Broncos' Historic Loss to Dolphins: The Good, Bad & Ugly
What a spectacle. The Denver Broncos gave us a performance to remember — but for the wrong reasons. The Miami Dolphins' 70-20 thrashing of the Broncos was something straight out of a comedy show.
Honestly, if I were to use the military model of "Total Mission Failure," that wouldn't even scratch the surface of this catastrophe. New Broncos head coach Sean Payton must have skipped that history class that taught about George Custer at Little Big Horn, as he seemed to underestimate his enemy on its home turf.
Classic move. As for the Walton/Penner ownership group, this was a Titanic-sized iceberg warning. Let's get into the good, bad, and ugly of the Broncos' humiliating, historic defeat.
The Good
After the 50-point debacle, you must squint to find something to put in this section. And here it is: Thankfully, no Broncos player embarrassed himself further by slipping on a banana peel while disembarking the team bus—a glimmer of hope in an otherwise abysmal day.
The Bad
Historically Bad Defense
Where do I start? Oh, right, the Broncos' defense, which hemorrhaged 726 yards and generously gifted the Dolphins the most points scored in the NFL since 1966. To again use a military term, the Broncos were "combat ineffective."
Yes, injuries plagued the secondary — shout out to Justin Simmons and his hip. But even with backups, there's a basic standard to uphold. Tackling, maybe? Energy, perhaps? The will to compete, at least?
Dolphins' QB Tua Tagovailoa probably thought he was playing flag football. With a jaw-dropping stat line of 23-of-26, 309 yards, and four touchdowns, Tua had a field day while the Broncos' defense looked like a fish out of water.
And let's not forget Dolphins' head coach Mike McDaniel, who didn't even allow Broncos' defensive coordinator Vance Joseph the requisite breath to raise a white flag to signal his need to surrender.
The Ugly
Failure to Adjust
The Broncos' problems were three-dimensional. One, the coaching staff seems in a time warp, needing help to keep pace with the new-gen thinkers. The halftime adjustments looked about as inspiring as lukewarm water.
Dearth of Talent
Two, the lack of talent across the board makes one wonder whether the Broncos were riding on flat tires. Rookie wideout Marvin Mim Jr. was the silver lining in this storm cloud, but one swallow doesn't make a summer.
The buck stops with Payton and GM George Paton. From swapping assets for ineffective free agents to locking in on former New Orleans Saints players who've seen better days, these decisions have carved out a talent canyon on the roster.
Bottom Line
If the Dolphins game isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is. Like General Custer's "Don't get stuck in old paradigms," the Broncos must shake off their dated methods.
But let's remember the age-old definition of insanity: doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting different results. Another way of saying it is living in the past but hoping for a future. That's not strategy; that's fantasy.
The new breed of coaches are out there, pushing boundaries and rewriting the rulebook. Denver, it's time to evolve or face becoming football's version of the dodo bird.
Change is necessary, and it needs to be now. And, oh, a heads-up to the Broncos' brass – after such a fiasco, someone's got to take one for the team. The question is, who's head goes on the chopping block?
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