Kiszla: The Broncos are garbage. Why doesn t the stink stick to John Elway? He made this mess. By Mark Kiszla Denver Post November 21, 2017

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1 Kiszla: The Broncos are garbage. Why doesn t the stink stick to John Elway? He made this mess. By Mark Kiszla Denver Post The Broncos are bad at football. They might be worse at the blame game. Mike McCoy, the very offensive coordinator, got fired Monday. He won t be the last. How long will it be before cornerback Aqib Talib is sent packing, receiver Demaryius Thomas is coerced to take a pay cut or running back C.J. Anderson is made the scapegoat for a lousy offensive line? It s not OK to lose here, Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall said. After Cincinnati dropped Denver to a 3-7 record, Marshall warned the time had arrived for players and coaches to get worried about being cut or getting fired. When you lose, Marshall said, you ve got to look over your shoulder. Good call. But why dump McCoy now, after the Broncos are already toast? Because Vance Joseph had to do something, just to prove he actually makes decisions around here, and is more than a puppet for general manager John Elway. It was my decision, Joseph said. It was my decision only. The problem? No different than many of Joseph s decisions, from giving struggling quarterback Trevor Siemian a breather to benching fumble-fingered Isaiah McKenzie, this move from McCoy to Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator is too little, too late for a team so bankrupt of smart ideas it can t even buy a vowel to solve this puzzling six-game losing streak. Nobody s talking playoffs in Denver. The game now? Pin the tail on the Donkeys. And our Donkeys have really cranked up the blame game during the past 96 hours. Elway has stuck it to the players, calling them soft. And Joseph pointed an accusatory finger at McCoy, who seemed more afraid to find the end zone than a flat-earther is of traveling farther than the eye can see. But what s wrong with the Broncos is bigger than Allen Barbre and a minus-16 turnover differential. Elway made this mess. Since leading the franchise to a glorious victory in Super Bowl 50, the only winner Elway has picked is Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Instead of luring Tony Romo out of the television booth, Elway brought back quarterback Brock Osweiler to Denver, because first-round draft choice Paxton Lynch couldn t learn the playbook.

2 Elway whiffed on signing free agent Calais Campbell, whose 11.5 sacks has helped turn Jacksonville into the intimidating defense the Broncos used to be. And hiring Joseph as head coach was a mistake so big that nobody at Dove Valley Headquarters knows how to get out of it. But when Elway takes out the garbage, the stink doesn t stick to him. Elway can call a team he built soft, yet most of the blame in Broncos Country is directed at the players that Elway hired. He s the boss. Whatever he says goes, man, defensive end Derek Wolfe said. Kudos to Wolfe. That s as succinct a description of Elway s power in Denver as I ve ever heard. Since 1983, Elway has run this town more than any mayor from Federico Pena to Michael Hancock. As one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and a front-office executive that returned the franchise to elite status, Elway has earned his love in Denver. Before protracted negotiations resulted in a new contract for Elway earlier this year, I advocated the team make him general manager for life. So count (or blame) me as a fan of his work. The rest of the NFL, however, might view Elway through a slightly more critical lens. Let s tally the score since January John Fox and Elway had a nasty spat that led to a hasty divorce. Gary Kubiak informed his football brother that coaching in Denver was bad for his health. The time of Joseph s life lasted about as long as it takes Sergio Dipp to say: Giants 23, Broncos 10. While 10,000 no-shows for the season finale in December against Kansas City would send a business message that would be hard for the Broncos to ignore, I m afraid franchise management will be very reluctant to fire Joseph, even if the team stumbles to an embarrassing 5-11 finish, if only because dumping him would only enhance Elway s reputation as a coach-killer. So has it really come to this for the Broncos? The best reason for keeping Joseph around is so Elway doesn t look like the boss from Hades.

3 Jhabvala vs. Kiz: Will John Elway s soft comment fracture the Broncos locker room? By Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Kiszla Denver Post Will John Elway s criticism of the Broncos being soft unify or fracture the Broncos locker room? Kiz: John Elway stuck a dagger in his team s soul. And look what happened. The Broncos got embarrassed, losing at home to a terrible Cincinnati team on Sunday. And running back C.J. Anderson cried in the locker room after the defeat. Were those tears soft, in Elway s book? Anderson isn t soft. Just about the worst thing you can call a football team is soft. How will the Broncos react to the boss criticism? Jhabvala: I don t think it will make a difference. Of the players who weighed in on Elway s comments Sunday, many admitted they were taken aback but also agreed with his comments. They re 3-7, after all. Others took it personally and disputed their GM s assessment. For athletes that make a living on their grit and toughness, few words hurt more than soft. But Elway s been in this long enough as both a player and executive to know the power of his words. My guess is that it was calculated, to both give coach Vance Joseph a vote of confidence and light a fire under his team. The fact of the matter is he runs the show. If the players fail to stick together, ultimately it will reflect in their play and put them on the hot seat. Kiz: How old school can a quarterback be? When the Broncos got unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs by Indianapolis at the conclusion of the 2014 NFL season, Elway parted ways with coach John Fox and declared he wanted more kicking and screaming from his team. Physicality and mental toughness are great attributes in players. So is talent. Maybe, just maybe, Denver s real problem in 2017 isn t a poor attitude, but a lack of talent on the roster Elway has assembled. Jhabvala: On defense? Nope. You re telling me Chris Harris, Aqib Talib, Bradley Roby, Von Miller, Shane Ray, Domata Peko and Derek Wolfe comprise a group that lacks talent? Nah. Now on offense, I would agree they need more talent. The offensive line is still better than what it was in recent years, thanks primarily to the addition of Ron Leary. Their running backs have speed and power. But they need a franchise quarterback. Consider: Eleven of the Broncos 15 AFC West titles and seven of their eight Super Bowl appearances were achieved with either Elway or Peyton Manning. Kiz: Here s my guess. Elway reluctantly but angrily gave up on this group of Broncos after those humiliating back-to-back losses against Philadelphia and New England. His soft comment was a prelude to taking a heavy wrecking ball to the roster when this miserable season is done. Aqib Talib? Gone. Anderson? Adios. Elway wasn t trying to rally the troops by challenging their manhood, he was issuing notice that the break-up of the Broncos has only just begun. Jhabvala: The losses to the New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals at home were much worse. Sure they were blown out by the Eagles and Patriots, but those are two of the NFL s top offenses. The Giants and Bengals though? Unacceptable. Elway was honest and probably wanted to give his team a kick in

