Elway: Broncos Got Soft

[Shazam!]

"I think at this point we're still trying to figure out how we can get through it,'' Elway said. "So, there's no question at the end of the year we'll evaluate it and we'll look back and see what happened. But I will tell you, I think we got a little bit soft. To be dead honest with you, we got a little bit soft. We went 4-0 in the preseason, we started out 3-1, then we get a bye week, and if you exhale in this league, you're in trouble. To be dead honest with you, I think we exhaled, and it's hard to recover from that. So, it's a lesson that hopefully we all learned and prevent it from happening again.''

Full:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21451137/denver-broncos-president-john-elway-says-team-become-little-bit-soft-current-losing-streak

Apparently Joseph will be back. I have no idea why if the team got soft under his watch. Great job Coach. Elway and Co. better have a great off-season and bring in Line help and a QB. This team is at a crossroads and hope they make the right decisions in the fall.

[MOtorboat]

Here's a link that works: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21451137/denver-broncos-president-john-elway-says-team-become-little-bit-soft-current-losing-streak

Lots of lip service. I sure as hell hope the GM is thinking beyond Sunday. That's his job.

Lynch needs to face live bullets as soon as possible and if he ain't the guy, Elway has to go find a new one in the offseason. Can't pussyfoot around the QB position another year. He ****** up going into the year with Siemian as the guy. It was a stupid decision.

[Shazam!]

The Link works fine.

If they shouldn't have started Siemien, who should have started if Lynch clearly wasn't ready? Who should they have brought in?

Siemien isn't nearly the trainwreck you and everyone makes him out to be. This team has some massive problems that all equal uneven QB production. Cant put it all on him.

[MOtorboat]

The Link works fine.

If they shouldn't have started Siemien, who should have started if Lynch clearly wasn't ready? Who should they have brought in?

Siemien isn't nearly the trainwreck you and everyone makes him out to be. This team has some massive problems that all equal uneven QB production. Cant put it all on him.

The link doesn't link. I don't know what else to say.

As to Siemian, we saw what he was down the stretch last season. He was worse than that this year. It really wasn't that hard to see.

Who should have started? Tough question. Had they realized Siemian was a dud they could have reacted better and evaluated differently. Elway chose to try to address other areas offensively and in the end it was a mistake. I would have rolled with Lynch and Sloter, or pushed harder for Romo or Kaepernick. I will be severely disappointed if they don't play Lynch exclusively past this week and if they don't do anything again in the offseason to address the position. It's the most important one on the team.

[Shazam!]

I see a QB shellshocked from getting plastered behind an OLine that is mauseatingly atrocious. It doesnt matter as his time in Denver as a Starter is over.

I do want Lynch to get some time. I think we will see him start the Jets game.

I can't wait to see what Chad Kelly has, and letting Sloter go was a mistake.

[MOtorboat]

I see a QB shellshocked from getting plastered behind an OLine that is mauseatingly atrocious. It doesnt matter as his time in Denver as a Starter is over.

I do want Lynch to get some time. I think we will see him start the Jets game.

I can't wait to see what Chad Kelly has, and letting Sloter go was a mistake.

It's not the offensive line's fault. He wasn't very good behind two different lines. He's got enough talent to be a solid, smart backup for years and years but he is not a starter in the league.

[Davii]

I see a QB shellshocked from getting plastered behind an OLine that is mauseatingly atrocious. It doesnt matter as his time in Denver as a Starter is over.

I do want Lynch to get some time. I think we will see him start the Jets game.

I can't wait to see what Chad Kelly has, and letting Sloter go was a mistake.

If he was destroyed by being sacked less than guys performing better does that not make it clear he's not the guy? At what point is his lack of production his fault? He gets a pass just because? Then the rest of the team does as well. The line gets a pass because TS hasn't proven to be adept at reading defenses, holds the ball to long, drifts too far back in the pocket, and truly has bad pocket awareness. The run game gets a pass because the passing game sucks. Our TEs get a pass because our QB can't go through progressions. Our defense gets a pass because our offense. Our special teams get a pass because everything else sucks. Coach gets a pass because he can only roll with the players he has. Elway gets a pass because coach. Ellis gets a pass because Elway. Blame nobody, blame everybody.

