Posted on 11/20/2017 10:00:39 AM PST by Red Badger
The Denver Broncos saved some of their best defense for after the game.
At issue: boss John Elway labeling them soft. It didn’t sit too well with a few of the players, though others welcomed the critique.
Yet the comments didn’t stoke the necessary fire, either, as the Broncos lost 20-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals, extending their losing streak to six games.
“None of us are soft,” said linebacker Brandon Marshall, whose team met Saturday night to discuss the remarks by their Hall of Fame QB turned general manager. “For him to call us soft, it just rubbed us the wrong way.
“You get shunned out of this league for being soft.”
It’s been an awful stretch for the Broncos (3-7), who’ve dropped six in a row in the same season for the first time since 1990. What’s more, it’s the first time they’ve lost to the Bengals (4-6) at home since 1975.
“This isn’t the culture here,” said quarterback Brock Osweiler, who two seasons ago helped lead the Broncos to a win in Super Bowl 50. “The standard here is to win championships, get to the playoffs every year and contend for Super Bowls, and right now we’re not playing football like that. So, it’s very frustrating.”
Once again, turnovers became an all-too-familiar theme. The Broncos were knocking on the door in the first quarter when Osweiler tried to hit Cody Latimer in the end zone. Instead, Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick stepped in front of the pass and nearly took it the distance before knocking the ball out of his own hands and recovering it at the 1-yard line. The Bengals converted to take an early lead.
Anderson also had a costly fumble in the fourth quarter and was emotional about it after the game.
“It hurts me, it hurts (my teammates), it hurts the coaches, it puts us in bad situations,” he said, referring to the mistake.
In addition, kicker Brandon McManus converted a 61-yard field goal just before halftime that would’ve made it 13-10, but Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called timeout moments before the kick. The next attempt was blocked by KeiVarae Russell.
Just the way things have been going lately.
“We’re a good team. We’re not putting it together,” defensive end Derek Wolfe said. “People are going to get nippy with each other. Got to get in between that and be like, ‘Hey, look, we have to stick together. We’re all we got. Everybody is against us now. Everybody hates us. Nobody likes us.’ When you’re losing, nobody likes you. Nobody likes a loser. They want winners.”
As for Elway’s comments, Wolfe said it put the team on notice.
“If that’s how he feels, then we got to make sure he don’t feel that way,” Wolfe said. “If the boss says it’s not good enough, it means everybody’s not doing good enough. It means everybody is probably going to get fired. I’m just trying to make sure we stay together.”
Receiver Demaryius Thomas thinks Elway might be on to something, even if the truth hurts.
“He wouldn’t’ have said it if he wasn’t telling the truth,” Thomas said. “We’ve lost six in a row. I think there’s a little softness in there somewhere. He was talking about everybody, including me. I try to make my game better every week. We got to figure it out. I really don’t know what to say.”
On this afternoon, some of the biggest roars were for Terrell Davis and his fellow Hall of Famers when they were introduced. There were quite a few boos for the play on the field.
“No energy, no life, no juice in the stadium,” Marshall said. “I’ve been here since 2013, when Peyton (Manning) was here and threw seven touchdowns in the first game. Just from then on, I’ve always felt like the stadium gives you extra juice. … But today was the first time I was like, wow, this kind of reminds me of Jacksonville stadium.”
Marshall puts the blame on the team for not drumming up more excitement.
“We’ve got to give the crowd something to cheer for. We’re not giving them nothing to cheer for right now,” Marshall said. “We’re not putting a product out on the field that makes them want to get out of their seats.”
NFL Players need to remember that they are EMPLOYEES. Nothing more, nothing less.
Don’t care.
NFL - GTH
How full is the Bronco stadium these days? How many Broncos are insulting the US of A of their perceived "injustices"? Are Bronco fans fed up with their SJW antics? Is their play possibly a result of declining fan interest?
I'm curious because it seems the Broncos have not been front and center in the current "social injustice" crapola.
Don’t worry. The way my Chiefs played yesterday the Broncos are still in the hunt.
We’re a good team defensive end Derek Wolfe said
You are not.
NFL players tears best with morning coffee!
For real..................
Tell it to Tim Tebow.
I think Marshall was one of the kneelers.
They should be crying. The way the NFL is going these days...
Any of them kneel or otherwise protest during the National Anthem? If so, then eff them.
Is this satire? In any case, it's hilarious. Vince Lombardi could never make it in this snowflake league.
So true. My Chiefs (also) are handing them the division title on a silver platter.
Chargers might make a run and win the Division. They should beat the Cowboys on Thursday.
Payton got out at the perfect time...would have been interesting if he was still playing and got interviewed about the current crap going on....
“Is this satire? In any case, it’s hilarious. Vince Lombardi could never make it in this snowflake league”.
Or John madden or Ditka or numerous others.
Most NFL Players = CRYBULLIES.
It’s pathetic. And coming off a bye week.
First Trump upset the poor NFL snowflakes by insulting their mothers (in their estimation) when he said that the owners should start firing the kneeling SOBs. (One pauses to wonder how the same NFL snowflakes constantly calling each other MFer is laudatory, but I digress.) Now Elway upset them by calling them soft. Quick, someone get them a binky and a blanket before they completely melt away.
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