Rosburg, with more time on his side, reflects on last chance to get a win
Jan 4, 2023, 12:41 PM
The head-coaching tenure of Jerry Rosburg with the Broncos is going to be a short one.
The interim man in charge (after Nathaniel Hackett was fired), Rosburg will lead Denver in two games. One of those is already behind us, as the Broncos fought hard but lost to the Chiefs 27-24 last Sunday.
Rosburg’s next and final chance is this coming Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High against the Los Angeles Chargers. The 4-12 Broncos are playing for pride, trying to avoid the most losses in franchise history. The 10-6 Chargers have a playoff spot secured, but are still battling for more favorable postseason seeding.
There’s no doubt last week was extremely chaotic. Hackett was fired on Monday, Rosburg was given the interim job later that afternoon, and the Broncos had to play a Super Bowl contender six days later. This week, Denver will have a more normal schedule, and Rosburg sees the benefit of that. Both for him and the players on the team.
“I hope that we’ve had more time now. I know I’ve had more time, and the opportunity to approach this game from a technical standpoint and schematic standpoint. I’ve watched tape, I’ve seen their players, I understand now better than a week ago what we’re faced with. I also probably have a better understanding of ourselves having been on the sidelines and watched practice from a different context,” Rosburg said.
Rosburg was hired in September to help Hackett with game-management. The formerly retired coach is now just one of 32 men on Earth with this job title. He was happy with Denver’s effort in KC, but knows something must get better this week.
“If you go out and lose a football game, you better not stand pat. You better do something different. You watch that last game and what was the difference in the game? Well, I saw some things on offense that I liked. Our run defense remains strong. And our ability to run the ball was pretty good. But the beat us with explosive plays. They had six explosive plays, and we had two. One of them was unfortunately re-adjusted,” Rosburg said.
Rosburg is talking about the bogus offensive pass-interference call against Courtland Sutton that changed the complexion of the game. The Broncos were leading at the time, but a quick Chiefs TD, followed by a Russell Wilson interception and another score swung the contest. Denver battled back, but came up short.
The result on Sunday won’t matter much for the standings. It’ll shuffle what draft pick the Broncos have to send Seattle, but that’s about it.
It will, however, set the tone for the offseason. And Rosburg wants a win in his last chance as a head coach. Even if that tenure will last just two games.
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