Trevor is not a quality starter. Period. This is a qb driven league and we're a team without a quality qb.

[Northman]

While having a good Oline is very helpful it doesnt guarantee you success if you dont have a QB who can make plays on their own when other parts of the team break down. Proof of this is the case of teams like Miami, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Oakland, and New York Giants. They have Olines ranked in the top 15 but have losing records at this point. People may try to argue that Eli is without some of his best receivers and has two championship rings but if i had to be honest ive never witnessed Eli make those around him better. Its always been with great defense and great players around him that has allowed him success compared to his brother who while in Indy took a lot of no names and made them stars.

[turftoad]

I see a QB shellshocked from getting plastered behind an OLine that is mauseatingly atrocious. It doesnt matter as his time in Denver as a Starter is over.

I do want Lynch to get some time. I think we will see him start the Jets game.

I can't wait to see what Chad Kelly has, and letting Sloter go was a mistake.

As far as Siemian goes, I saw a QB that is NOT the answer.

[VonDoom]

The link doesn't link. I don't know what else to say.

As to Siemian, we saw what he was down the stretch last season. He was worse than that this year. It really wasn't that hard to see.

Who should have started? Tough question. Had they realized Siemian was a dud they could have reacted better and evaluated differently. Elway chose to try to address other areas offensively and in the end it was a mistake. I would have rolled with Lynch and Sloter, or pushed harder for Romo or Kaepernick. I will be severely disappointed if they don't play Lynch exclusively past this week and if they don't do anything again in the offseason to address the position. It's the most important one on the team.

I agree that Lynch has to play. I think he has to if we lose tomorrow. But if we win and Os plays well, I could see Joseph staying with him, which would be a mistake long term. They’ll say we still have a shot at the playoffs, etc

[LawDog]

As far as Siemian goes, I saw a QB that is NOT the answer.

He was merely the best of a bad situation. I think a lot of us hoped that he would make a big jump in his second season of starting. That clearly didn’t happen, but it doesn’t make the expectations themselves wrong. Now we’re just stuck with reality. I just want to see them be competitive. Losing is one thing, getting blown out every week is another.

[VonDoom]

While having a good Oline is very helpful it doesnt guarantee you success if you dont have a QB who can make plays on their own when other parts of the team break down. Proof of this is the case of teams like Miami, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Oakland, and New York Giants. They have Olines ranked in the top 15 but have losing records at this point. People may try to argue that Eli is without some of his best receivers and has two championship rings but if i had to be honest ive never witnessed Eli make those around him better. Its always been with great defense and great players around him that has allowed him success compared to his brother who while in Indy took a lot of no names and made them stars.

I agree with your general point but the Giants have one of the worst, if not the worst, OL in the league. Even if they fix that though, Eli is pretty much done

[Shazam!]

Proof of this is the case of teams like Miami, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Oakland, and New York Giants. They have Olines ranked in the top 15...

I stopped reading right there. Those teams, including Denver are some of the most awful units in the League, who can do nothing well and nothing with any kind of consistency.

What 'ranking' puhleeeze. They stink.

[Cugel]

"I think at this point we're still trying to figure out how we can get through it,'' Elway said. "So, there's no question at the end of the year we'll evaluate it and we'll look back and see what happened. But I will tell you, I think we got a little bit soft. To be dead honest with you, we got a little bit soft. We went 4-0 in the preseason, we started out 3-1, then we get a bye week, and if you exhale in this league, you're in trouble. To be dead honest with you, I think we exhaled, and it's hard to recover from that. So, it's a lesson that hopefully we all learned and prevent it from happening again.''

Full:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21451137/denver-broncos-president-john-elway-says-team-become-little-bit-soft-current-losing-streak

Apparently Joseph will be back. I have no idea why if the team got soft under his watch. Great job Coach. Elway and Co. better have a great off-season and bring in Line help and a QB. This team is at a crossroads and hope they make the right decisions in the fall.

There are times when I feel like it's obvious VJ can't do the job and they should just terminate him at year's end, and I think that will happen if they lose out and keep getting blown out by 25 points. You just can't keep doing that and keep you job in this league. Because you're not even competitive in a league where even the Cleveland Browns are competitive.

