Things are getting desperate in Denver, to the point the guy who built the team realizes it’s not going so well.
Broncos executive John Elway said during his appearance on the team’s radio show on 760 AM that it was time to see the Broncos “fighting for our lives” Thursday against the Cardinals.
That and a four-game losing streak will obviously increase speculation about a number of jobs — though Elway’s name never seems to come up in those discussions.
“At some point in time we have to play better football ... we’re still making the mistakes we shouldn’t make to beat good football teams like the Rams,” Elway said. "[It’s] disappointing, that’s for sure. . . .
“Hopefully we can . . . take a mentality into that Thursday night game where we’re fighting for our lives.’'
At a specific level, he was asked about the team’s run defense, which ranks last in the league after allowing 323 yards on the ground to the Jets and 270 to the Rams.
“Obviously, we’ve [gotten] very soft in there,” Elway said. “To give up the amount of yardage the last two weeks has been tough. We’re not playing very well inside. . . . That is a big concern. We have to figure out how to get that solved.”
It’s not the first time he’s referred to his team as “soft,” and yet things haven’t improved since then.
It will be interesting to see if Elway eventually fixes the problems or finds scapegoats. Since his fingerprints are on every move the team makes (including a series of regrettable quarterback decisions), it’s curious that he’s seldom identified as an issue for a team that has gotten progressively worse each year since it dragged the husk of Peyton Manning to a Super Bowl win after the 2015 season.