The Broncos gaffes of 2022 have nothing on the Josh McDaniels era

He’s back, baby. This weekend, the Broncos will have a showdown with their arch nemesis, Josh McDaniels.

McDaniels, infamously, was the Broncos head coach and general manager in 2009 and most of 2010. He was fired before the end of the 2010 season because under his leadership the Broncos became the laughingstock of the NFL.

The 2022 Broncos have some real blunders that it almost makes you wonder if they’re doing a tribute to Josh McDaniels. Nathaniel Hackett’s decision to kick a 64-yard goal and the home crowd counting down the play clock have made it easy to laugh at the Broncos.

The Broncos and Hackett have taken heavy criticism from local and national media. It’s been rough.

As embarrassing as it might feel, the 2022 Broncos have nothing on Josh McDaniels. When it comes to having one of their own make the Broncos look like a joke, Josh McDaniels is the GOAT.

The Broncos had some real bangers when it came to humiliation in the McDaniels era.

Under McDaniels, the Broncos started a season 6-0 and missed the playoffs, lost at home to the Raiders in a real nail biter, 59-14, and in the week leading up to a game in London with the 49ers, a Broncos staffer was caught filming the opponent’s practice, which is against the rules.

However, the crown jewel of the Josh McDaniels era in Denver is the time that McDaniels traded a first-round pick to the Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick. Straight up. That’s right, McDaniels agreed to trade a first-round pick for a second-round pick and asked for nothing else in return. Absolutely brilliant.

It was the 2009 draft and McDaniels wanted to draft cornerback Alphonso Smith so badly in the second round that he traded a 2010 first-round pick for a 2009 second-round pick. Obviously, the Seahawks were all in on this once-in-a-lifetime deal and probably laughed at the idiocy as they accepted the trade.

Alphonso Smith was gone from Denver after one season and the Seahawks used that first round pick to draft Earl Thomas. Thomas became part of the Legion of Boom, a secondary that helped defeat the Broncos in Super Bowl 48. Who could’ve guessed that the first-round pick ended up being more valuable than the second-round pick?

These are just the greatest hits of Josh McDaniels with the Broncos, there are many more ridiculous situations that could be mentioned.

To McDaniels’ credit, his 2010 draft was one of the best in Broncos history. But he was so bad overall, that his few accomplishments are overshadowed.

This weekend, the Broncos will play Josh McDaniels and his red hot 0-3 Las Vegas Raiders. McDaniels would love nothing more than to get his first win against the team that canned him before he finished his second season. Let’s hope Broncos Country gets a glimpse of the old McDaniels and the Raiders continue their losing ways.

We might pull our hair out watching this Broncos team (mainly, the offense), but Nathaniel Hackett has humbled himself. That’s a quality McDaniels lacked in Denver.

Despite the hilarious final score, last Sunday’s win over the 49ers was a big victory over a quality team. As embarrassing as it has been for the Broncos in 2022, it doesn’t come close to the two years that Josh McDaniels came to Denver and ruined everything.

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