Mike Florio ,
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Broncos fans expected much more than they got last night. And they weren’t bashful about making their feelings known.
Not long after the Chiefs made the Raiders look like they should be relegated to the UFL, the Broncos struggled to outscore a team that has struggled on a weekly basis, in all phases. And so the boo birds were flying in the direction of the Denver offense, as loud at times as anything the woeful Dolphins heard from their home fans one week earlier.
“I’ve been booed before, and I’ll be booed again,” quarterback Bo Nix told reporters after the 10-7 win. “Not going to be the last time. It’s obviously unfortunate. You don’t want your own fans booing you, but it’s part of it.”
It’s the right thing to say publicly. It’s hard not to wonder privately whether Nix and other Broncos were thinking privately, “What the f—k? We’re 8-2.”
In football, 11 players on the field are trying to do one thing, and the other 11 players on the field are trying to do the exact opposite. When an offense sputters, the opposing defense deserves some of the credit for that.
The players on offense are trying their best. But their efforts are countered by a defense that is also trying to do its best. Throw in the fact that fans are now wired to crave yards and points (thanks to the ongoing proliferation of fantasy football and prop bets), the frustrations are compounded by their own potential personal financial interest in Nix and others hitting their “overs” and/or scoring “anytime” touchdowns.
Regardless, Broncos fans expected a blowout. A game that would be decided by halftime. A game that would see the starters leave for the fourth quarter. A game that members of the media would be complaining about non-stop on social media not because it was close but ugly from both teams but because it was not close and ugly from only one of them.
What everyone got was a close game that was undecided until Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 48-yard field goal that would have knotted the score at 10 with 4:26 to play. Even then, the Denver offense needed three first downs to ice it — and they managed to do so.
Those efforts weren’t met with cheers. By then, it was far too late to make Broncos fans happy about what they’d seen. Even as their favorite team emerged from the game as the first team in the NFL to get to eight wins this season.
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