The Broncos failed to learn their lesson after last year’s QB debacle
Nov 12, 2021, 2:54 PM
Nearly a year ago, the Broncos had to play a game without a quarterback. After finding out on Saturday that their entire QB room would have to miss their Sunday-afternoon tilt against the Saints, Denver was forced to take drastic measures at the most-important position in all of sports.
They activated Kendall Hinton, who played quarterback in college, from the practice squad and lined him up behind center against New Orleans. With roughly 24 hours notice, Hinton was thrown directly into the fire.
Not surprisingly, things didn’t go well. In fact, it was an unmitigated disaster.
On the day, Hinton finished 1-for-9 for 13 yards. He threw two interceptions. The Broncos racked up just 112 yards of total offense. And they lost 31-3, with their only score coming on a one-yard drive that followed a takeaway, in a game not as close as that score would indicated.
It was an embarrassment. It was an organization-wide failure.
The quarterbacks broke the rules, which was ridiculous. Pat Shurmur tried to run multiple wide receiver sets, which is absurd. John Elway and Vic Fangio didn’t have a contingency plan in place, which demonstrated a lack of foresight.
It was bad. In every way, it was awful.
But for some reason, the Broncos didn’t see it that way. In fact, they celebrated the moment.
They treated Hinton like some sort of hero. The wide receiver turned quarterback was trumpeted by his coaches and teammates. His wristband was sent to Canton to be displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In other words, the Broncos acted as though the day was a success. They put Hinton in the same category as Tom Matte.
For those who aren’t NFL history buffs, Matte was a Colts running back who filled in at quarterback late in the 1965 season when Baltimore’s starter (Johnny Unitas) and backup (Gary Cuozzo) were lost to injuries.
Unlike Hinton, however, Matte had some success. He led the Colts to a 20-17 win in the season finale. He was also at the helm for a 13-10 overtime loss in their playoff game.
His wristband is also on display at the Hall of Fame. And for good reason. Stepping in, playing a role and having success is worth celebrating.
Falling flat is not. And no one wanted to say it.
In part, that’s because Hinton is a likable guy. He’s a young player who was put in a tough spot and did the best he could.
That’s worthy of praise. Kudos to him for giving it a shot.
But it didn’t work out. At all. And that should’ve been the Broncos attitude.
Why? Because that reality check might’ve prevented them from making the same mistake twice.
Less than a year later, Denver has a chance of once again having to play a regular-season game without a quarterback. Unbelievably, there’s a possibility that they’ll be QB-less on Sunday against the Eagles.
Drew Lock tested positive for COVID-19 last Sunday. He’s out again this week, scheduled to return to the team on Monday. That leaves just Teddy Bridgewater and Brett Rypien.
Right now, both QBs are fine. But with Shurmur testing positive on Friday, it’ll be a stressful 48 hours at Dove Valley. They’ll have to hope that Bridgewater and Rypien, two players who spend a lot of time with the offensive coordinator, don’t also test positive.
If they do, the Broncos are once again up a creek. Why? Because they don’t have a contingency plan in place.
Last year, several NFL teams had a QB on their practice squad who never came to the building. He attended meetings via Zoom, but stayed away from everyone else on the roster. That way, he could be activated on game day if an emergency situation arose, providing at least a viable option at quarterback.
The Broncos weren’t one of those teams. And it bit them.
This year, they once again didn’t go that route. They argument will be that it’s unnecessary, with the vaccine and other precautions in place.
But if the Broncos had truly been embarrassed by what happened last season, they would’ve vowed to never let it happen again. They would’ve been overly precautious, putting a just-in-case plan in place.
They didn’t even do it this week. Knowing that Lock would be out through the bye week, Denver could’ve added a QB to their practice squad, stowed him away at a hotel and kept him under glass for use in an emergency. But they didn’t.
And they’re not doing it now. With today’s news about Shurmur, the prudent thing to do would be to send Bridgewater and Rypien to separate places, quarantine them and make sure they’re good to go for Sunday. It wouldn’t 100 percent insure that they don’t contract COVID, but it wouldn’t hurt.
When asked about this on Friday, however, Fangio didn’t suggest that the Broncos were taking that precaution. In fact, he didn’t even seem to understand the question, signaling that he didn’t grasp the concept.
Instead, he and the Broncos are rolling the dice. They’re gambling that Bridgewater and/or Rypien will be fine.
Most likely, they will be. The smart money would be on everything being fine.
But if they aren’t and Denver once again have to play a game without a quarterback, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves. And it’ll be an unforgivable mistake.
The Broncos should’ve learned from their mistakes a year ago. But because they were so busy hyping up the Hinton debacle as a cute and fun moment in NFL history, they failed to see the error of their ways.
Here’s hoping another disaster isn’t on tap for Sunday.