This is how bad the Broncos are: The woeful Browns are 0-9 right? That's an NFL worst (again). So they must be the worst team, right?

Here's their losing margins:
1. 21-18 vs. Pittsburgh -3
2. 24-10 @ Baltimore -14
3. 30-28 @ Indy -3
4. 31-7 vs. Cincy -24
5. 17-14 vs. Jets -3
6. 33-17 @ Houston -16
7. 12-9OT vs. Tenn -3
8. 33-16 vs. Minn -17
9. 38-24 @ Detroit -14

Only 1 loss by 20 or more points, and 4 losses by 3 or less.
By comparison the Broncos losses:

26-16 @ Buffalo -10
23-10 vs. Jets -13
21-0 @ Chargers -21
29-19 @ KC -10
51-23 @ Eagles -28
41-16 vs. Patriots -25

Not one loss by less than 10 points, and 3 blowouts, two consecutive, in which they lost by more than 3 TDs.

That is not even remotely competitive. They are less competitive than the Browns!

You just can't get to the end of the season playing like that and keep your job. No way.

[Cugel]

The Link works fine.

If they shouldn't have started Siemien, who should have started if Lynch clearly wasn't ready? Who should they have brought in?

Siemien isn't nearly the trainwreck you and everyone makes him out to be. This team has some massive problems that all equal uneven QB production. Cant put it all on him.

Obviously not, since I didn't see Trevor drop any punts on Special Teams last week. Not one muffed punt! Nor did they block his kick! In fact he wasn't even in the game at all and they still managed to lose by 25 points!

So, I'm guessing that the Broncos problems START with the QB position, but they go a lot deeper than that.

And they are not just OL issues. What fans in Denver don't ever seem to understand is that this is a league wide problem. Almost NOBODY has a good OL any more. Did you see Dallas in the last game, with Dak Prescott getting sacked EIGHT times by the Falcons? The best OL in football, but they lose a starter on their OL and they are playing like the Broncos OL.

Good, experienced QBs make defenses pay for rushing them like that. Inexperienced or bad ones get rocked. And we have bad and inexperienced guys.

And then there's a few other problems:

No TE can catch passes. None can't be covered by a LB.
No RB is much of a threat to catch passes over the middle, not even Jamaal Charles who did that his entire career in KC. He's not being used for some reason.
No 3rd WR. And No! Jordan Taylor does not count.

So, no red zone mis-matches the Broncos can take advantage of. They kick a lot of FGs.

Then their Special Teams are "special" all right, like Special Olympians.

The defense has given up long TD drives to let the team get down early in games. NOBODY on this defense can cover TEs over the middle of the field. And when someone pointed this out to VJ his response was to discuss how hard it is to cover TEs over the middle of the field these days because they're so big and athletic.. . . . blah, blah, blah!

Well, other teams seem to manage, and opponents are going to keep doing that to you until you fix it, so what are you going to do to fix this problem?

Nothing apparently. They let Danny Trevathan walk and ever since then they haven't been able to cover TEs for shit.

They also lost Malik Jackson and since they they have zero interior pass rush. Teams are able to double-team Von on every play because there's no middle pressure. Nice clean pocket to throw from.

The defense is also experiencing continued communications issues between players in the secondary. That is also a problem.

[Cugel]

So, let's sum up:

We've got a QB problem - as in no starting quality QB, let alone a SB caliber QB.

We've got a TE as in NO pass catching threat at TE. (Jake Butt better develop quick next year!)

We've got no slot WRs worth piss. All those catches for Sunshine in the pre-season apparently didn't mean diddly.

The OL is pretty terra-bad. Menelik Watson did what he always does and went on IR. This surprised nobody except apparently the Broncos, who thought something different would happen. They were forced to play a LG at RT. It was not a pretty picture.

The defense is giving up big plays and getting beat for early TDs.

AND to top it off, we've been getting out-coached in every single game. Just schooled repeatedly.

