Initial thoughts from Broncos’ 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 at Hard Rock Stadium:
VJ or JV?: Things are about to get really uncomfortable for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph at Dove Valley. Granted, the Dolphins have the best, most explosive offense in the NFL, and VJ was missing All-Pro safety Justin Simmons. But that doesn’t excuse the Broncos defense looking like the JV in South Beach. It took all of two series for Denver to scrap its two-linemen, five-linebacker pregame adjustment. Going zone on Tyreek Hill when you have a cornerback like Pat Surtain II? Not great. Getting clowned with a no-look shovel pass for TD No. 3? Even worse.
Sweet Vic-tory: Was Vic Fangio cackling in the Dolphins coaches’ booth? Howling? Shooting milk through his nose? All of the above? Whatever the case, it had to be satisfying for the ex-Broncos head coach-turned-Miami defensive coordinator to see the mess his once-formidable Denver defense has become. The Dolphins didn’t punt until the fourth quarter — after Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa took a seat — and scored touchdowns on 10 of their first 12 possessions. You have to go back to a 2010 to find a first half that saw the Broncos allow more points (35). You can’t even find another game in which they’ve allowed 70. Or 726 yards. This, dear readers, is rock bottom.
Russ reversal: Keep Russell Wilson’s name out of your mouth after this one. Denver may have moved to 4-14 in Russ starts after Sunday’s embarrassment, but this one is hardly on the quarterback. He didn’t commit two penalties that took touchdowns off the board (that was Brandon Johnson). He didn’t drop a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone or fumble twice (that was Courtland Sutton). He didn’t false start on first down after a sudden change in the second quarter (that was Mike McGlinchey). Yes, there was the interception late in the third quarter, but the game was beyond over at that point. Sean Payton will have to save those passive-aggressive swipes for someone else.
Still 0-fer: Speaking of swipes, we’ll save our biggest for the head coach himself. Want to trash everyone in the building before training camp? Dish to some out-of-town scribe about how the previous guy submitted “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL?” Well, friend, you better back it up. And 0-3 ain’t that. Say what you will about Nathaniel Hackett, at least he waited until Week 16 to submit a total dud. It took Payton three weeks. And this was an all-timer. Literally. The only reason the Dolphins didn’t set an NFL scoring record was because they declined to kick a late field goal. Remember how bad things felt after the Broncos started 0-4 under Uncle Vic? This feels worse — by an order of magnitude. We went from tragedy to comedy to the absurd in South Beach.
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