Longing for Shurmur? It’s getting dark in Broncos Country
Ain’t no sunshine when Pat Shurmur’s gone.
Who could have foreseen this last spring, after Broncos general manager George Paton hired offensive wiz Nathaniel Hackett, then traded everything but the Red Rocks Amphitheatre for quarterback Russell Wilson?
We’d be lying if we raised our hands inside the Grading the Week offices.
Yet in a refrain all too familiar for those who have followed Mile High football the past six years, the Broncos offense is spoiling the efforts of a defense that is among the best in the league — again.
Broncos offense — F
We thought these days were done.
With Shurmur shown the door as offensive coordinator last winter, and Dangeruss Dove Valley-bound, we were among the many doling out high fives in Denver proper last March.
Fast forward six weeks into this season, however, and the sad truth is this: A Shurmur-led offense with Teddy Bridgewater at the controls may have had the Broncos atop the AFC West right now.
Don’t believe it? Here’s some back- of-the-laminated-playsheet math: Tack one more field goal onto the offense’s average scoring output this season (an NFLworst 15.2 points per game), and you still wouldn’t match what Shurmur’s pencil-pushers produced last fall (19.7). With the Broncos defense giving up just 16.5 points per game, here’s guessing those extra points would’ve flipped two or three of Denver’s losses into wins.
Instead, the Broncos are inventing new and terrible ways to lose — that also take forever.
Comically long field goal try with plenty of time left on the fourth- quarter clock? That was Week 1. Two fourth-quarter picks and an overtime misfire on fourth down inside the 10yard line? That’d be Week 5.
Then there’s what we witnessed last Monday night: A 19-16 loss inside Sofi Stadium that featured four OT possessions, zero first downs and more than a few members of Broncos Country pining for the days of Shurmur.
As sure a sign as any that we’ve hit rock bottom? We can only hope.
Folsom Field storming — A
On a college football Saturday filled with field stormings, perhaps the most improbable occurred in Boulder.
It wasn’t just that it came at the end of a CU Buffs victory — something more than a few thought impossible this fall. It was that it came at the end of a win over Cal.
While we cannot confirm it, the Grading the Week staff is fairly certain that marked the first time a fanbase has ever been so overcome with joy following a win over the Golden Bears that it spontaneously stormed the field.
That said, only the crankiest of cranks could look down upon the chaos that overtook a nearly sold- out Folsom Field last Saturday.
It was a beautiful scene to watch thousands of white shirts envelope a Buffs squad that’s endured countless coaching changes and heaps of heartbreak.
We’ve heard pundits say over and over that the CU head coaching job isn’t a desirable one. We say look at the support the Buffs get — even when they are bad. There’s a coach out there who can turn that into something.