No Job is Safe!

The Broncos are 3-4 coming off of 4 straight losses and need a win desperately to get back to .500 and stop some of the bleeding. The 2-5 Washington Football Team come to town. There is no reason the Broncos should win this game as WFT is also reeling with a 3 game losing streak. Teddy remains the starter but that could change come Sunday and if he does play he must play better than he has the last 4 games. Here are some things to think about before the game and keys to the game on Sunday:

1. Is Teddy’s Job Safe?

Many people have blamed the offensive line and Pat Shurmer for the offensive struggles but have brushed past Bridgewater as a possibility to why the offense has been slow. This is not me blaming Teddy for the reason for our struggles but he has played a role in it. Tim Jenkins, former quarterback, pointed out that the stagnation of this offense is a result of Teddy’s conservative play more than Shurmer’s poor play calling. Jenkins states that Shurmer is not free of blame as he still lacks situational awareness and does a poor job scripting his first 10-15 plays but points out Shurmer’s play designs are actually very good and Teddy does not do a great job executing it. He pointed out too many times Teddy would hesitate to throw to a receiver that broke free that was 15-20 yards down fields and rather would throw to the flat that would lead to nowhere especially on 3rd down which is a main reason for the Broncos being very poor on third down. Jenkins also pointed out Bridgwater steps up into pressure rather than being stationary when he has a relatively clean pocket and he basically runs himself into sacks. He has been sacked 21 times in 7 games and not all of that is on play calling and the O line. Jenkin's biggest gripe about Teddy is that when he holds the ball for an extended amount of time, he usually checks it down. Usually, when QBs hold the ball for longer times they go for the big play down field. The little things have led to bigger problems for this broncos offense. If he continues to struggle, it may be time to give the keys to Lock. Tim Jenkins broke down Teddy Bridgwater's film on his youtube channel called "All Things QB" and spoke on Teddy's play even more as a guest on the "Locked on Broncos" podcast hosted by Cody Roark and Sayre Bedinger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBWBDPW8fD0 (All Things QB)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVS6g6IyP2c (Locked on Broncos)

2. Win on First Down

Now that I am done pointing out Teddy's poor play it's time to turn the tide to the play-caller in Pat Shurmer and understand he must be better on early down situations because part of the reason they have struggled on third down is because most of them have been 3rd and long situations. For some inexplicable reason, Shurmer loves to dial up a low percentage. deep ball on first down that already puts the Broncos behind the sticks basically starting the drive off at 2nd and 10. Getting 2 to 3 yards on first down can come a long way because that way they only need 2 to 3 yards on 2nd down and they are looking at a 3rd and 4 or 3rd and 5 rather than 3rd and 8 or 9. There needs to be. more balance on first down. It can't be either a deep shot down the field or a 1 yard dive up the middle on a run play. Throw a curl on first, run a jet sweep, do a bootleg, etc.. there are so many options on first down because the defense has to play the run and the pass. Play action on 3rd and 15 means absolutely nothing because the linebackers don't fear the threat of running the ball and coming downhill because more likely than not, a run will not convert a 3rd and 10+. The Broncos need to do a better job of staying ahead of the chains so they can play to Teddy's strengths which is managing the game and keeping the offense on the field converting 3rd and short. Converting more 3rd downs would also help our struggling defense a bit as a big part of their regression the last 4 weeks is that they have been on the field too much.

3. Fangio's Coaching for His Job

If the team still believes in Vic as their HC, they will come on Sunday and blow the doors off of Washington. Especially on the same day Peyton Manning gets inducted on the Broncos ring of fame. If they come out flat like they have since the Steelers game, it is time to pull the plug on the 63 year old Head Coach. The 4 game slide has felt eerily similar to the 4 game slide in Vance Joseph's final 4 games in the latter part of 2018 where they went 0-4 the last 4 games going 6-10 overall. That team in 2018 those last 4 games came out flat and seemed to get blown out by decent teams and lose close ones to the teams they had no business losing to at all. Here are some comparisons. Broncos vs Chargers 2018 week 17. Broncos lose 23-7 as the chargers were playoff contenders and were the best team they faced in that stretch. Broncos lose 23-7 to Baltimore in week 4 2021 and are the best team they faced this stretch. Broncos lose 20-14 to 2-11 niners at the time after falling short of a comeback due to poor start. Broncos lose 17-14 to Browns backups 17-14 after falling short of a rally because of sluggish start. Broncos lose to 3-11 raiders team 27-14 week 16 as they did not show up at all in the first half and only moved the ball second half. Broncos lose to 1-3 Steelers as they do not show any fight in first half and show signs of life in second half but still lose. 3 of the 4 games in each of the 4 game skids are very similar to one another. If they lose a 5th vs a 2-5 WFT team, Vic Fangio could get the boot just like VJ did except this could be in season.

The Broncos must find a way to win this game on Sunday just to keep their playoff hopes alive and stay within the division race. At some point KC will turn it around and they can't keep relying on the chiefs losing 4 out 7 again. I do not see this team rallying like I hope on Sunday and they very will could lose to the likes of Heinecke who is not to be underestimated.

Prediction:

Broncos 23 WFT 24

Teddy: 240 yards 1 TD and 1 INT

Melvin and Javonte: 110 yards and 1 TD

Defense: 2 sacks and 1 turnover