Broncos' woes lead to firing of coordinator McCoy

Nov 21, 2017 - 2:07 AM ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It is the same script each week. Only the score, opponents and exact details seem to change.

But in game after game during a six-game skid that is the Denver Broncos' longest single-season losing streak since 1990, they have poured gasoline on themselves with turnovers, and then lit the match. Once again Sunday, they sent themselves up in flames with two giveaways -- a first-quarter interception thrown by Brock Osweiler and a fourth-quarter fumble by running back C.J. Anderson.

"Effort's good; guys are making plays, but you can't turn the ball over. That's the night. Can't do it," Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said.

The turnovers gave the Bengals the football twice in Broncos territory. They turned the gifts into touchdowns both times. Those plays were decisive in a 20-17 Broncos setback. It almost certainly ended their playoff hopes. It definitely ended the employment of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who was fired Monday morning.

Denver is still mathematically alive for the postseason, but no team has ever come back from a 3-7 start to make the playoffs.

That notion was secondary to the dismissal of McCoy, who will be replaced by Bill Musgrave, the quarterbacks coach who first hired McCoy as a pro assistant with the Carolina Panthers in 2000.

Musgrave is a former backup quarterback to John Elway during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, and Musgrave has served as an offensive coordinator with four teams -- most recently the Raiders. As of Monday night, the Broncos had not decided whether his quarterback would be Osweiler, Trevor Siemian or second-year player Paxton Lynch.

Regardless of that choice, Musgrave's task is clear: Simplify the offense, particularly the passing game.

"You have to master a small portion to be decent at something, and right now I feel that we have a lot of good offense, but we haven't mastered anything," Musgrave said.

That is evident in the week-to-week struggles of Denver's attack. The Broncos' offense hasn't accounted for even 20 points since Week 2 and doesn't appear to have any basic concepts on which it can rely.

"I think it's going to bring a sense of consistency to our offense that we can master four or five concepts and that's good enough to get better," Joseph said.

It's probably too late to save the season. But it might not be too late for Lynch or whichever player ends up quarterbacking the team in Oakland Sunday.

--A crestfallen C.J. Anderson could not hold back the tears as he sat at his locker on Sunday night, heartbroken that his fumble had led directly to Cincinnati's third touchdown that ultimately decided the game.

"I definitely can't hurt my teammates like that. Can't hurt my coaches. And putting the ball on the turf at that time -- that (stuff) hurts me. That's on me. I can't let my teammates down that way," he said, his voice crackling with emotion.

Anderson fumbled when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict put his helmet on the football. Cincinnati scored six plays later on an 18-yard Andy Dalton-to-A.J. Green touchdown pass, putting the Bengals in front, 20-10.

"We were just playing ball," he said. "Everything was going the way we wanted it going. I just -- the one time I decide to make (Burfict) miss, he just put his helmet on the ball.

"I just can't do that to my teammates. It hurts me. It hurts my coaches. It puts us in bad situations. That's why we're sitting there with another loss -- because of me."

--After some bold chatter last week about winning seven games in a row, the locker-room tone was different after this game, affected not only by the loss but also by the comments of general manager John Elway, who said two days before the game that the team had gotten "a little bit soft" at the bye, believing that was a cause of their losing streak.

Those words did not sit well with Broncos players.

"I'm out there on the field, I know my guys are out there in the field. None of us are soft. We go out there and bust our ass," inside linebacker Brandon Marshall said. "We work hard. We're not just getting pushed over, pushed around. We're out there doing our thing.

"For him to call us soft, it just rubbed us the wrong way. But I mean, he could say what he wants to say."

Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said he was "initially offended," but then revisited his thoughts.

"In some aspects, he's right. When you've lost that many games in a row, you have to do things in a tougher manner. If you're not winning, that's an issue in football," Joseph said. "Football is a physical, tough sport. So when you're not winning, that word comes up. Again, I stepped back and thought about what he said. In some aspects, he's right."

Outside linebacker Von Miller agreed.

"I was kind of taken back by it, which you should be," Miller said. "If you have any type of emotion about you, if you play soft, your reaction should be, 'What? I'm not soft.'