Against the Patriots did you see that right after the kickoff return for a TD, the Patriots did the same pooch kick off to the 3 yard line, only they blocked it correctly and held the Broncos to the 20, as if Belichick wanted to rub it in, by showing Denver "Hey! Stupids! HERE's how you properly execute that exact play kicking to one side of the field and pinning them deep."

Embarrassingly out coached.

So, yes. The problems began with Trevor, who is developing into a capable backup QB, capable of giving you 2 or 3 quality starts a year, but nothing more.

But fixing the QB problem isn't going to fix much until they get all that other crap fixed too. And they are going to have to do that pretty quick or FAs aren't going to want to come here at all.

[Simple Jaded]

Elway got soft at trade deadline, he did absolutely nothing, yet again, even though the entire NFL community (fans, FO’s, coaches, talking heads AND HIS OWN PLAYERS) knew they’re fatally flawed YET AGAIN.

And, to make matters worse, instead of addressing the OL (yet again) or the lack of pass rush or WR depth (yet again), he tried to trade Aqib Talib ... the Eagles game happened just a few days later. Which was 6 Days, iirc, after the defense absolutely balled out vs Chefs. Elway has said he doesn’t want to take away from this once great defense just to add to the offense but he’s certainly willing to take away from this once great defense for absolutely no logical reason whatsoever.

So yeah, Elway “exhaled” too, he better knock his precious draft picks out of the park this year cause the entire NFL community is watching.

[NightTerror218]

Elway got lucky with manning being here and getting FA under market value.... Not any more

[NightTerror218]

As for being soft.... Ward set a tempo over middle with huge hits and some misses. I can't say how much of losing him impacted this defense.

[DT88TheGreat]

The Link works fine.

If they shouldn't have started Siemien, who should have started if Lynch clearly wasn't ready? Who should they have brought in?

Siemien isn't nearly the trainwreck you and everyone makes him out to be. This team has some massive problems that all equal uneven QB production. Cant put it all on him.

If trevor isnt a train wreck then idk what a train wreck is.... Trevor absolutely sucks, he has never been good in life as a quarterback, what part of that don't you get? What the he'll are you holding onto with Trevor? He has had two year of playing to prove he doesn't suck and has spent that time proving that he does suck. When your quarterback plays with no passion, no fire and a blah blah demeanor it's going to trickle down onto the rest of the roster.

[DT88TheGreat]

As for being soft.... Ward set a tempo over middle with huge hits and some misses. I can't say how much of losing him impacted this defense.

Justin Simmons laid some good wood last week though. He is coming along well, TJ ward is injured for uis new team, the dude body is just breaking down. There are two transcending talents on defense who has the size speed awareness and smarts to run a defense and those guys are roquan Smith and derwin james.... Two elite defender's physically and mentally, literally coaches on the field with the physical ability to dominate. The Broncos must use there top 5 pick on one of these guy's, not a quarterback.

[DT88TheGreat]

As far as the team being soft? I don't think we've gotten soft, for the simple fact Elway was just bitching about kicking snd screaming two years ago before we won the SB.... The Broncos aren't soft, they just don't have pieces at key spots thst you need to have success. On offense we need the QB,TE,RT and Carlos Henderson back next year in the slot.

Defense we need Roquan Smith, or Darwin james. We absolutely need a physically gifted defender with an elite coaches mind on the field and Smith gives us that at a position of need MLB and James gives us that at a position of need SAFETY ( hed easily take Stewart's job and be an upgrade by 80%

[DT88TheGreat]

https://youtu.be/gtqI3BQMtl0

Check out roquan smith.... MR SIDELINE TO SIDELINE ALLLLLLLDAY.

[DT88TheGreat]

Now check out Darwin Jameshttps://youtu.be/ThsKhrYGxX4

My goodness I am just drooling at having the chance to draft one of these studs.

This is why I don't mind losing out the rest of the way man.

[LawDog]

Hottakes couldn’t melt butter in July...

[BeefStew25]

I think Derby goes off tomorrow.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I think Derby goes off tomorrow.

I hope he doesn’t start screaming at his wife.

[ShaneFalco]

so is this why the starting TE got cut? and Butt put on IR?

[wayninja]

I think Derby goes off tomorrow.

