For many, the dawning of a new year is a time for introspection and moral self-inventories. This often presents itself in the form of New Year’s resolutions, though the commitment to this degree of self-improvement often dissipates within the first month or two. On the heels of yet another recent season with double-digit losses, the Denver Broncos must conduct this self-inventory if they have any hope of respite in 2021 and beyond. Through the lessons learned in ever-tumultuous 2020, attainable goals for 2021 are fairly easy to recognize and allow for an effective list of Denver Broncos New Year’s resolutions.
Denver Broncos New Year’s Resolutions
Lessons of 2020
2020 was not a normal year on the football field nor at home. Despite the turmoil and unrest endured through a pandemic-stricken year and season, myriad lessons can be learned. These lessons allow for 2021 to offer more specific opportunities for growth, both on and off the field.
Youth as an Excuse
At this point, it is no secret the Broncos are one of the youngest teams in the league. Regardless of what knee-jerk reactions in Broncos Country might suggest, patience is obviously necessary as a result of the sheer youth of the roster. By the end of the season, three rookies were starting on offense to go along with two second-year players. On the defensive side of the ball, Michael Ojemudia headlined the rookie class by accruing a full season of games on his resumé.
Though the objective youth of this roster certainly compensates for a number of the frustrating elements of the 2020 season, youth as an excuse can only get you so far. Whether it’s unprofessional behavior like Ojemudia throwing a punch or Jerry Jeudy sending and deleting a passive-aggressive tweet about his share of targets, it is clear the Broncos have some serious growth to do, as a cohesive unit and in terms of maturity alike.
Lack of Coaching Consistency
Similarly, 2020 illustrated the need for the coaching staff to do some growing of their own. Inconsistent play-calling on offense and stubborn commitment to ineffectual schematic elements serve as two of the more prominent examples of where the coaching staff can afford to focus on improvement.
As proven through Denver’s games against the Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, and the second of two games against the Kansas City Chiefs, consistent play-calling from Pat Shurmur is the only way for Drew Lock to establish and maintain a rhythm. Regardless of whether or not Denver intends to keep Lock entrenched as their starter beyond 2021 (if even for all of 2021 in the first place), Shurmur’s employment with the team is entirely contingent upon his efforts in the 2021 season.
Adjustments, or Lack Thereof
2020 also highlighted the need for greater attention to adjustments. Unfortunately, it is the head coach of the Denver Broncos whose inability to make effective adjustments has proved most costly. Even if the defense had predominantly remained healthy throughout the 2020 campaign, there was a rather obvious need for schematic adjustments.
When one considers just how many injuries the Broncos sustained, it paints an even more infuriating portrait of Fangio’s reluctance to make adjustments. While it is already confirmed Fangio will return for the 2021 season, 2020 illustrated the gauntness of the ice upon which the head coach must find himself moving forward.
Attainable Goals for 2021
Breaking Even
Lessons learned from the unease of 2020 allow for rather specific, yet attainable goals for the Denver Broncos. After four consecutive losing seasons for the first time in history and missing playoffs in every season since winning Super Bowl 50, these goals may just determine the extent of longevity with the franchise for multiple players and coaches.
First and foremost, breaking .500 is rather clearly an attainable goal with countless starters returning from injury and the prospect of a full off-season program with the full team for the first time under Fangio. Breaking even or obtaining a winning record in 2021 would go a long way toward inspiring patience in Broncos Country and in the front office, especially after averaging 6.4 wins per season for the last five years.
Assurances
This goal also feeds into the next goal, that of leaving Broncos Country and John Elway assured and confident in Vic Fangio and Drew Lock’s ability to lead this team. Many fans of the orange and blue have been vocally critical of Elway’s track record as the general manager and president of football operations for many years now.
The Quarterback Carousel
Missing on another quarterback (after missing on names like Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, and Joe Flacco), should Lock prove not to pan out, might just be the final straw for much of Broncos Country. Likewise, another failed defensively-minded head coach after the catastrophe that was Vance Joseph might be too much for Elway to overcome.
