Broncos Shamed in Massive Tumbled Down NFL's Week 4 Power Rankings
In this story:
On Christmas Day last season, the Los Angeles Rams decimated the Denver Broncos, led by Baker Mayfield. It was easily the worst game Denver had played in recent memory — until this past Sunday.
Losing 14-51 on Christmas was embarrassing, but getting dragged for four straight quarters last Sunday takes the cake. The Miami Dolphins' 70-20 blowout sent the Broncos tumbling down the mountain of relevancy and back into the pits of obscurity.
NFL.com stopped the Broncos' fall short of last place for at least one week. Here's what Eric Edholm said about knocking Denver down eight spots to No. 31 in the NFL's Week 4 power rankings.
It’s hard to know where to start. Denver has lost games by one, two, and 50 points. The talk has now temporarily shifted from the Sean Payton-Russell Wilson relationship to whatever in the world is happening with the defense. In Week 1, that unit played well enough to win. In Week 2, Sam Howell carved Denver up. Week 3 was just an ambush, the likes of which we’ve not seen in many, many years. Would you believe that the Broncos have the sixth-most-expensive defense in the NFL, per Over the Cap? Wilson and the passing game have done some nice things, but not nice enough to overcome that. The defense needs to straighten out fast.
Hiring Vance Joseph to command the Broncos' defense has proved to be a catastrophic mistake over the first three weeks. This unit couldn’t get Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders off the field, leading to only six offensive possessions for the Broncos, and followed that up by allowing Sam Howell to come back from a 21-3 deficit to etch a second loss on Denver’s record.
The cherry at the bottom of Joseph’s defensive failure was relinquishing a whopping 70 points in a game where Dolphins wideout Jaylen Waddle was inactive. Miami's point total in Week 3 was the most in the NFL since 1966 and only three off from the all-time single-game record.
To be fair, Denver's defensive talent is nowhere near elite outside of cornerback Patrick Surtain ll. Still, there is no feasible explanation for why Miami put up college numbers on the Broncos.
The money given to rush linebacker Randy Gregory and defensive end Zach Allen is the fault of the Broncos' front office, as neither has significantly impacted Sundays. Gregory had the same defensive output as Russell Wilson last week, which reveals all we need to know.
Boasting the sixth-most expensive defense and giving up a 70-burger is inexcusable and a fireable offense, even at this early stage of the season. Dressing only two safeties when you have a rookie in JL Skinner, who was a healthy scratch in Week 3, and facing the track team that is the Dolphins was also mind-boggling.
It's not a matter of if Joseph will be fired, but when. As much as Broncos Country may want him gone now, it seems he’ll stick around for at least another week. Sean Payton is solely responsible for the Joseph hire and will have to wear that badge of shame for the remainder of his tenure in Dove Valley.
Looking ahead to next week, the Broncos will face the 0-3 Chicago Bears, who are the sole reason Denver isn't sitting at dead last in the NFL power rankings. If Joseph can’t bounce back against the impotent Justin Fields and Luke Getsy-led offense, perhaps that's when he'll get his walking papers.
The pits of obscurity have engulfed the Broncos for another year as they will be fighting for draft position going forward. One more slip and the Broncos will be dragged to the very bottom, and their season will officially be over.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