Apparently he goes off today...

[Ground Control]

Justin Simmons laid some good wood last week though. He is coming along well, TJ ward is injured for uis new team, the dude body is just breaking down. There are two transcending talents on defense who has the size speed awareness and smarts to run a defense and those guys are roquan Smith and derwin james.... Two elite defender's physically and mentally, literally coaches on the field with the physical ability to dominate. The Broncos must use there top 5 pick on one of these guy's, not a quarterback.

Yep. Simmons is a beast. Ward was a leader and motivator but as the great one said, not playing this year. So, Elway said the team is a little soft now. Justin Simmons (Ward's replacement) is not a contributing factor to that state of being. He is an answer.

[Northman]

Lmao

[VonDoom]

Now we’re apparently frustrated by how complex the offensive scheme is. Seems like a flimsy excuse to me:

https://amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000878729/article/frustration-building-in-denver-with-broncos-offensive-scheme?networkId=4595&site=.news&zone=story&zoneUrl=url%3dstory&zoneKeys=s1%3dstory&env=&pageKeyValues=prtnr%3dden%3bteam%3dden%3bconf%3daf c%3bdvsn%3dacw%3bplyr%3dbrock_osweiler%3bplyr%3dpa xton_lynch%3bplyr%3dtrevor_siemian&sr=amp

[Cugel]

As far as the team being soft? I don't think we've gotten soft, for the simple fact Elway was just bitching about kicking snd screaming two years ago before we won the SB.... The Broncos aren't soft, they just don't have pieces at key spots thst you need to have success. On offense we need the QB,TE,RT and Carlos Henderson back next year in the slot.

Defense we need Roquan Smith, or Darwin james. We absolutely need a physically gifted defender with an elite coaches mind on the field and Smith gives us that at a position of need MLB and James gives us that at a position of need SAFETY ( hed easily take Stewart's job and be an upgrade by 80%

How many first round picks do you think the Broncos have? They'd need two such picks to get:

1. A QB. Since the Broncos will be picking in the top 10, they will have their pick of 5 top QB prospects. What this season will prove is that there is NO Franchise QB on this Denver roster.

2. Elite defensive prospects.

Both those guys command top 10 picks.

As Cecil Lammey was saying this morning: "Do you really think John Elway is going to let things stand with the coaches and QBs on the roster when he calls them 'soft'? This guy is the most competitive man in the NFL, always has been. And there is nothing worse you can call an NFL team than 'soft', that's the one thing no player or coach ever wants to hear applied to them. And John Elway just called out his own team and called them soft!"

He just threw down the gauntlet to this team! Either they start playing "tough" or else Elway is going to conclude that they are soft! If he thinks they are soft he's going to get rid of them. Any of them at all. He'll make evaluations as to which players or coaches he wants to keep and which he thinks were responsible for the 'softness.'

It doesn't MATTER whether YOU think that they "shouldn't waste a top 10 pick on a QB" he would say you're nuts! That is EXACTLY what he is going to do!

The only reason he WOULDN'T do that is if he is convinced by either Osweiler, or Paxton that they have suddenly made major strides.

And I mean SERIOUSLY MAJOR. They'd have to come out and look like Dak Prescott having a breakthrough game. And there is not a lot of time left in the season for them to prove themselves.

[Simple Jaded]

Lammey is soft.

[ShaneFalco]

They did get soft elway, and your coach hires made them that way.

4 man rush letting dalton destroy the d

[OrangeHoof]

Apparently Joseph will be back. I have no idea why if the team got soft under his watch. Great job Coach.

Joseph is John's hire. He's not going to run him out of town after 1 season.

[Broncoknight30]

The players being offended that they are called soft and bitching about it, are proving Elway right.

How ironic.

[The Glue Factory]

The players being offended that they are called soft and bitching about it, are proving Elway right.

How ironic.

It's John's coaching hires that have been the primary factor to a soft team. I'd hate to be in that locker room right now. GM calls you soft and you know it's primarily coaching problems, but you're responsible. Heck, even WE know it's primarily a coaching problem at this point. No way does a little sub-standard play from a couple of players lead to the losing streak the Broncos have going.