National Football League

Broncos could be prime landing spot for talented QB

Updated Jan. 3, 2022 3:19 p.m. ET

By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFL Writer

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Denver Broncos coach Vic Fangio took a quick pause before answering the final question of his interview session Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

Three weeks ago, his team sat at 7-6 and in the playoff hunt. But after three straight losses, the Broncos have fallen to 7-9 and out of the postseason for a sixth straight season.

"That’s very disappointing," Fangio said. "We had three difficult, close losses prior to this one — all tight games against good teams. And it’s disappointing."

Give Fangio credit for pulling out all stops to try to defeat the Chargers on the road with a short-handed roster.

The Broncos faced L.A. with 14 players not available because they were on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including foundational players such edge rusher Bradley Chubb and explosive playmaker Jerry Jeudy.

Fangio's team went 1-for-4 on fourth down, including running the Philly Special at L.A.’s 2-yard line instead of kicking a field goal with a little more than five minutes left in the first half.

Receiver Kendall Hinton was pressured on the reverse pass, and his throw fell short to quarterback Drew Lock, who was stopped short of the goal line by Joey Bosa and Chris Harris Jr. The play helped the Chargers protect a 10-0 lead.

Solid all season, Denver’s defense mostly held an explosive Los Angeles offense in check in the first half.

However, as they have for most of the year, the Broncos’ offense failed to muster any sustained drives, and the defense unraveled, leading to a runaway, 34-13 victory for the Chargers.

Special teams didn’t give the Broncos any help, either, with a muffed punt by Diontae Spencer recovered by the Chargers leading to a score and a 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by L.A.’s Andre Roberts.

With the loss, the Broncos dropped to 7-9, making Fangio's already warm seat even hotter with one final game against the Kansas City Chiefs at home.

"There’s a certain barrier that I’ve noticed that we just haven’t gotten over," Broncos safety and defensive co-captain Justin Simmons said. "And when it comes down to it, you’ve got to find ways to win close games."

During Fangio’s tenure, the Broncos are 10-15 in one-score games. Fangio has a 19-29 record overall in three seasons with the Broncos, with no postseason appearances and no winning records. So why should Denver bring him back?

The players still appear to play hard for Fangio.

"We’re all extremely close," Lock said. "We all fight for each other. And we all wanted an extremely successful season for us. And when that doesn’t happen, yeah, it hurts."

Since a crafty Peyton Manning and a stingy defense helped to propel the Broncos to a Super Bowl 50 victory after the 2014 regular season, Denver has cycled through 10 different players at quarterback (11 if you include WR Kendall Hinton making a spot start for Denver’s COVID-19 ravaged roster in 2020).

Under the direction of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway as the team’s top personnel man, the Broncos selected six signal-callers, including Brock Osweiler, Zac Dysert, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Chad Kelly and Lock. All have failed to lead this proud franchise back to the postseason since Manning’s departure.

Siemian served as the primary starter for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, posting a 13-11 record.

Case Keenum started all 16 games in 2018. The Broncos finished 6-10 that year and fired Vance Joseph after two seasons as the team’s head coach.

Joe Flacco, Lock and Brandon Allen combined to win seven games in Vic Fangio’s first season at the helm in 2019.

In 2020, Lock, Jeff Driskel and Brett Rypien combined to win five games.

This season, Lock and Bridgewater led the Broncos to seven wins.

The Broncos brought in Teddy Bridgewater in free agency. The Louisville product had his moments, finishing 7-7 as a starter this season. However, the injury bug once again bit Bridgewater, and he has struggled to stay healthy.

Fangio, considered one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, has done a good job of putting together one of the best defenses in the league. Entering Sunday’s contest against the Broncos, Denver came in with the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL, allowing just 17.3 points per game.

They held Patrick Mahomes to 184 passing yards, no touchdowns and an interception in a Week 13 loss to the Chiefs.

The Broncos kept the prolific Joe Burrow to just 157 passing yards in a 15-10 loss the Bengals in Week 15.

Denver’s most impressive win this season was a 30-16 victory over the Cowboys in Dallas.

However, Lock and Bridgewater are not the answer for the offensively challenged Broncos in 2022. Through trade, draft or free agency, general manager George Paton must find a quarterback capable of leading this team back to the postseason.

"We can’t seem to find a rhythm and a consistency in our offense to keep drives sustained, make first down and eventually get touchdowns," Fangio said.

Added tight end Noah Fant: "The disconnect is scoring in the red zone. … We’ve got to score in the red zone — not field goals but touchdowns."

Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers would be a dream-like scenario for this franchise. But perhaps a more realistic scenario is using the first-round selection on another quarterback of the future, with Paton making the call on a young QB for a new offensive staff.

The Broncos have five selections in the first three rounds of this year’s draft.

Selected in the second round of the 2019 draft, Lock is 8-13 as a starter in three seasons in the NFL. The Missouri product finished 18-for-25 passing for 245 yards, with a touchdown pass and no interceptions, in the loss to the Chargers.

Lock exited with a right shoulder injury but returned to the game. Lock said his shoulder felt a little funny on the second drive. He had had the injury before, got a shot in the locker room and came back out and played.

"My No. 1 goal is to win football games," Lock said. "Taking care of the ball, not winning the football game and a quarter will get you a donut. There’s really not much not winning the football game gets you.

"I feel like my play has gotten better. I think I’ve shown strides in certain areas that I needed to show strides in, but it doesn’t mean much to me if you’re not winning football games."

Lock has a year left on his rookie deal but likely would be just a placeholder for the Broncos in 2022.

In a division that includes Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr, the Broncos need higher aspirations at the quarterback position to return to more competitive times when they won five straight AFC West titles from 2011 to 2015.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.