Drew Lock 'Upset' After 'Disappointing' Broncos Again Miss Playoffs

For the third time in his three years with the Broncos, quarterback Drew Lock will not experience the taste of meaningful January football. His team, yet again, for the sixth straight NFL campaign, was eliminated from playoff contention following Denver's 34-13 loss at Los Angeles in Week 17.

Left standing between Denver and its annual winter vacation is Saturday's home finale versus Kansas City, a rivalry game with only pride at stake. And so it will be done.

“Obviously, you’re upset. You want to be playing for the playoffs," Lock said in his postgame press conference. "Like I’ve said many times before, we’re professionals, too. It’s our job to prepare like it’s your last game ever, every single week. Prepare your butt off, come out and represent this team, represent yourself, the coaches, Colorado, whatever it may be, to the best of your ability. It doesn’t happen unless you keep a good spirit that week, push out the negative stuff. We’re not playing for the playoffs now, but there’s still a football game to be played on Sunday, and it’s our job to play it.”

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The Broncos required a small miracle to sneak into the postseason, but the chance still existed, minute as it may have been. This, of course, was prior to Sunday's blowout defeat that epitomized Vic Fangio's tenure as head coach: a stumbling, bumbling performance rife with an ineffective offense, collapsing defense, and a total dumpster fire on special teams.

There's no sugarcoating it.

"In the NFL, all that matters is the playoffs. Yeah, it’s disappointing," Lock said. "You can do really good things throughout the year, sure, but your main goal is to make it to the playoffs, so, technically, we didn’t do what we wanted to do this year.”

Lock completed 18-of-25 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions against the Chargers, logging a season-high 116.3 QB rating. He was among Denver's lone bright spots despite playing without COVID-listed wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick, losing starting left guard Dalton Risner (elbow), and suffering an early injury to his throwing shoulder which felt "pretty numb" after the game.

“I thought he had some good throws and made some good reads," head coach Vic Fangio said Sunday.

Not that it counts for much; another year has passed, and the Broncos remain as irrelevant as ever. Nobody cares that players like Justin Simmons and Patrick Surtain II were snubbed from the Pro Bowl. Nobody outside the local market knows the franchise hasn't posted a winning record since 2016. Casual football fans have been apathetic since Peyton Manning hung up his cleats.

But Broncos Country isn't apathetic — far from it. The fan base holds the club to the same standard that Pat Bowlen did, which is why the stings become more severe with each failed test.

And it, too, hurts those failing the tests.

“If there’s one thing that I can give back to them in advice, it’s that bad things happen," Lock relayed to Broncos fans. "There’s adversity that you have to go through. I think if you attack it with full spirit and with the ones that you love, like I said, a couple of those guys being Lloyd Cushenberry and Kareem Jackson, as long as you have people you love around you, there’s a little extra courage. Keep your loved ones close, keep this team close. For me, personally, take care of the people around me.”

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