ANALYSIS: Loss to Browns the final nail in Broncos, VJ’s coffins?
Dec 15, 2018, 10:17 PM | Updated: 10:42 pm
The Denver Broncos lost to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night, 17-16, for the first time in three decades. But will it cost head coach Vance Joseph his job? Here is how the 104.3 The Fan staff reacted:
DMac (“The Drive”):
Ultimately, the Broncos-Browns game came down to decisions whether or not to go for it on fourth-and-one.
Tricky.
Head coach Vance Joseph pressed quarterback Case Keenum to be more aggressive but then pulled back and trusted his defense.
The Browns then had a critical fourth down and decided to go for it.
The Broncos defense was fooled, specifically defensive end Adam Gotsis. But … Browns head coach Greg Williams foolishly called a timeout before the hard count cost the Broncos the game. In a moment of sweet redemption, Gotsis made a huge tackle for a loss giving Denver a final chance for victory.
These are the moments coaches live for, to prove you know the game better than your opponent. To guess a field goal here means a winning score there. For two coaches on the bubble, this was the ultimate test.
The tension built accordingly with a critical fourth down converted with a clutch reception by Devonte Booker. Would Brandon McManus get a chance to be the hero?
But fourth down ultimately was not kind to the Broncos. This season hasn’t been kind to Keenum and the Broncos. The Browns defense found the crack they needed. Browns punter Britton Colquitt, who was dispatched by the Broncos, blew kisses to his former fans. Baker Mayfield proves he was a better quarterback than Keenum.
Denver was eliminated, and while the odds of Williams remaining a head coach seem to be growing the future of Vance Joseph seems to be evaporating.
… Which is what most Broncos fans want.
It’s a loss that goes with a smirk from most Broncos fans that screams: “I told you so.”
Zach Bye (“Stokley and Zach”):
The Denver Broncos season has come to a dead end, and so has the road for Vance Joseph as the team’s head coach.
Did he have a franchise QB? No. Was his team hampered by injuries? Yes. Was he ever truly, fully empowered? I’m not sure.
The one thing I do know is that in a bottom-line business defined only by wins and losses, the resume that Joseph has put together is less impressive than the one that got him the job in the first place.
I don’t know when the change will come down from the top floor of Dove Valley, but I do fully expect it to come.
Joseph will take the blame for Broncos Country’s anguish, for right or wrong. That’s the NFL world he choose to live in.
