Mile High Monday: The Broncos show some fight in loss to the Chiefs

Dec 12, 2022, 6:31 AM

Denver Sports Analyst

This season can’t end soon enough for the Denver Broncos. Their head coach (for now), Nathaniel Hackett, is in over his head and things are mostly embarrassing on a weekly basis with his guidance over the team. However, against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Broncos showed more life on offense than they had all season long.

I like when the Broncos can show some heart. They did that on Sunday against the Chiefs, and it was a bright spot in an otherwise dull season.

I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ! The following is a result of those trips during the week.

Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.

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Still Want Hackett Fired

I’m happy the Broncos weren’t totally embarrassed by the Chiefs. That being said, I still want to see Hackett fired – and the sooner the better. He’s not going to be fired – yet – but I still think the Broncos are wasting time. He’s a super nice guy but being a head coach in the league is not a popularity contest. I don’t care if he’s nice, I care if he wins – and it’s a bottom-line/production-based business where Hackett is not getting the job done.

Sure, the Broncos played better but I credit the players more than the coaching staff. Hackett is in over his head, and he has not come out on top in most of these close games this season. The Broncos have the most losses by seven points or less this year (8) breaking the team record set in 1990 and 1999 (7). To me, that’s a sign of poor coaching.

I don’t want Hackett to continue as the head coach of this team. A close loss to the Chiefs is still a loss. Yes, I’m glad they weren’t embarrassed, but it’s still an “L” and not a “W” for a team that is desperate for a win. With the loss on Sunday, the Broncos have 10 losses this year and are officially out of playoff contention. Hackett’s staff is mostly inexperienced, and he doesn’t seem to know how to properly delegate power.

I still want Hackett fired, but at least this is entertaining and not a total blowout! #Broncos @1043TheFan

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) December 11, 2022

With the effort shown by the Broncos I think Hackett’s job remains safe for now. At the end of the regular season, he’s likely to be fired. After that, another coaching search will be underway. The Broncos need to find an experienced coach with an inexperienced staff around him and stop wasting valuable time.

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Feed Your Anger

Jerry Jeudy was pissed off against the Chiefs. That is a good thing, and you saw it led to great production before halftime. Hell, it led to great production after halftime as well.

He was mad because of the coverage and the way he wasn’t getting the ball. Going into this week, there were clues that Jeudy would be the primary weapon for the offense. Courtland Sutton was out with an injury, and Jeudy has the talent to be a true no.1 receiver in this league. Things haven’t clicked for Jeudy consistently in the pros, but the natural talent has always been there.

We finally got to see that talent come through with the biggest game of Jeudy’s career. When Jeudy was angry, he seemed to play better. He was dialed in with Russell Wilson, and after Wilson was concussed Jeudy came through for Brett Rypien as well. Jeudy is best when he’s featured and when he feels like he’s part of the game plan. He tends to lose focus when he’s not as involved. I think something has clicked with Jeudy in this contest, and it would be nice if he could carry this momentum forward.

Jerry Jeudy is PISSED.

That's a GOOD thing. Some of these players are fired up. Feed that energy. #Broncos @1043TheFan

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) December 11, 2022

I want to see more of angry Jeudy going forward. That is the best version of Jeudy that we’ve seen in the pros. Remember, last year Jeudy didn’t have a single touchdown catch, and in this game he found pay dirt three times. That’s an outstanding performance that Jeudy can build confidence from and move forward in a positive direction.

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A Bad Plan?

The Broncos had to deal with superstar TE Travis Kelce on Sunday. The team historically struggles with tight ends, and Kelce is among the best of the best. Early in the game, the Broncos let Kelce get more receiving yards (59) than he had the previous week in the entire game against the Cincinnati Bengals (56).

The Broncos had a plan for Kelce, but I think it was a bad plan. Yes, he finished with “just” 71 yards against the Broncos on Sunday, but there were a few plays where the passes to Kelce were just off the mark. Had he caught these 2-3 passes where he was wide open, Kelce would have likely gashed the Broncos for over 100 yards.

I don’t want to get into the “coulda, shoulda, woulda” of this situation, but in the AFC West (a division full of quality tight ends) I would like to see a better plan. Josey Jewell played out of his mind, and he wasn’t the liability in coverage that he normally is. After the first quarter, Kelce wasn’t able to do much but that was largely because his concentration was off, and he let passes hit the ground he normally would catch.

In one quarter, #Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has more yards (59) than he did in last week's full game vs #Bengals (56 yards). #Broncos plan with Kelce is clearly not working. The ONE guy you should take away from Mahomes is off to a great start. @1043TheFan

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) December 11, 2022

Kelce is one of the best in the game, not only today, but to ever play football. He’s still at the top of his game, and I’d like the Broncos to have a better plan to deal with him in the future.

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Scrapping the DCEU Had to be Done

When it comes to comic books, I think DC Comics has done a better job in recent years with a much better product than Marvel Comics. When it comes to comic book movies it’s not even close – the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been far superior both in quality of product and performance at the box office.

The DC Expanded Universe (DCUE) had to change. That’s what James Gunn is set to do. Gunn was recently hired to get DC on track. They have some great comic book characters including (but not limited to) Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. However, they have rarely put together great movies about these storied heroes. Instead, we’ve seen a jumbled mess from the DCEU as they try to copy the success of an interconnected universe like Marvel.

That’s why reports surfaced that Gunn is going to demolish the rest of the DCEU, and sequels for Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman 3) and Black Adam (Black Adam 2) would not be filmed. The reports indicate the rest of the old DCEU films like “Aquaman 2” or “The Flash” will be rushed to the big screen to wrap things up with those old ideas. Now rebranded as “DCU” we will see Gunn control the cinematic universe is a similar way to how Kevin Feige runs things with the MCU. It’s making some DCEU fans mad, but with the lackluster results it just makes sense.