"But if you take a look back at it, the truth is that's what we've been putting out there. That's the type of team that we've developed into. That's what we got. It's the truth. He's telling the truth."

Added cornerback Chris Harris Jr.: "Everybody in this organization is accountable for how we are playing right now."

--"He's the boss. Whatever he says, goes. If that's how he feels, then we've got to make sure he doesn't feel that way, right? If the boss says it's not good enough, that means everybody's not doing good enough. That means everybody is probably going to get fired." -- DE Derek Wolfe, on general manager John Elway saying the team had gotten "a little bit soft."

NOTES: TE A.J. Derby was waived on Saturday, despite leading all Broncos tight ends with 224 yards and two touchdowns on 19 receptions so far this season. Derby suffered a shoulder injury in Week 10 against the Patriots and was waived with the waived/injured designation. He cleared waivers and was placed on reserve/injured Monday. ... QB Trevor Siemian was inactive Sunday as Paxton Lynch served as the No. 2 quarterback. ... QB Paxton Lynch was active for the first time this season, but did not take a snap as the No. 2 quarterback. Lynch saw second-team repetitions last week and could be in line to take over as the starter if the Broncos decide they've seen enough of Brock Osweiler, who has a 65.5 passer rating and more interceptions (four) than touchdowns (three) in his three starts, all losses. ... TE Austin Traylor made his NFL regular-season debut and caught four passes for 36 yards. Traylor spent the season on the practice squad. ... WR Demaryius Thomas scored for the third consecutive game after going 13 straight games without a touchdown. Thomas is on pace for 1,013 yards, which would give him his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. ... WR Jordan Taylor was the primary punt returner in place of Isaiah McKenzie, who was benched and deactivated. He took fair catches on two punts and returned another for 15 yards. ... WR Emmanuel Sanders was used on a pair of punt returns when the Broncos were looking for a spark, but lost a total of 2 yards on his attempts. Sanders also finished with just 15 yards on two receptions. He was targeted eight times.



REPORT CARD VS. BENGALS

--PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus -- Brock Osweiler was solid, completing 23 of 42 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown. But once again, a giveaway proved decisive. He was intercepted in the end zone when Cody Latimer ran into a defender, setting up Dre Kirkpatrick for an interception and a long return that effectively resulted in a 13-point swing. The turnover ensured the Broncos lost despite having a 341-190 advantage in total yardage.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus -- The ground game plodded along, for the most part, as Devontae Booker, Jamaal Charles and C.J. Anderson combined for 88 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries -- a 2.9-yard average. But Anderson was the victim of a perfect tackle from Vontaze Burfict, leading to a lost fumble that set up a game-clinching touchdown and continuing the Broncos' ample turnover woes.

--PASS DEFENSE: B-minus -- For the most part, the Broncos contained Cincinnati's passing game, holding the Bengals to 141 passing yards. But they allowed three touchdown passes -- including two at the expense of cornerback Bradley Roby, who was beaten for scores by Alex Erickson and A.J. Green. Roby was also whistled for a controversial pass-interference penalty that extended a late Cincinnati drive, which further limited the Broncos' chances of a late comeback.

--RUSH DEFENSE: A -- Joe Mixon had little room to roam, averaging just 2.5 yards per carry with a long gain of 8 yards as Denver's defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage. None of Dixon's 20 attempts moved the chains, and the only Bengals run to generate a first down was a third-down scramble by quarterback Andy Dalton.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- The special teams showed marked across-the-board improvement following their disastrous performance against the Patriots. Riley Dixon dropped four of five punts inside the New England 15-yard line, and all punts and kickoffs were fielded cleanly after Isaiah McKenzie was replaced on punt returns following his fifth fumble of the season.

--COACHING: C -- A slight lineup shakeup and an emphasis on going back to the ground game seemed to work for most of the game. Denver got improved play from the tight end position with first-year player Austin Traylor after waiving injured A.J. Derby, and the Broncos were able to control the clock with a steady ground game for most of the afternoon. But execution errors doomed the offense. On defense, Bradley Roby was beaten by A.J. Green for the decisive touchdown, leading to questions as to why Roby, and not All-Pros Aqib Talib or Chris Harris Jr., were on the explosive seven-year veteran receiver.