4 the butt. But if the players and coaches didn t think a break-up was looming after six consecutive losses really bad losses well, then they re not paying attention. They know what s at stake.

5 Broncos fire offensive coordinator Mike McCoy after six-game losing streak By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post In the hours after the Broncos took their sixth consecutive loss, coach Vance Joseph reviewed the game film and came to the conclusion that a major change was needed. Another major change. Monday morning, in a decision all his own, Joseph informed offensive coordinator Mike McCoy that he was fired. Bill Musgrave was promoted as interim coordinator and play-caller for the remainder of the season, and Klint Kubiak, previously offensive assistant/quarterbacks, was elevated to quarterbacks coach. The coaching change appeared weeks in the making after the Broncos steep drop from a 3-1 team before its bye week to a 3-7 team after. A quarterback swap from Trevor Siemian to Brock Osweiler in Week 9 failed to stabilize the offense and eliminate the pesky turnovers. And frustration continued to permeate the locker room and front office as the Broncos searched for answers to their myriad issues most of which have been on the offensive side. I thought at this moment for our football team moving forward that a change was needed, going from Mike to Bill Musgrave simply because I want to have a more efficient pass game, Joseph said. You have to have that. Our running game has been good, but our passing game has not been good, in my opinion. We have to find ways to have a pass game where it s more completion passes, we can call them with more confidence, we can call them in hard parts of the game and execute. That hadn t happened. So that s why the change was ultimately made. When Joseph was hired in January, McCoy was his top choice as offensive coordinator after he was let go by the Chargers, where he had been the head coach for four years. The two had visions of creating an offense with swagger and flexibility, that was both prolific and efficient. In the Broncos first two victories, the goal appeared to be achieved. But over the last six weeks, the Broncos have plummeted to near the bottom of the league in most major offensive categories and might be onto their third quarterback change of the season. Starting Sunday, the Broncos offense figures to sport a new look. Moving to Billy, I think we re going to have a chance to have a more efficient pass game with simplifying the concepts and helping our quarterbacks have a cleaner progression on where to go with the ball, Joseph said. That s why it was made. I m looking forward to Bill having a chance to put his touch on the offense and having a chance to watch our pass game grow a little bit and not be so scattered in our passing concepts. The simplification, Joseph said, will be made for the offense as a whole. Not just the quarterback s role. And the tweaks will inevitably alter the scheme.

6 It has to. It s a different coordinator, Joseph said. Now, again, when you re talking about an NFL offense, terminology is the key. Everyone runs similar concepts, but the terminology of what you call things, that s where the problems come in. We have to figure out a way to keep the terminology the same but simplify the concepts and get to a more efficient brand of a passing game. Since Week 6, the Broncos brand has been dismal. They averaged 14.2 points per game, the secondfewest in the NFL, and amassed an NFL-high 17 turnovers. They were shut out for the first time in 25 years (Week 7) and Sunday lost to the Bengals at home for the first time in 42 years. Denver currently ranks 24th in scoring (18.3 points), 29th in red-zone efficiency (45.5 percent), 27th in passing yards per play (5.49) and 31st in turnovers (23). When Joseph decided to bench Siemian in favor of Osweiler, he issued a disclaimer that the move wouldn t correct the offense s many problems. And it didn t. Monday, Joseph provided a similar disclaimer after parting with McCoy. Mike chose us and I chose Mike. Mike was my first call, Joseph said. So I don t want to put this all on Mike McCoy. Even with the Trevor decision, it wasn t all on Trevor. We could have coached better and played better around Trevor. I feel the same way about Mike here. Mike didn t fumble the ball. Mike didn t throw interceptions. But ultimately it falls on Mike s plate. Mike took the fall for it because he s the coordinator. But ultimately Mike s a good football coach and a good person, and that was hard. Now Musgrave, the former Broncos quarterback and longtime play-caller, will take over in time to face his former team, the Raiders. A 20-year coaching veteran with 11 years experience as an offensive coordinator, Musgrave helped an Oakland offense that ranked last in total yards (282.2 per game) and 31st in scoring (15.9 points per game) in 2014 leap to the top seven in both categories (373.3 yards, 26 points) by Though the Broncos sit at 3-7 and their window for a playoff run has all but closed, perhaps a change will spark a turnaround before the clock on 2017 runs out. Right now, I feel that we ve got a lot of good offense and a lot of good plays that we ve missed. But we haven t mastered anything, Joseph said. I think Billy s going to bring a sense of consistency to our offense that we can master four or five concepts, and that s good enough to get better. Stuck in the mud The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Monday. Here is a closer look at some of the offensive numbers that led to his dismissal, with NFL rank in parentheses: Scoring offense: 18.3 points per game (24th) Turnovers: 23 (31st) QB rating: 72.3 (30th) Red-zone TD pct: 45.5 (29th) 4th-down pct: 20 (25th) Sacks allowed: 31 (25th) Nick Kosmider, The Denver Post

