Life As A Bronco Fan In The Post-Elway Era Is Depressing

I feel like I've seen this before. It's probably because I have. The final day of the season. The Broncos need a win to keep themselves in a playoff scenario. And not only do they come up short, they straight up lay an egg. Yesterday's game against the Chiefs proved to be no different as the Broncos were creamed (yeah, it was so bad that I said "creamed") by the Kansas City Chiefs 44-24. AT HOME.

What went wrong? There's a laundry list. It started earlier in the week when the rift between coach Josh McDaniels and star wide receiver Brandon Marshall once again reared its ugly head, resulting in the team's best player being benched. It continued with the benching of starting tight end Tony Scheffler, apparently because of his attitude toward McDaniels. These are the same two players that were at odds with the coach at the beginning of the season. The picture on the field wasn't anymore pretty. 44 points given up. 259 rushing yards from KC running back Jamaal Charles. Three interceptions thrown by Kyle Orton, two returned for touchdowns. Missed tackles. Dropped passes. An all too familiar scene for Bronco fans on the last day of the season.

For the second year in a row, the Broncos were humiliated by an AFC West rival in the final game of the season to end their playoff hopes. Three out of the last four years, they've lost on the final day of the season to miss the playoffs. The difference this year is that they wouldn't have made it had they won, but you'd still like to see the fighting spirit in your team. Especially in a game against an inferior opponent at home. Yesterday, I didn't even know how to feel about the game. I just know that I've been a Bronco fan since I was in the crib. And I deserve more than this. All of us deserve more than this. I invest too much of myself into this team for them to continuously embarrass themselves like this.

It must get better. We don't accept this in Denver. I thought the years where we routinely got humiliated in the Super Bowl were bad. This is next level.