3 Areas Vic Fangio Showed Improvement in Year One With Broncos

It was a rough start to Vic Fangio's first year as head coach of the Denver Broncos. For as highly regarded for his defensive acumen as he was, Fangio's defense really struggled to open the season, especially with closing out games.

The Broncos struggled on third down and struggled against the run, as well as in coverage.

Some issues were to be expected as the defense was assimilating Fangio's scheme and before long, the Broncos were getting banged up, but there were some issues that fell squarely on the actual coaching. A few young players didn’t progress as expected, and there were also players we saw playing out of position.

Eventually, the Broncos defense starting coming together as players figured out their roles, but it was still a unit that was very up and down.

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Fangio still has a lot of growing to do, but we did see him show improvement during his first year as head coach. Let's not forget; Fangio inherited a big mess left behind from Vance Joseph, so he should’ve always been given at least two years to try and right the ship.

There is no doubt the Broncos are heading in the right direction and a lot of that is thanks to Fangio.

In the video above, I highlight three areas Fangio really improved as the defensive play-caller and head coach, starting from Week 1 to the season finale. That growth was sorely needed from him and other coaches, which helped the Broncos turn things around.

After starting their season 0-4, before moving 2-6 at the midway point, the Broncos would win five of their final eight games to finish 7-9. That feeling of momentum can really help this team hit the ground running in year two under Fangio.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.

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