7 Broncos players say they stand by Vance Joseph; Brandon Marshall addresses soft comment By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post The Broncos may be mired in a six-game losing streak and now awaiting the ripple effect of an offensive coordinator change. But players say they haven t lost faith in coach Vance Joseph. We respect Vance whole-heartedly. We talk about it all the time, linebacker Brandon Marshall said. This 3-7 record kind of masks what type of coach he is. He s a good coach. A lot of guys respect him. A lot of guys really enjoy him as our coach. He keeps it real. He tells us the truth. We play good in spurts, but we just haven t been able to put together a complete game. And it s tough because ultimately, as a head coach, it falls back on him unfortunately. But we know or at least I know what type of coach he is, how much he cares and how detailed he is. It s just sad because we re not getting it done for him. He s a first-year head coach at a tough organization, a winning organization that doesn t have a lot of patience. I want to get it done for him and I know everybody else wants to get it done for him. Running back C.J. Anderson lauded the entire offensive staff, including former offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. We got really good coaches, from Mike, who just lost his job today, to V.J. to all of our position coaches on the offensive end that stay here countless hours and put time in, Anderson said. They put their chips in every week and us as players, we re preparing to get our chips in every week. We re just not getting the results that we would love to see. But, there are six games left. Nobody knows how this will turn out. All we can do is control our six. You go 9-7 hoping you get in. Soft debate. Marshall was among the more vocal players after general manager John Elway s comments that the team got a bit soft after the bye week. The veteran said he took the comment personally and later took to social media to defend his statements. The point was that when he said that we re soft, it struck a competitive chord with me, Marshall said Monday. I felt like if anybody has any type of pride about them, it should have struck a competitive chord. I wasn t taking shots at him. I think everybody said, Oh, he s taking shots at the GM. That s just ridiculous. I m a competitive guy and I have skin in the game. I m out here running around busting my tail, so if somebody said that it really makes me feel some type of way. I see nothing wrong with being a grown man and disagreeing with somebody. I can respectfully disagree with what he said as long as I m going out and giving 100 percent every game, which is what I m doing. I can respectfully disagree and there are a lot of guys that actually disagree with him, but people just don t say it. I respectfully disagree. Have we been losing? Have we been not very good? I definitely agree with that, but I wouldn t agree with the soft comment.

8 After OC change, Vance Joseph says he s undecided on Broncos starting quarterback By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post Broncos coach Vance Joseph made one major decision Monday morning in an effort to reboot the offense, but another one looms. Joseph plans to meet with newly promoted offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and the rest of the offensive staff over the next couple of days to discuss which quarterback will be the best fit, since the offense figures to change. And, for now, all three quarterbacks Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian will be in the discussion. We got three guys on the roster that we like and we ll see what s Bill s vision for the offense and who fits it best, Joseph said Monday. The Broncos opened the season with Trevor Siemian, who guided the team to a 3-1 start before the bye week. But he was benched after the Broncos lost three straight after the break, primarily because of turnovers. In his seven starts this season, Siemian completed 61.5 percent of his passes for yards per game, a total of nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Osweiler took over in Week 9 at Philadelphia, but the offense has continued to lag. Denver has gone 0-3 with Osweiler at the helm and has tallied more turnovers (six) than touchdowns (four). Paxton Lynch was named the backup and made active for the first time this season on Sunday following a near-three-month recovery from a shoulder sprain. Although Joseph and general manager John Elway have said they re taking the season and their quarterback changes on a week-to-week basis, the prevailing thinking is that the spiraling Broncos will want to give Lynch playing time this season to, at the very least, see what they have in him before retooling the offense. Lynch played three games last year, starting two in place of Siemian, and completed 59 percent of his passes. He averaged yards per game. And he had a total of two touchdowns and one interception. In only his second season, Lynch will have to adapt to his third coordinator. If Lynch is called upon Sunday, however, Joseph said any changes in the playbook and offense will be adapted to him. That s on the coaches, that s on myself. If he does play for us, it s got to be a system that fits Paxton. He s practiced the last two weeks, Joseph said. And again, it won t be soccer. It s football for him. What he s practiced the last couple of weeks, it may be called a little different, it may be called more of the same stuff, but it s just football. He ll be fine.

