Sunday’s post-game mood for the Denver Broncos in South Beach was a combination of utter shock and disbelief.
Denver had just left the field after falling to the Miami Dolphins by the score of 70-20. Seventy points. Miami put up the third-most points in NFL history and the most total yardage (726) in a game.
“This can’t be who we are. What’s happened the last two weeks just cannot be who we are. It’s up to us to fix it, and it starts with me. It starts with the rest of the captains. We’ve got to make sure that we turn this ship around and turn it around quick,” new Denver Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey told reporters.
Denver found itself down 35-13 at the half. Even when the Dolphins went to their backup players, they were able to drop 21 points in the fourth quarter. It certainly does seem that effort was lacking on both sides of the ball for Sean Payton’s team.
“I mean, I’m at a loss for words because I’ve never been in — I’ve been on the other side of some games like that, and every once in a while in this league you get your butt whooped, but this was more than that,” Payton told reporters.
By virtue of this loss, the Broncos moved to 0-3 on the season. Only one team has made the playoffs after starting with that record since back in 2002. But for Denver, it’s about a lot more than that. The team wasn’t just blown out, it was utterly humiliated. For his part, Payton was extremely defensive with questions from reporters after the game.
This came within the context of Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard telling reporters that it was “disrespectful” for Payton to keep Russell Wilson in the game when the score of 70-20 late.
“That was totally disrespectful,” Howard said after blowout win over the Denver Broncos. “That man did a lot for this game. They’ve got to do better on that side. You can’t be leaving guys like that out there.”
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Can the Denver Broncos turn the page after Sunday’s humiliation?
We will hear the term “professionals” in the days leading up to Denver’s Week 4 outing against the Chicago Bears. They have to turn the page. The are paid to forget about the previous week. Taking on a Bears squad that has lost 13 consecutive games could very well be the tonic that the Broncos need.
For the Broncos, it’s all about picking themselves up after what we saw on Sunday in South Beach. If that means each player having a heart-to-heart with himself, then so be it.
“We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror, myself included,” Kareem Jackson said. “Obviously we all have to buy in, we all have to be on the same page. That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to get all 11 guys on the same page — right now, we’re not. The only thing we can do is evaluate the film, and we’ve got to have a great week of practice, Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson said after Sunday’s loss.
Having lost 14 of 18 with Russell Wilson starting dating back to last season, there are no quick answers for the Broncos. They might want to start with not giving up north of 700 total yards and 70 points.