Getty Vic Fangio
Vic Fangio never saw this coming, the Denver Broncos in an 0-3 hole to open what was meant to be a promising 2019 campaign. After dropping a winnable game in Green Bay, they’re engulfed in a “world of suck,” per wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders — one of the team’s senior-most veterans showing signs of locker-room turmoil.
Nothing splits a squad quite like losing, and Fangio is toeing a dangerous line. He has to hold his players accountable but acknowledges they aren’t the lone issue. Is the playcalling, on both sides of the ball, suspect? Yes. Has the injury bug, wracking Denver since the summer, contributed to the losing skid? Absolutely.
But, the pen mightier than the sword, Fangio identified an underlying culprit aiding the Broncos’ inability to secure a W: Those covering the team, writing about a potential fracture not unlike the 2017 and 2018 outfits under ex-HC Vance Joseph.
“I think that’s the landscape of the NFL. You guys help perpetuate that, too. For us to just have our heads in the sand and know that may not happen would be bad on our part, so we have to talk about it,” he said Monday. “I think we have the right kind of guys in here and I think after we talk about it, everybody will move forward with the right frame of mind.”
An old-school ballcoach who preaches a no-death-by-inches ethos that’s sounding increasingly hollow, Fangio’s first taste of controversy arrived via Sanders, who bemoaned his lack of involvement in Sunday’s 27-16 loss to the Packers. As a rookie in his position, the former longtime defensive coordinator put the spin cycle on full blast, playing down Sanders’ public outcry.
“He was just repeating what I had said in the locker room after the game,” Fangio claimed. “I told them, we’re going to have to deal with everybody thinking we suck. All of us, not just players—coaches, everybody, the whole organization—we need to deal with that. He was basically just repeating what I had said.”
Do as he says not as he does? Might want to trash that memo.
Fangio Surveys for Answers
Another game, another 60 minutes of no turnovers or sacks for the Broncos’ defense, which boasts future Hall-of-Famer (Von Miller) and All-Pro-caliber (Bradley Chubb) pass-rushing bookends, both of whom are complete nonfactors, incredibly.
Speaking after the Packers defeat, Fangio was asked how he can get his best players off the schneid. He was, quite literally, at a loss — no pun intended.
“You got the solution?” he fired back to the reporter, who correctly reminded Fangio that “you get paid the big bucks.”
Undetered by Failure
Denver may be down, but they’re certainly not out. There’s a lot of season left and an opportunity for the Broncos to pull to .500 over the next three weeks (vs. Jaguars, at Chargers, vs. Titans).
History is working against the club if they’re aiming to make a playoff push. But Fangio is operating on a one-pant-leg-at-a-time mentality, with supreme confidence that he has the horses — pun intended — to turn things around.
“Yeah, and when you say turn around, I’m just looking to get to this game. I’m not looking at the entire season,” he said. “We’ve just got to figure out a way to go out and play our best and cleanest game this week. And yes, I do think we can.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL