Broncos Country Calls for Elway & Fangio to be Fired, Drew Lock to be Done as Starter

On the heels of the Denver Broncos' embarrassing 48-19 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, a large segment of the fanbase has snapped. Denver's Week 15 loss ensured a fourth-straight losing season for one of the most storied franchises in NFL history.

The Broncos were officially bounced from playoff contention and in shameful fashion. Josh Allen rolled into Mile High and proceeded to eviscerate Vic Fangio's defense to the tune of 534 total yards and 41 of the Bills' 48-point total.

Although quarterback Drew Lock played well at times, he was nowhere near consistent enough to elevate the play around him and keep the Broncos in the game. Fangio's post-game remarks did not absolve the second-year quarterback from his share of the onus.

Alarmingly, the Broncos defense seemed to give up in the final fram, seemingly quitting on its head coach. When that happens as palpably as it did on Saturday, it often serves as a harbinger of that coach's future with the team.

Only time will tell whether Fangio survives 2020 and is given the chance to lead this team next year. And the same goes for Lock. And maybe even GM John Elway.

If Broncos Country has its druthers, though, Fangio, Lock, Elway, and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will be sent packing at season's end. At least, that's been the overarching emotion on social media heading into Week 16.

Here's a snippet of the fan reaction to Saturday's debacle, encompassing Mile High Huddle's entire social media following.

MHH Twitter

Time to move on from Fangio and Shurmur,bad tandem...Time to hire FRESH FACES,INTELLIGENT ONES!!
— RICARDO PADILLA (@ricper62) December 20, 2020

Can we fire the HC & Elway now? Elway is beyond atrocious as GM
— ALF (@ALF4Prez2020) December 19, 2020

Mile High Huddle Community

jimtaylor: Fangio is definitely a better coach than Vance Joseph but I am not sure he is cut it to be a head coach. The team has quit on him too many times in the last two years. That being said, I will say he is a hell of a defensive coordinator. Just like Wade Phillips who was a great d coordinator but a poor head coach. If Fangio is fired though, I think Elway has to go with him. No coach is going to want to come here and face all the pressure while never being given a competent team to take the field. In Elway's time as GM no coach has lasted more than three years. That's not a good sign and it points to Elway having issues. No up and coming coach is going to want to go into that situation. So I am of the opinion at this point give Lock, Fangio, and Elway one more year. If they don't figure it out, it's time to clean house like Bowlen did after Josh McDaniels.

CUBuffinTX: This is the Titanic, and the Bowlen Family are making sure this thing sinks to the bottom. Until they sell it and breathe some life into the thing, what you see is what you get. It won't stop there it's going to get worse. Wait till that $10M bill for not having an 'owner' comes due, where is that coming from? The Titans have settled their issue so now it's just the Broncos. They have gone from a well-oiled machine under 'Mr. B' to a flaming pile of dog s**t and this has to fall at the feet of Joe Ellis and the trust.

ponykiller: The Broncos established a new low in NFL ignominy: Denver is the first team in history to fail to make the playoffs for five consecutive seasons after having won a Super Bowl. Let that sink in.

54MadDog: Rebuild, let [Justin] Simmons, [Elijah] Wilkinson, Fangio, and his staff walk, draft a real inside linebacker and a Von [Miller] replacement. Sign a cornerback and draft one early.

rckMcQ13: Please get rid of Lock in the offseason.

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MHH YouTube

JSauer21: It's time to fully clean house and start fresh. Lock's attitude and effort were absolutely terrible like most of the team. Lock is not a franchise QB, [and] this was the nail in the coffin.

lebowski the dude: Elway and [CEO Joe] Ellis need to resign. Stop stealing money from the Broncos organization.

Yea Rite: Fangio needs to go, Elway needs to go! Joe Ellis needs to go! The Bowlen family needs to get their s**t together as owners.

Cloud9 TK: Fire Fangio and draft a new QB.

Nick Trujillo: Drew lock is trash. John Elway is a trash GM. Let's get Matthew Stafford and get back to our winning ways. Lock can't keep up with other teams so what makes you think he can keep up with [Patrick] Mahomes for years to come? [I'm] sick of excuses with our QBs.

MHH Facebook

Robert K: Blame starts at the top... Bowlen would have fired Elway already. Unfortunately, Bowlen probably didn't realize or was not in a full state of mind when he set up passing the team on to a qualified family member.

Matt B: I love Elway but what has he done lately?! The entire coaching staff needs to be run off and replaced. Could the ownership being in limbo be part of the blame? There doesn’t seem to be anyone stepping up to the mic and taking responsibility for their annual demise.

Eric F: Starting now, this team needs a complete rebuild, starting at the top. New GM, new coaching staff, and a serious evaluation of the roster. The GM needs to understand what it takes to compete in modern football (I don’t think Elway does) and put together a coaching staff and roster to do it. Welcome to the 21st century.

Jim W: By keeping Fangio, [the] Broncos are simply delaying the inevitable. He was bad last season, just as bad this season, and there is no evidence to suggest he’ll be better next season!!! While he’s bad, the real problem is lack of ownership and if that isn’t resolved quickly, the NFL is going to come down hard (and rightfully so) on the franchise!!!

Severeno W: This team sucks. I'm just waiting for someone to buy this team, so they can fire everyone in the front office. A fresh start from top to bottom.

J.D. P: Does anyone think Fangio would take the defensive coordinator job if we 'fired' him, then offered him that position?

Donn D: The Broncos suck. Again. Fangio needs to go.

Perspective to Balance the Negativity

broncomarco: Sometimes my fellow Bronco fans and the Denver sports media infuriate me. Yes, Josh Allen looked like superman yesterday, but had he played his first two seasons in Denver, he would have been run out of town. Come on, people, for all intents and purposes, Lock is a rookie finishing out his first NFL season. He was not a world-beater yesterday, and he did fumble (Tom Brady would have fumbled on that hit too), but he led his team to three scores (and a long field goal would have made it four. The score should have been 21 or 23 too. Oh, yeah, he did give up one score on a fumble, but the rest of the points scored were not his fault. Give the kid a chance to learn. Give him a normal offseason and a full training camp. Then let's see what he does next year.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.