9 A look at the Broncos coaching, quarterback turnover since 2011 By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post Since John Elway joined the Broncos front office in 2011, the Broncos have funneled through head coaches, coordinators and starting quarterbacks. Monday the team announced they fired offensive coordinator and play-caller Mike McCoy, ending his second stint in Denver after less than a year. Bill Musgrave takes over as the fourth different offensive coordinator for the Broncos in the past six years. A snapshot of the Broncos turnover since 2011: HEAD COACHES John Fox ( ) Gary Kubiak ( ) Vance Joseph (2017-present) OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS Mike McCoy ( , 2017) Adam Gase ( ) Rick Dennison ( ) Bill Musgrave (2017) DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS Dennis Allen (2011) Jack Del Rio ( ) Wade Phillips ( ) Joe Woods (2017 present) STARTING QUARTERBACKS Kyle Orton ( ) Tim Tebow (2011) Peyton Manning ( ) Brock Osweiler (2015, 2017) Trevor Siemian ( ) Paxton Lynch (2016)

10 Bill Musgrave s main objective is to get Broncos QBs to complete more passes. So how will he do it? By Nick Kosmider Denver Post Vance Joseph wants to improve an anemic passing attack. So the Broncos first-year head coach on Monday turned to an assistant who first made a name for himself by flinging passes through the Colorado air more than 30 years ago. Bill Musgrave was named the interim offensive coordinator Monday after the Broncos fired Mike McCoy 10 games into his second stint with the franchise. Musgrave, the Denver Post s Gold Helmet winner as a quarterback at Grand Junction High School in 1985, will reclaim a position he held with the Raiders last season, when Oakland ranked sixth in total offense (373.3 yards per game). Moving to Billy, I think we re going to have a chance to have a more efficient pass game, Joseph said. With simply simplifying the concepts and helping our quarterbacks have a cleaner progression on where to go with the ball. I m looking forward to Bill having a chance to put his touch on the offense and having a chance to watch our pass game grow a little bit and not be so scattered in our passing concepts. Musgrave won t have a player the caliber of Oakland s Derek Carr at his disposal as he prepares a game plan with the stated objective of completing more passes. Joseph said Monday the Broncos have not decided on a quarterback for Sunday s game at Oakland that decision could come Tuesday but it could be 2016 first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch, who would be making just his third career start. Helping the Broncos next starter prepare will be Klint Kubiak, the 30-year old son of former Denver coach Gary Kubiak, who is being promoted from his role as an offensive assistant to quarterbacks coach. The name of the quarterback won t change the marching orders for the Musgrave-Kubiak duo: improve the efficiency of a passing game that ranks 27th in the NFL with a 58.8 completion percentage and avoid some of the plays that have led to 14 interceptions the second-highest total in the league. So how will Denver s offense, with the same personnel that has plummeted to a six-game losing streak, make appreciable gains through the air? Musgrave isn t scheduled to address reporters until Wednesday, but Joseph said the new-look plan under the veteran offensive assistant will be a return to basics. When you are not playing efficiently, it has to be more simple for everyone involved so we can be on the same page, Joseph said. Sometimes you have to master a small portion to be decent at something. Right now I feel like we have a lot of good offense, but we haven t mastered anything that we re really good at. After throwing for a then-state-record 30 touchdown passes as a senior at Grand Junction, Musgrave had a decorated career as a quarterback at the University of Oregon, played parts of eight seasons in the NFL and immediately became an offensive assistant in the league upon his retirement in He has

11 worked as an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach or assistant for eight different NFL teams, taking a two-season detour as the University of Virginia offensive coordinator in 2000 and Despite calling an often prolific offense in Oakland last season, one that helped the Raiders achieve a 12-4 record, coach Jack Del Rio chose not to retain Musgrave, instead promoting quarterbacks coach Todd Downing into the coordinator role after the season. Joseph said at his introductory news conference in January that Musgrave chose to join the Broncos as quarterbacks coach over four or five teams (that were) after him last offseason. Now, Joseph has chosen to put a grounded offensive attack into Musgrave s hands and has told him to keep it simple. Sometimes, Joseph said, it s doing the same thing more often so you can master it. I think Billy s going to bring a sense of consistency to our offense.

12 Broncos players feel weight of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy s firing By Nick Kosmider Denver Post Before he walked out of the Broncos locker room for what turned out to be the final time Sunday night, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy sat next to dejected running back C.J. Anderson. McCoy offered consoling words to Anderson, whose fourth-quarter fumble was a major culprit in the Broncos loss to the Bengals. He said, You ve been playing your (butt) off all year,' Anderson said. Don t let one play you didn t lose the game. That compassionate moment made the announcement of McCoy s firing by coach Vance Joseph on Monday a bitter pill to swallow for the veteran running back. It s just tough, man, Anderson said. Not saying that play was the ultimate deciding factor of him being fired, but it definitely piled up and continued to pile up. Anderson texted McCoy upon hearing the news Monday morning, offering his gratitude. McCoy responded, thanking Denver s running back for the energy he brought to work every day. The solemn messages matched the mood in the Broncos locker room following the news that McCoy, who was 10 games into his second run with the franchise, had been let go. Those who spoke wanted to make clear that McCoy shouldn t shoulder all the blame for what has transpired with the team during its longest losing streak within the same season since You never want to see a coach lose his job in this business, offensive guard Ron Leary said. I hate it for him. I don t think all the blame is on him. That s just kind of how the game goes. It goes hand in hand. People weren t executing and he just kind of had to fall on the sword for us. I hate to see it. Defensive end Derek Wolfe provided somewhat prophetic words after Sunday night s loss when asked to respond to general manager John Elway s claim that the team had become a little bit soft during its prolonged losing streak. If the boss says it s not good enough, that means everybody s not doing good enough, Wolfe said. That means everybody s probably going to get fired. The emotion in the locker room after Sunday s game was a portrait of a team at a tipping point. The loss to Cincinnati all but torpedoed the team s flimsy playoff hopes. Change felt inevitable. Still, McCoy s departure came as a surprise to some. It was a quiet group because they like Mike, Joseph said. But they understand that it s a production business, and it hasn t changed. They all know we are all playing for our football careers all the time

