Evans: Broncos Country, go ahead and hop aboard the playoff express
Nov 26, 2018, 11:21 AM
Here are some hot takes from the Denver Broncos statement win over the Pittsburgh Steelers:
» Amazing how much can change in just a couple of weeks.
After the loss to the Houston Texans heading into the bye, we were all on the “Will Vance Joseph be fired?” watch.
Now after wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Steelers, the playoffs are a realistic goal.
» What’s happened in the last two weeks?
The defense is back to its disruptive, turnover-forcing ways.
The NFL isn’t about stuffing offenses. Teams are going to move the ball. Who cares? It’s about scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals. It’s about bending not breaking. It’s about forcing turnovers.
The Broncos have been making plays on defense. Chris Harris Jr. is one of the best corners in football. Bradley Roby has had two straight strong games. Will Parks is delivering ball-jarring hits. Bradley Chubb has been as advertised.
Reports of the Broncos defense’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated.
» Case Keenum is finally settling in.
In his last four games, he’s tossed five touchdown passes to only one interception. He’s gone three straight games without a pick.
It’s kind of funny, but the Demaryius Thomas trade may be the reason.
Instead of feeling the need to force feed the ball to D.T. and Emmanuel Sanders, Keenum seems to be seeing the field better and making better decisions. He knows he has safe reads, safe outlets with his tight ends.
Add in a better rapport with Bill Musgrave, and suddenly this offense seems more efficient and even more creative.
» It’s tough times for the “fire V.J.” crowd.
Doesn’t this guy deserve a smidgen of credit?
It seems like so many fans and media members are so invested in wanting Vance Joseph fired that they refuse to acknowledge anything he could be doing well that helped Denver win these last two games.
Even worse, some folks are mad the Broncos are winning because that disrupts their agenda of blaming everything on V.J. and rooting for his firing.
» One more thought on the concept of rooting for the Broncos to lose.
Can we stop with the idea of Denver hurting its draft position by winning?
The draft is not absolute. It is a bit of a crapshoot. There is no guarantee you will end up with a better player picking at, say, fourth overall compared to 10th.
If there was a can’t-miss quarterback like Andrew Luck available, then tank. Otherwise, what’s the point — especially for next year’s draft, which figures to be defense heavy.
This means there is as good a chance of finding a stud at No. 15 as you will find at fifth overall.
» If this year’s rookie class is so important and could be such an organizational-changing class, then answer me this:
Why do you want them to lose? How does it benefit all these young players to just lose, lose, and lose?
Look around all sports. Look at all the teams constantly in the lottery or picking in the top 10. Year after year, they are drafting top talent who join an organization with a losing culture, where losing is expected, and the result is just more losing.
So, am I willing to sacrifice six or seven precious draft slots to make sure my young players are growing up in a winning culture, even if these late-season wins do not lead to a playoff berth?
You bet.
