reach its potential. Woods has two of the best man coverage cornerbacks in the league, and he's trying to run zone coverage for reasons that I don't understand.
Here's the issue with zone coverage, there are holes in the defense be exploited by any decent veteran quarterback. The secondary didn't hold Aaron Rodgers to 78 yards passing in an entire game two years ago with zone coverage. We've all heard the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Joe Woods needs to listen to that right now. Just go back to man coverage and run the same defense that dominated the league for the past few years. We have an improved defense that can stop the run, and because of that, the defense has the potential to be the best of all-time. The issue is, Woods is set on making this his defense and losing the idea that Wade Phillips built this defense, and in doing so, he's leaving the secondary vulnerable.
Step 3: Fill the roster holes
There have been two glaring holes on the roster this year: right tackle and kicker. Yes, there are other holes on the roster, but these are the two (other than quarterback) that can derail the Broncos' season. Menelik Watson has been downright awful in pass protection and is now injured. Based on his extensive injury history, you would think the Broncos would have added more depth behind him. Well, Billy Turner was the one who replaced him, and he was beaten consistently and called for multiple penalties. Elway needs to trade for a tackle. Duane Brown is still holding out from the Texans and Elway needs to make the call and upgrade the offensive line before the season is lost.
The next hole that Elway needs to fill is the kicker. Brandon McManus recently signed an extension and since then has missed five field goals, two of which were inside 40 yards. Zac Stevens reported on his Twitter account that Vance Joseph is going to continue sticking with McManus, and that is a flat-out awful decision.
Vance Joseph on if the #Broncos will bring in other kickers: “No, no, no. [Brandon McManus is] our guy…Sitting here right now, he’s our guy"
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensBSN) October 16, 2017
McManus has been terrible this year, and the Broncos have enough issues already. Kicking does not need to be another one.
The Broncos have a lot of problems to address if they are going to make it back to the Super Bowl.