13 that s the NFL. So surprise, maybe, for some, but that s part of it. The players are going to back (interim offensive coordinator) Billy Musgrave and try to get it fixed. The firing of McCoy coupled with the releases last week of linebacker Kasim Edebali and tight end A.J. Derby is a clear message, linebacker Brandon Marshall said. Time will tell whether the Broncos receive it during the final six games of what has become a miserable season. It s not OK to lose here, Marshall said. We re losing here and it s a big issue. I guess they re letting everyone know that it doesn t matter who you are. We re going to find guys who are going to get it done, and that s what we re going to do.

14 Joseph: Inefficient pass game led to changing coordinators By Mike Klis 9 News After digesting the Broncos major coaching change Monday, it came down to this: Head coach Vance Joseph didn t like the way his quarterbacks were playing. And Mike McCoy paid for it with his job. They tried Brock Osweiler for three games at quarterback after season-opening starter Trevor Siemian had committed nine turnovers in his four losses, including eight interceptions. But the costly turnovers continued. Osweiler threw four interceptions in his three losses. And so now McCoy is out as offensive coordinator. Bill Musgrave is in. When we changed from Trevor to Brock, my goal was to stabilize the offense and not turn the ball over as much, Joseph said Monday. It was more about the quarterback position and hoping to get a veteran guy in to stabilize the offense and not give the ball away as much. That hasn t happened. Brock s had three starts now and the same problems have occurred. And so I felt at this moment for our football team moving forward that a change was needed, going from Mike to Bill Musgrave, simply because I want to have a more efficient pass game. You have to have that. Our running game has been good. But our pass game has not been good in my opinion. The Broncos rank 30th in the 32-team NFL in passing efficiency with Siemian and Osweiler combining for a 73.2 rating. Only the winless Cleveland Browns have thrown more interceptions than the Broncos 14. In his attempt to improve that pass game efficiency, Musgrave will start with a huge challenge as it appears Paxton Lynch, ready or not, will become the third starting quarterback in five weeks when the Broncos play the Raiders in the Black Hole this Sunday. Lynch was a first-round draft pick last year, but he was beat out in back-to-back years by Siemian for the starting job. Lynch started two games last year but hasn t played in a regular-season game since going a conservative, 12 of 24 for 104 yards in a win at Jacksonville on Dec. 10, He missed two months this season with a shoulder injury suffered Aug. 26 in the Broncos third preseason game against Green Bay. So, the game against the Raiders would be three months since he last saw the field in a preseason game, and nearly a full calendar year since he played for keeps. He s fine, he s ready to go, Joseph said of Lynch. He had a good week last week. I m going to get with Bill and his staff to see who s the best guy for the job.

15 Musgrave helped Raiders quarterback Derek Carr have his two best seasons when they worked together in Oakland. In , when Musgrave was the Raiders offensive coordinator, Carr combined for 60 touchdown passes against just 19 interceptions. Under Musgrave, look for Lynch to throw a ton of quick, short passes. There might not be much heft in yards per pass attempt. Joseph just doesn t want interceptions. "You know, Mike didn't fumble the ball, Joseph said. Mike didn't throw interceptions. But ultimately it falls on Mike's plate. So, I don't want to stand here and blame Mike for all of our offensive issues, because it wasn't all on Mike. We've gotta play better around Mike. That's players and that's coaches coaching their guys to play better around Mike. Mike took the fall for it because he's the coordinator, but ultimately Mike's a good football coach and a good person."

16 Broncos fire offensive coordinator Mike McCoy By Mike Klis 9 News Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph has fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. McCoy was informed by Joseph on Monday he has been relieved of his duties. Joseph then promoted quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave to offensive coordinator. Musgrave will call the offensive plays Sunday against the Oakland Raiders one of several NFL teams he has previously served as offensive coordinator. I have a responsibility to do what s best for our football team,'' Joseph said in a statement. "Although this wasn t an easy decision, we needed to make this change. We have to play a more efficient brand of football offensively as we begin the final stretch of our season.'' Klint Kubiak, son of former Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak, has been promoted from offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks coach to quarterbacks coach. McCoy s firing comes as the Broncos lost their sixth consecutive game Sunday in which turnovers were a major factor in the loss. I m disappointed that things didn t work out because this is a special organization and a great place to be,'' McCoy said in a statement. "I want to thank Vance for the opportunity he gave me and the entire organization from Mr. B all the way on down. I appreciate the hard work of our players and was proud to work with them along with the rest of our coaching staff. My family and I loved it here, and I m very thankful for my time with the Denver Broncos. McCoy signed a three-year contract with the Broncos in January. It's not often a team terminates a coach before he fulfills the first year of such a deal as it leaves considerable dead money in the coaching budget. There is offset language, though, in virtually all coaches' contracts so if McCoy gets a job with another team next year, the Broncos will be off the hook for much of what they owe. This is also another example of the Pat Bowlen-Joe Ellis/John Elway regime refusing to tolerate losing, regardless of cost. They might not have fired the right guy. But change is really the only way to let their fan base know they are not satisfied with status quo. Joseph and Elway, the Broncos' general manager, had become increasingly concerned McCoy had too much volume on his play sheet, and was too much about his offensive scheme, resulting in not enough execution. McCoy first came to coaching prominence when he devised a college-type, option offense that helped passing-challenged Tim Tebow win six in a row in McCoy then stamped his offensive coordinator proficiency when Peyton Manning was his quarterback in 2012, and early in his head coaching career with the San Diego Chargers Philip Rivers.

