In the eyes of the NFL, the Broncos are boring, irrelevant

The Denver Broncos have been living in denial for the past five seasons. Super Bowl 50 might as well have been 50 years ago. Right now, in the eyes of the NFL, the Broncos are irrelevant, boring and simply don’t matter.

With the release of its 2021 schedule, Denver is currently slated to play zero Monday night or Sunday night games. The Broncos lone prime time game is a big show down with the Cleveland Browns. I’m sure the Browns saw that game and said, “Win,” and kept looking at the rest of their schedule.

By not placing Denver in any of the major prime time slots, the NFL told the Broncos to their face: You don’t have Manning, Elway or Tebow, so we don’t care about you.

Instead of getting the memo, the Broncos seem to think this is a blessing.

When asked about the lack of prime time games, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio told 9News Broncos Insider Mike Klis, “Most coaches and players for that matter, but coaches more so, will tell you that they’re happy with that because you don’t have to adjust your routine.”

What?

Hey, Vic, the NFL just told you your team sucks. You should be insulted. The NFL called you dull and inconsequential. Not scheduling the Broncos for a prime time game was not some kind of reward.

No team in the NFL is envious of the Broncos and their “no Monday night or Sunday night games” schedule.

While much of the league has established winning quarterbacks or young up-and-comers, the Broncos are about to roll out Drew Lock v Teddy Bridgewater, much to the excitement of no one.

The New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Football Team and maybe the New York Giants are the only teams with quarterback situations as uninspiring as the Broncos.

Check outside of Denver. Not a lot of people saying, “I can’t wait to watch that quarterback showdown in the Mile High City.”

General manager George Paton passed up on the chance to begin his era in Denver with a young and exciting quarterback in Justin Fields. Instead, Paton went the safe route. The NFL, and those who set the schedule, watched Paton’s first offseason as GM and yawned.

The lack of Monday night and Sunday night games for the Broncos should be a wakeup call. The Broncos can no longer let the logo on the helmet get them into the VIP room at the club. The goodwill the team earned with Peyton Manning is gone.

Denver has gone from the team that had John Elway and Peyton Manning to the team that has that stupid quarterback carousel graphic before every game.

Fangio and Paton seem committed to being boring. Of course, that perception changes if the Broncos win.

We’ll have to wait and see if Paton’s personnel decisions pay off. As of right now they look like more of the same that we’ve seen in recent years. He pushed all his chips to the center of the table when he didn’t draft Fields. As of right now, we don’t know if Paton is a genius or just Elway in disguise.

Fangio has a very talented roster, notwithstanding the quarterback position. He better have his team winning, and not just against the bad teams. The Broncos need to steal a couple games from the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Browns.

There should be a sense of urgency with the Broncos, but it seems like they’re more willing to move slowly and just hope for the best.

Denver has become an afterthought in the NFL, and the worst part is that they don’t seem to get it.

*** If the Broncos get Aaron Rodgers, please disregard all of this ***