Who's Being Fired After Denver Broncos Historic Dolphins Disaster | Westword
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Guess Who Could Be Fired by the Broncos After Historic Dolphins Disaster

Who's downloading the Zillow app right now?
September 25, 2023
Vance Joseph had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on September 24.
Vance Joseph had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on September 24. Denver Broncos via YouTube
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Surprise! Right now, the morning after the Miami Dolphins' 70-20 mega-drubbing of your Denver Broncos on September 24, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is still employed by the team — as far as we know. But that could change at any second. And Joseph is far from the only member of the Broncos coaching staff who should be downloading the Zillow app.

Joseph, who was fired as Broncos head coach in 2018 prior to being hired to helm the defense by new leader Sean Payton earlier this year, has been on the hot seat throughout the season. After all, a porous D was partly or largely responsible for the squad's first two losses of the 2023 regular season, to the (ugh) Las Vegas Raiders and the (double-ugh) Washington Commanders. But that chair is now roughly the temperature of the sun, owing to the historic nature of Denver's latest defeat, which was so humiliating it may actually seem funny in a decade or two.

The basics: The Dolphins were the first team to score 70 points in a regular-season contest since the then-Washington Redskins put up 72 in 1966. The total is the third-highest of all time, matching the 70 notched by Los Angeles in 1950 and just three behind the number reached in the Chicago Bears' legendary 73-0 blanking of Washington in the 1940 championship game.

Oh, yeah: The Dolphins could have equaled the Bears' mark with a late field goal, since they ended their last possession inside the Denver thirty. But substitute quarterback Mike White, who came in after starter Tua Tagovailoa settled on the bench, kneeled instead in what would qualify as an act of mercy if Miami hadn't already ground its figurative heel into the Broncos' faces for more than three quarters.

To say that divisive Denver quarterback Russell Wilson doesn't deserve any blame for what went down is a bridge too far. But he actually performed fairly well before the whole fiasco got entirely out of hand, hurling an early touchdown pass that counted and two more that didn't as a result of penalties. And it wasn't his fault that receiver Courtland Sutton fumbled twice after snaring well-thrown balls.

Problem was, the version of resistance offered up by Denver's defense was comparable to trying to stop Hurricane Katrina with a parasol. Tagovailoa didn't have an incompletion in the entire first half — he wound up connecting on 23 of 26 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns — and running backs De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert were only infrequently troubled by inconveniences such as getting tackled. Achane collected over 200 yards on the ground, while Mostert scored four touchdowns of his own: three rushing, one receiving.

(Note: My wife and I had Mostert on our fantasy team last year, and he didn't do shit for us. Great timing, Raheem.)

Yes, Justin Simmons, the heart and soul of the Broncos D, was out for the game, and linebacker Josey Jewell left the match with an injury. But neither of these absences explains why Denver stopped the Dolphins with the frequency of a broken traffic signal.

In the days before the catastrophe, Joseph had essentially shrugged off criticism of the defense, focusing on positive plays he saw amid the more obvious failures versus the Raiders and Commanders — an example of his glass-almost-overflowing philosophy that wore so poorly when he was the man in charge. That makes him Payton's most likely scapegoat — but hardly the only one.

Also at risk of being sacked are the other coaches working under him: Marcus Dixon (defensive line), Greg Manusky (inside linebackers), Christian Parker (defensive backs), Joe Vitt (senior defensive assistant) and Michael Wilhoite (outside linebackers), plus Addison Lynch and Isaac Shewmaker, who are in charge of, I kid you not, defensive quality control. Pause for raucous laughter.

Then there's general manager George Paton, who assembled a roster that is clearly wanting in a big way. If the Walmart executives who recently purchased the Broncos canned former head coach Nathaniel Hackett before the end of his first season with the franchise, they could certainly give Paton the heave-ho now, if only to give the impression that what happened yesterday in Florida is unacceptable.

Granted, Joseph was the primary target of posters on X (formerly Twitter) after zeroes appeared on Miami's scoreboard clock. See our picks for the twenty most memorable examples below, capped by a moment of sarcasm that may actually make you smile.

But no guarantees.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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