17 But McCoy couldn t bring out the best in serviceable quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler this season. Both Siemian and Osweiler have proven they can win game in the NFL, but both became turnover-prone during the six-game losing streak. With McCoy's departure, it's assumed the next move this week will be the announcement that Paxton Lynch will become the starting quarterback. Lynch, the Broncos' first-round draft pick last year, was promoted to No. 2 quarterback last week. Multiple players said while McCoy is a good coach and a great guy, he did have so many plays on his sheet, the offense did not practice all of them before he called them during the game. The Broncos have committed 17 turnovers during their six-game losing streak. The final dagger may have been Osweiler s first quarter interception into the Cincinnati end zone on a third-and-3 play from 4 and returned 100 yards to the Broncos 1. When the Bengals scored a touchdown a couple plays later, it was a 13-point swing that was crucial in a loss. After the Broncos lost five games in a row by an average of 19.4 points, Elway said Friday night he thought the team had gone a little bit soft. The team then cut No. 2 tight end A.J. Derby on Saturday and fired McCoy on Monday. The Broncos are now 3-7 and no team in NFL history has made the playoffs with that kind of 10-game start.

18 Broncos' roster and coaching turnover is due to their own turnovers By Jeff Legwold ESPN In the sea of numbers that swirl around them, in an almost never-ending scroll of percentages and spread sheets, the Denver Broncos can easily spot the one statistic that has had the most impact on their free-fall from the NFL s elite. The biggest reason they went from 3-1 on Oct. 1 to 3-7 on the doorstep of Thanksgiving? They don t hang on to the ball well enough. And their growing pile of turnovers have now caused plenty of turnover at quarterback and on the coaching staff. Obviously the effort is there, that s not our problem, coach Vance Joseph has said. Our problem is giving the football away and that s got to stop. That comes from players playing better and obviously coaches coaching better. It s all of us. If you are judged by the company you keep, then the Broncos have a significant problem. There are only two teams in the league with turnover margins that are worse than minus-10 and those two teams are the Broncos, at minus-16, and the winless Cleveland Browns, at minus-17. Only the Browns have more interceptions than the Broncos to the Broncos and the Broncos nine lost fumbles are the second-most in the league, behind only the Chicago Bears (3-7) and the Washington Redskins (4-6), who both have lost 10 fumbles. First, turnovers ultimately cost quarterback Trevor Siemian his job, and they may cost his replacement, Brock Osweiler, his job in the coming days as well. And Monday, Joseph woke up, watched the game video from the Broncos' latest loss and fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, largely because of the turnovers and the impact they ve had on the passing game overall. I don t want to put this all on Mike McCoy, said Joseph, who named Bill Musgrave as the interim offensive coordinator. We could have coached better and played better. Mike didn t fumble the ball, Mike didn t throw interceptions. But ultimately it falls on Mike s plate. So, I don t want to stand here and blame Mike for all of our offensive issues because it wasn t all on Mike. The Broncos had two turnovers in Sunday s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, an interception by Osweiler on a play that started at the Bengals 4-yard line and a fourth-quarter fumble by running back C.J. Anderson. Those two turnovers led to 13 Bengals points, another chapter in what has been the story of the Broncos season to this point. The Broncos have played just one game this season without committing a turnover and that also happened to be their last win, over the Raiders on Oct. 1. They ve had five games this season when their turnovers have led to at least 13 points for their opponent.

19 It s just tough, man, it s just tough, Anderson said Monday. (I m) not saying that play was the ultimate deciding factor of him being fired, but things definitely piled up and continued to pile up. It was my mistake and I ve owned it. Also consider the Broncos have been outscored by 76 points this season and the turnovers from Siemian and Osweiler alone have directly led to 58 points by the Broncos opponents. In all, the Broncos opponents have scored 95 points off the Broncos turnovers. So, the Broncos haven t stopped giving the ball away and they haven t stopped opposing offenses often enough after those turnovers. The Broncos do feel a little like, on top of the mistakes they ve made on their own, they ve walked under a ladder, broken a mirror and crossed the path of every black cat -- and they point to a play like Osweiler s interception Sunday. On that play, if Osweiler completed what looked to be a pedestrian throw to Cody Latimer, who had a step on his defender, Osweiler believes the Broncos would have had an early touchdown. However, Latimer collided with the Bengals defender who was covering Emmanuel Sanders on the play, so Osweiler s pass was snagged by Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick returned it to the Broncos' 1-yard line and the Bengals, instead, scored a touchdown three plays later. Cody beats the corner inside, he runs into the slot player and the corner continues on, he catches the ball in the end zone, Joseph said. That s where we are right now. We have to find a way to make it stop, said wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. That kills you we have to clean it up.

