CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Losing his ever-loving mind, sick of losing, and screaming at his quarter-billion dollar bust of a quarterback to do something about it, big bad Mike Purcell spoke for all us in Broncos Country.
It’s about time somebody took off the velvet gloves and told Russell Wilson where to go.
Would it be too much trouble for Mr. Unlimited to get Denver’s offense in the end zone more than once a game? If that’s too difficult for DangeRuss, he can take his rockstar lifestyle and go straight to H-E- …
“Frustration,” Purcell said Sunday, explaining his spitting-mad sideline outburst at Wilson during the fourth quarter of Denver’s 23-10 loss to the wretched Carolina Panthers, a new low of a season where there is no bottom. “We’ve got to get a spark somewhere.”
Wilson got an earful of frustration that has been building for 11 games, not only in the Denver locker room, but throughout Broncos Country.
You didn’t have to be a lip-reader to understand the salty tone of Purcell’s message.
“He was (ticked) off,” Wilson recalled. “He just said, ‘You got to go!’ And I agreed.”
The brief but heated verbal confrontation between Purcell and Wilson was caught by television cameras for the all the NFL world to see and occurred distinctly within shouting distance of Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett, who stood wearing sunglasses and a headset right next to where a 328-pound defensive lineman and his star quarterback exchanged unpleasantries.
And yet someway, somehow, Hackett was oblivious to the ruckus happening right behind his back.
“I didn’t see it,” Hackett said. “I know they’re both competitors. I know Mike wants to win and he’s going to do whatever he can to get the team fired up. But … I’m not sure … We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
In the history of the Broncos franchise, has there ever been a coach so pathetically unaware of the disintegration of a team around him? It’s no longer a question of if Hackett gets fired, but when.
The Broncos cannot possibly go on this way.
“It’s unacceptable,” Wilson said. “This organization, this tradition here and everything else, we’ve got to honor it. We’ve got to honor it by winning.”
Wilson recorded the 300th touchdown pass of his NFL career, but not until he connected with Brandon Johnson for a one-yard strike that was much too little and far too late in the final minutes of a game that encapsulated everything wrong with the most hopelessly inept Broncos team I’ve seen since arriving in Colorado back in 1983.
“We’ve got to get the losing out of our system,” Wilson said. “Winning is a habit. Losing can be, too.”
The chewing gum and duct tape holding together the Broncos disintegrated in the fourth quarter, after a 26-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro extended Carolina’s lead to 17 points with 13 minutes, 36 seconds remaining. As the kick sailed through the uprights, Purcell got grumpy at the bottom of the pile near the line of scrimmage and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.
As Purcell stomped toward the Denver bench, he cocked his right ear in the direction of Wilson, and in the manner of an angry man in no mood to take guff from anybody, jumped in the face of his high-priced quarterback and barked words of obvious frustration.
“Me and him are on the same page. There’s no animosity there at all,” Wilson said. We’re on the same page. We’ve got to win.”
Just when you think the Broncos can’t possibly play any worse, they go out and try to make World Cup soccer fans of us all, tempting even the most die-hard fan to hide under an orange-and-blue blankie on the sofa and switch the TV feed to a futbol match between Spain and Germany.
Wilson, who finished with a scant 142 yards passing, was outplayed by Sam Darnold, a quarterback viewed as a huge first-round draft bust. That’s inconceivable. Inexcusable. Incompetent.
Despite injuries to key playmakers and a leaky offensive line, there’s no excuse for how bad a quarterback Wilson has become, making it reasonable to wonder if Denver could have possibly been worse than their current 3-8 record if they merely kept Drew Lock and didn’t mortgage their future in a trade with Seattle that made Broncos Country believe a six-season playoff drought was mercifully about to end.
“We’re 3-8. Not even close to where we thought we would be. It’s draining, but nobody cares,” Broncos safety Justin Simmons said.
I consider myself lucky — even stuck at a bad football game — to get paid to watch the Broncos embarrass their proud tradition. It’s my job.
What’s your excuse?
If this team can’t find a new head coach capable of restoring the magic in Wilson, the Broncos will be unwatchable for years to come.