Should Drew Lock intend to prevent the narrative from suggesting Elway missed on another quarterback, he will need to secure the third attainable goal for 2021: a two-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio— at the worst. Through 16 starts (excluding the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for obvious reason), Lock threw a mere 21 touchdowns to 18 interceptions.
When one regards Lock throwing for seven and three respectively in his first five starts, the remaining 14:15 ratio is not just abysmal, but disquieting. If Lock wants to remain the starting quarterback for a franchise as storied as the Denver Broncos, he will need to prove he belongs by significantly cutting down on his turnovers.
Denver Broncos New Year’s Resolutions
By using the lessons learned from 2020 and the attainable goals set for 2021, it is easy to establish the framework for a list of Denver Broncos New Year’s resolutions. Some of this list is less tangible than other parts of it, but in the end, the list is not only accomplishable but the perfect prescription for a team and fandom as frustrated and past due as the Denver Broncos and Broncos Country.
New Year’s Resolution #1: Get Disciplined
While it is unsurprising due to the youth and inexperience of the team, the Broncos have been somewhat undisciplined on and off the field throughout Vic Fangio’s tenure. In the new year, the Broncos must cut down on mental mistakes on the field, developing a greater sense of discipline in all three phases of the game. Many of the games the Broncos lost in 2020 saw a frustratingly high number of costly penalties accepted.
Off the field, the Broncos must develop and maintain an even greater sense of discipline than they need on the field. In other words, starters (or depth players, too, really) must avoid getting suspended for performance-enhancing drugs like A.J. Bouye, drinking and driving like Melvin Gordon III, or emphasizing immaturity through social media misuse like Jerry Jeudy. If the team can remain disciplined on and off the field, their growth as a team and as individuals should prove immense.
New Year’s Resolution #2: Play with the Cards You’re Dealt
For many, many years, coaches in Denver have tried to shoehorn players into their scheme regardless of whether or not the player fits the scheme at all or if the scheme even works. The play-calling on offense evidences this fact and prompts the second New Year’s resolution. In 2021, the coaches must coach and scheme to player strengths.
In essence, all this means is that the coaches must stop trying to make players on the roster into something they are not. DeMarcus Walker’s rollercoaster of a beginning to his career, needlessly shifting positions and fluctuating weight at the instruction of the coaches, is one such example of coaches failing to recognize and utilize a player’s strengths. If the team is going to get the most out of Drew Lock, Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant, and countless others, they will need to focus on building their scheme out of what these players do well— which is not something the team has done during Fangio’s tenure.
New Year’s Resolution #3: Win from Within
It is easy to watch the games on television and assert your opinion on the locker room culture but it is, more often than not, an inaccurate estimation. Throughout the two years of Fangio coaching the Broncos, the locker room culture has reportedly seen a mix of tones, from rumors of dissent in the ranks in 2019 to the injured players making a difference in the study habits of their replacements in 2020.
In order for the Broncos to return to prominence (and, by extension, the postseason), they will need to not only continue their positive behaviors as a locker room culture but improve upon them significantly. By beginning and ending every day of the off-season with a winning mentality (i.e., first one in, last one out, do everything you do with everything you have), the team will be able to escape from the specter of disappointment and ineptitude that has plagued the team for half a decade.
Final Thoughts on the 2021 Denver Broncos
Some contend you get out of something that which you put into it. If this is true, all it will take for a return to the playoffs is for the team to not only buy into these Denver Broncos New Year’s resolutions but to put every fiber of their being into accomplishing the goals therein. While football is as nuanced a sport as there possibly can be (and therefore it might not necessarily be that simple), it can be as straightforward as this.
2020 was a tumultuous, confusing, and troubling year. About that there is no doubt. With that said, however, if the Broncos intend for 2021 to be an improvement upon the tail end of the 2010s, then they will need to learn from this season and use what they have gleaned to establish a foundation up from which to build in the new year. This means every single player and coach must conduct a moral self-inventory, both as an individual and as a contributor to a cohesive team.
The fans want the Broncos to be better. The Broncos want the Broncos to be better. If they can set a comprehensive list of New Year’s resolutions and remain committed to them, the sky truly is the limit.
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