The Broncos win over Washington was a trick, not a treat

The Broncos won on Sunday. Their victory over Washington ended a four-game losing streak. It improved their record to 4-4. It saved their season from spiraling into the dirt.

But it sure didn’t seem like a cause for celebration. At the end of the day, Denver’s win felt hollow and empty.

Maybe it’s because Washington was the better team on Sunday. At least statistically.

They had more first downs than the Broncos, 21-17. They had more yards of offense, 342-273. And they won the time-of-possession battle, by nearly four minutes.

But they had two field goals blocked. They also squandered multiple trips into the red zone. And they were generally inept on offense.

In other words, Denver came across a team that was worse than them. They didn’t necessarily win. Washington lost.

That realization was clear to everyone watching. Any objective observer would conclude that Sunday’s win wasn’t a crowning achievement for the Broncos.

But do they know it? Is the organization aware that it was a meaningless victory?

According to reports, Denver was waiting to see how their game against Washington went before determining how they wanted to approach Tuesday’s trade deadline. Had they lost, they’d have been “sellers,” looking to move on from high-priced veterans like Von Miller, Kyle Fuller, Melvin Gordon and Kareem Jackson. But with a win, they’d stand pat, going the patient route on the season.

If George Paton believes the Broncos are a legit playoff contender, he’s delusional. At 4-4, there’s no way Denver’s general manager thinks his team is trending upward.

They’ve beaten the Giants, Jaguars, Jets and Washington. They’ve knocked off Daniel Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Taylor Heinecke.

The Broncos aren’t going anywhere. And it’s time they came to that harsh realization.

The fan base certainly has. There were nearly 12,000 no-shows on Sunday, an unheard of number for a home game this early in the season.

Some will blame the weather, which is laughable. The temperature was in the 40s, which is balmy compared to a lot of home games in the Mile High City.

Some will blame the holiday, which is equally silly. The Broncos have played at home on Halloween before, as well as Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, all of which were well attended.

Sunday’s game was a sparse crowd because fans have already reached a verdict on the season. They know the team is going nowhere. They know they’re simply riding out the string with Vic Fangio and Company.

The win over Washington will only extend that timeline. It will only delay the inevitable. And in the end, it will prevent the team from doing what they should do.

Fangio isn’t the long-term answer. It’s time to move on from the bumbling head coach.

Pat Shurmur is a disaster. It’s time to pull the plug on the offensive coordinator.

And Teddy Bridgewater has been a miss. It’s time to turn the page at quarterback.

But none of those things will happen now. A loss to Washington, especially with all of the empty seats, might’ve led to a coaching change. It could’ve precipitated a new direction on offense. It would’ve been a reason to make a QB switch.

Now, none of those things will happen. Perhaps not until the end of the season.

The Broncos will probably lose on Sunday to the Cowboys. But they’ll likely beat the Eagles at home the next week. That’ll put them at 5-5 heading into their bye week.

With that record, Denver will believe they’re in the race. They’ll convince themselves that the season has hope.

So no changes will come. Fangio will stay. Shurmur will stay. Bridgewater will stay.

Then, they’ll lose two to the Chargers, two to the Chiefs, one to the Raiders and one to the Bengals after the bye. A victory over the Lions will help them finish 6-11.

The season will have been wasted. The inevitable result will have been reached.

A vision toward the future would make the Broncos decisions clear. They need to move on from Fangio. They need to broom Shurmur. They need to go with Drew Lock at quarterback. And they need to trade veteran players in order to stockpile draft picks.

Those things might’ve happened if Denver had lost to Washington. A fifth-straight defeat could’ve forced the team to go down the right path.

Instead, they won. And now, they’ll delay the inevitable by three, four or five weeks, burning valuable time in the process.

The Broncos won on Sunday, but it sure felt like a loss.

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