Denver Post Broncos writer Ryan O’Halloran posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the season. Submit questions to Ryan here.
Do you think the Broncos should move right guard Quinn Meinerz to center?
— Logan Busson, Lexington, Ky.
It will be an interesting offseason subplot and it depends on the make-up of the coaching staff and if the Broncos bring back veteran right guard Graham Glasgow.
One scenario is keeping Glasgow and moving him to center, which would allow Meinerz to stay put at right guard. Keeping Meinerz at right guard should be Plan A because he has gained invaluable experience this year at that spot and performed well.
Where do the Broncos go from here now that they are 7-8 and most likely eliminated from playoff contention?
— Jeff Bloechle, Omaha, Neb.
They go to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon for Sunday’s date with the Chargers. But seriously, all they can do is avoid a four-game losing streak to finish the season. The Broncos have had success against Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (2-1) and they may host a Kansas City team that has AFC home-field advantage wrapped up.
Overall, what a disappointing season in the macro view. Yes, their opponents weren’t very good, but a 3-0 start is a 3-0 start and they took a seven-point lead over Baltimore in Week 4. But then the bottom fell out. Four consecutive losses and the Broncos were chasing the season.
Brandon McManus hit the sidelines hot after missing his field-goal attempt on Sunday. Was that just frustration over the botched kick or built up anger with the coaching staff?
— Michael, Denver
We detailed this in the print editions on Monday and Tuesday. To re-cap. The Broncos faced a fourth-down in the third quarter and coach Vic Fangio — according to the television copy — called out “field goal” with 30 seconds left on the play clock. But the football wasn’t snapped until the one-second mark and McManus missed from 55 yards.
After the play, McManus, his helmet off, made a bee line toward Fangio and they exchanged some quick words. McManus should have been mad about missing the kick, which would have given the Broncos a 16-14 lead. But it sure as heck looked like he was directing his ire at Fangio.
The offense rushed for a measly 18 yards on 16 carries. So what accounts for such abject failure in the rushing game? Surely center Lloyd Cushenberry’s absence couldn’t account for this sort of performance. An outing this bad hints at a coaching problem. Any reason Mike Munchak didn’t have his unit ready for this game?
— Dan Murphy, Kansas City, Mo.
In a lengthy email, Dan accused us media scoundrels of ignoring the offensive difficulties and instead focusing on the shoddy run defense. I think we covered both well in Monday’s newspaper, but I digress,
Fill-in center Austin Schlottmann was booked for three “bad” run blocks so Cushenberry’s absence was felt even though he wasn’t playing great this year when he went on the COVID-19/reserve list.
The Raiders may have presented a few different run-defense looks, but by and large, their guys were better than the Broncos’ guys.
How many times has Vic Fangio, defensive guru, punted the ball with letap say five to six minutes left in the fourth quarter of a one-score game and never got it back. I know there are at least two this season.
— Steve, Forks, Wash.
I dug into my 2021 play-by-play notebook to see if Steve was accurate.
Week 7 at Cleveland: The Broncos scored with 5:17 left to cut the Browns’ lead to 17-14. They elected to kickoff and the Browns ran out the final 5 minutes, 12 seconds. This was a kickoff and not a punt
Sunday at Las Vegas: The Broncos punted on fourth-and-16 and Las Vegas ran out the final 3:54 to win 17-13. If it would have been fourth-and-10, Fangio probably would have gone for it.
Should the Broncos let Vic Fangio go now considering the rule change allowing teams to interview head-coaching candidates two weeks before the end of the season? If so, who would be on your short list?
— Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.
For weeks you keep saying the Broncos need to hire an offensive-minded coach should Vic Fangio be let go. You also talked about getting a coach with experience play-calling. How would you feel about a Jim Caldwell or a Doug Pederson?
— Yoann, Beine-Nauroy, France
I grouped these two questions together because they’re on the same page. Good point about the new rule that allows teams who have fired their coaches to interview candidates — with their current team’s permission — for two hours via video conference.
As of Monday night, no team had made a move to be eligible to use the rule. Las Vegas and Jacksonville have openings and can start their process.
If Fangio is fired after the season, as I’ve said in the past, the first preference should be previous experience as a play-caller and head coach. That puts Doug Pederson at the top of the list. After that, I’m fine with a first-time head coach who has called plays and developed quarterbacks. Nathaniel Hackett and Brian Daboll would top that list. I would interview Jim Caldwell, too.
Is there any benefit to firing Vic Fangio and Pat Shurmur now or waiting until the season is complete?
— Beau Olivere, Winter Park
Not really. As mentioned above, the Broncos could use the new rule and begin interviewing candidates, but if I’m a team fighting for a playoff spot or for playoff seeding, do I really want one of my coordinators taking time to prepare for/go through an interview? No.
If the Broncos were able to sign Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur as a package, do you think coach Vic Fangio would accept the role of defensive coordinator?
— J.D. Smith, Dove Creek
I have a better chance of replacing Al Michaels as the voice of “Sunday Night Football” on NBC than the Broncos have of a) acquiring LaFleur from Green Bay and b) Fangio accepting an offer to be fired as the Broncos’ coach but stay on as defensive coordinator.
Rodgers is under contract through 2022 so the Broncos will need to trade for him and LaFleur is not available.
I have been a Broncos fan since 1969. And we have had our ups and downs since Peyton Manning retired, so I’m hoping we go after a quarterback — the draft has a few good options. Our defense is good, the running backs are good and the wide receivers are great. We need to work on the rest of our offense.
— Roy Gallegos, Espanola, N.M.
It would be shocking if the Broncos didn’t overhaul their quarterback position in the offseason with a marquee veteran addition or by pairing with a mid-tier veteran addition with a high draft pick.
But one thing that has become clear recently is general manager George Paton can’t just address quarterback. The offensive line has underperformed this year and he must figure out who will play right tackle, right guard and center and maybe even left guard.
Why can’t Pat Shurmur call plays like other offensive coordinators? Why don’t the Broncos start Brett Rypien at quarterback instead of Mr. Turn-The-Ball-Over Drew Lock? Do you think that the Broncos need a slot receiver, someone to go across the middle? Mike Munchak should be the Broncos’ head coach because Vic Fangio isn’t the answer. And he can take Shurmur with him. What do you think?
— Sam Jones, Fairfield, Calif.
Sam is all hopped up on Christmas cookies so a bunch of rapid-fire questions will be met with some rapid-fire answers.
Shurmur: Don’t know.
Rypien instead of Lock: Never a consideration as best as I can tell.
Slot receiver: It looked like KJ Hamler would have been option there but he tore his ACL in Week 3.
Munchak: Even if upper management believes Fangio isn’t the answer, don’t expect them to turn to Munchak.
Denver Post Broncos writer Ryan O’Halloran posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the season. Submit questions to Ryan here.