20 Brandon Marshall says it's 'kind of ridiculous' to think he was criticizing John Elway By Jeff Legwold ESPN Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall was one of the team's players who publicly took offense to president of football operations/general manager John Elway, who said the team had gotten "a little bit soft" since its Week 5 bye. The Broncos were 3-1 at the bye and haven't won since, dropping to 3-7 after Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals -- their' sixth consecutive defeat. It's the team's longest losing streak since 1990 and led Elway Friday night to levy his strongest public criticism of the team's play since he took his current job in Monday, Marshall said he believes he can "respectfully disagree" with his boss. "I wasn't taking shots at him," Marshall said. "I think everybody was saying 'He's taking shots at the GM' and that is kind of ridiculous. I'm a competitive guy, I've got skin in the game, I'm out here running around busting my tail.... I see nothing wrong with being a grown man disagreeing." Speaking after an event Friday night to honor former coach Red Miller and Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis, Elway made his strongest comments about the team's current struggles. "I think at this point we're still trying to figure out how we can get through it," Elway said. "So, there's no question at the end of the year we'll evaluate it and we'll look back and see what happened. But I will tell you I think we got a little bit soft. To be dead honest with you, we got a little bit soft. We went 4-0 in the preseason, we started out 3-1, then we get a bye week and if you exhale in this league, you're in trouble. To be dead honest with you I think we exhaled and it's hard to recover from that. So, it's a lesson that hopefully we all learned and prevent it from happening again." Marshall, cornerback Chris Harris Jr., safety Darian Stewart, linebacker Von Miller and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas were among those who said Elway's comments were a topic of discussion among the players during Saturday's meetings. Marshall was asked Monday if he believed Elway simply wanted to anger the team with what was said. "Probably, well, that's probably how he feels too," Marshall said. "He probably honestly feels that way. I think that was a challenge to the players and the coaches and we definitely took it as one." The Broncos cut outside linebacker Kasim Edebali as well as tight end A.J. Derby last week and fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Monday. Marshall said put it all together and it's clear where things stand. "This is an organization where we have an expectation to win, we expect to win, we're expected to perform," Marshall said. "So, it's not like they can just say 'Well, you guys got time, it's OK.' It's not OK to lose here and we're losing here and it's a big issue. I guess they're letting everybody know it doesn't matter who you are. We're going to find guys that can get it done and that's what they're going to do."

21 Vance Joseph on coaching change: 'I want a more efficient pass game' By Jeff Legwold ESPN Using words such as efficient" and stabilize," Denver Broncos coach Vance Joseph explained his decision to fire offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Monday morning and promote Bill Musgrave to the job on an interim basis. The Broncos currently sport one of the NFL's least efficient offenses in terms of turning yardage into touchdowns, and the team s often-clunky passing game has been the biggest culprit. Joseph said he hopes to trim down what the players are being asked to do and better fit what the players do well into the game plans the Broncos create each week in what remains of the season. I felt that a change was needed," Joseph said.... I want to have a more efficient pass game, you have to have that.... Our pass game has not been good, in my opinion.... It s helping the quarterbacks have a cleaner progression with the ball." The Broncos are 27th in the league in completion percentage at 58.8 percent and tied for 25th in the league in yards per pass attempt at 5.5. But the change not only is about those numbers, but what those numbers have led to. The Philadelphia Eagles, for example, with Carson Wentz having an MVP-worthy season at quarterback, are 25th in the league in completion percentage at But the Eagles also lead the league in touchdown passes with 25, have just five interceptions and are ninth in yards per attempt at 6.8. Joseph said Monday that he first thought a change at quarterback would help the Broncos some -- Trevor Siemian was benched after the Oct. 30 loss in Kansas City when he threw his eighth, ninth and 10th interceptions of the season -- but the Broncos are 0-3 in Brock Osweiler's starts since. Osweiler has completed 53 percent of his passes to go with three touchdowns and four interceptions in those three games. The Broncos are 31st in the league in interceptions with only the Cleveland Browns have more (20) -- and the Broncos are tied for second-fewest offensive touchdowns in the NFL with 17. When we changed from Trevor to Brock, my goal was to stabilize the offense and not turn the ball over as much," Joseph said. It was more about the quarterback position and hoping to get a better guy in to, again, stabilize the offense and not give the ball away so much. That hasn t happened.... Brock has had three starts now and the same problems have occurred." Joseph said no decision has been made about who will start at quarterback Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Joseph said all three of the team s quarterbacks -- Siemian, Osweiler and Paxton Lynch -- will be considered. Joseph added he will meet with Musgrave and the rest of the offensive staff to see who s the best guy for our football team."

22 Joseph said Lynch, who has not played since he injured his right shoulder in an Aug. 26 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, is physically ready to play. Lynch, who was the team s first-round pick in the 2016 draft and has two career starts, was the No. 2 quarterback in Sunday s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Asked if it would be a lot to ask of Lynch to change offensive coordinators and then start him in a game less than a week later, Joseph made it clear Lynch is in the mix. That s on myself... if he does play for us, it s got to be a system that fits Paxton," Joseph said. He s practiced the last two weeks; it won t be soccer, it s football for him. What he s practiced the last couple weeks, it may be called a little different, it may be called more, a lot of the same stuff, but it s just football, so he ll be fine."

23 Change seems to have finally caught up to the Broncos By Jeff Legwold ESPN When the Denver Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Monday morning after their sixth straight loss, Bill Musgrave became the fourth different offensive coordinator in the past seven seasons. It's the fifth change if you count McCoy's two stints with the team. Over that time, they've also had four defensive coordinators, three head coaches and six different starting quarterbacks. And for four years, it was all cloaked behind Peyton Manning being Peyton Manning at quarterback. And if you look through the shattered pieces of this season, you will see that change has been the only real constant over the past seven years. The Broncos lack an identity on offense, or at least they have up to this point, and their defense has surrendered the most touchdown passes in the league (22, tied with the Houston Texans). The development, as well as impact, of their recent draft classes has been stifled as each change in decisionmakers on both sides of the ball has brought tweaks, alterations and new additions to the playbooks. In short, the Broncos keep trying to hit a moving target in free agency and the draft as they try to fit players into schemes that have changed, at least some, almost every season. Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was angry after Sunday's loss -- angry at the score, angry at the losing streak the Broncos can't snap, angry at Elway's comments that the Broncos had been "a little bit soft" since their bye. But through that anger, he may have spoken for all involved at the Broncos' current situation. "Everybody in this organization is accountable for how we're playing right now," he said. When Pat Bowlen spent all day, every day, in his office on the second floor of the Broncos' suburban Denver complex, and before Alzheimer's disease cruelly robbed him of the opportunity to do his job, there was always one prevailing thought when things didn't go well. And during Bowlen's time as the team's owner, things rarely went wrong. The Broncos have more Super Bowl appearances than losing seasons in his more than three-decade tenure, and some of those who know him the best often said Bowlen knew ups and downs were part of pro football. Losing happens sometimes, no matter how hard you try to make it not happen. But those same people also said the one thing Bowlen can't stomach is for the Broncos to be... irrelevant. With Denver at 3-7, one of the more passionate fan bases in the NFL with a sellout streak that dates back to the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, has showed up to games as its duty more than its passion. The Broncos aren't anybody's top story for touchdowns or wins these days.

24 They aren't legitimately in the playoff race, no matter what the odd math of the AFC standings say. And after a run of five division titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win since Bowlen selected John Elway as the team's top decision-maker in 2011, it's now abundantly clear last year's 9-7 record wasn't a blip before a rebound. It was a last gasp. Because the Broncos, despite the strenuous efforts of all involved, are not relevant. They have always lived with a Super Bowl-or-bust mentality. It is the way things are in the building, and in their culture, and it creates the kind of pressure not every team is ready to take on each season. Sometimes all of those expectations push back -- hard. "We've always won at least nine games, you know what I'm saying?" linebacker Brandon Marshall said after Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. "It's tough.... We've had so much winning, nobody's happy about it right now; us, the fans, anybody in this organization." And more changes are coming, to be sure, far more than the usual roster turnover, unless they find some level of play they haven't reached since Week 2. Denver is headed for its first season of doubledigit losses since But somewhere in there, in that desire to fix those things in desperate need of repair, the Broncos have to find some consistency in what they do, how they do it and what kind of players they're looking for at all of the positions. If not, that mark of "more Super Bowl appearances than losing seasons" will soon be in the rearview mirror.

25 Broncos fire OC Mike McCoy; Bill Musgrave takes over By Jeff Legwold ESPN They have benched a quarterback, have one of the league's least efficient offenses and just hours after the Denver Broncos' sixth consecutive loss, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy lost his job. Broncos coach Vance Joseph informed McCoy on Monday morning that he was being relieved of his duties and that quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave will be promoted to offensive coordinator. The move comes after the Broncos fell to 3-7 Sunday with a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. "Bill is an experienced coordinator and playcaller in this league, and I'm confident he will help get our offense back on track," Joseph said in a statement. "I have a responsibility to do what's best for our football team. Although this wasn't an easy decision, we needed to make this change. We have to play a more efficient brand of football offensively as we begin the final stretch of our season. "Mike is an outstanding coach and a great person. He had a lot of opportunities this offseason, and he chose us. I have the utmost respect for Mike and wish him all the best in the future." Klint Kubiak, one of Gary Kubiak's sons, will be the team's quarterbacks coach. Klint Kubiak has been an offensive assistant who has worked with the quarterbacks for the past two seasons. Joseph said Monday that Musgrave and Kubiak will keep their positions for the rest of the season, and decisions about the jobs will be made in the offseason. The Broncos are 18th in the league in total offense at yards per game, but are 24th in scoring (18.3 points per game) and 30th in touchdown efficiency. The Broncos have scored just 19 touchdowns -- only five teams have scored fewer -- and two of those were by the defense. The 17 offensive touchdowns ties Denver with Cleveland for second-worst in the league (Baltimore has 16). "I'm disappointed that things didn't work out, because this is a special organization and a great place to be," McCoy said in the statement released by the team. "I want to thank Vance for the opportunity he gave me and the entire organization from Mr. B all the way on down. I appreciate the hard work of our players and was proud to work with them along with the rest of our coaching staff. My family and I loved it here, and I'm very thankful for my time with the Denver Broncos." Sunday's loss was the seventh time in the last eight games the Broncos failed to score at least 20 points. And in the game when they reached 23 points, they lost by 28 (51-23 to the Philadelphia Eagles). The Broncos have already benched quarterback Trevor Siemian after a three-interception night in the Broncos' Oct. 30 loss in Kansas City. They are now 0-3 in Brock Osweiler's starts since he replaced Siemian. Osweiler has completed just 53 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and four interceptions in those games.