DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 20: Jim Turner #15 kicks a football held by Charley Johnson #12 of the Denver Broncos in a game against the San Diego Chargers at Mile High Stadium on October 20, 1974 in Denver, Colorado. Turner was one of the last kickers in the NFL to kick straight-on, using a high-topped, black shoe with a square toe. Attempting to block the kick is Willie McGee. (Photo by Mark Junge/Getty Images)
Brandon Marshall and the Denver Broncos have parted ways.
According to various sources, the Denver Broncos will allow linebacker Brandon Marshall to become a free agency after declining an option on his four-year contract.
The 29-year-old, who signed with the Broncos in 2016, has two years left on his $32 million contract and was due to earn $6.5 million in base salary in 2019 and $7 million in 2020. If the Broncos release Marshall, they will incur a $4 million cap charge.
Marshall was drafted in the fifth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 and spent six of his seven seasons with the Broncos, including their Super Bowl winning squad in 2015.
He had a great season in 2017, recording 106 tackles in 16 games, but he only played 11 times and made 42 tackles in 2018, due to a knee injury.
Marshall appeared to confirm his departure on Twitter, writing, “Much love for Broncos country.” Although it is not yet done, being wounded twice in the last three years following the Super Bowl destroyed me. But such is life. I’ll land on my feet as usual.”
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Despite early fireworks and late heroics, the Broncos fall to 0-2 with a 35-33 loss against the Commanders.
DENVER — As Russell Wilson’s last-ditch Hail Mary effort landed in Brandon Johnson’s arms, the Broncos appeared to have done the unfathomable.
For a brief while, it appeared that after surrendering an 18-point first-half lead, the Broncos would still be able to win and square their record at 1-1.
It wasn’t meant to be.
As the next two-point conversion attempt failed, so did Denver’s hopes of winning its first game of the season.
And yet, as a slew of players said inside the Broncos’ locker room following a 35-33 defeat at the hands of the Washington Commanders, Denver should never have found itself in that position.
“There’s no way that that game should have ever come down to that and where we needed a miracle to get it done,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “We just let this game slip away.”
The result should not have been in question after scoring touchdowns on three consecutive drives to start a game for the first time since 2010.
Or after sacking Sam Howell — making his first career road start — three times in the first three drives and holding Washington to three points until the late stages of the first half.
Or certainly after holding a 21-3 lead and facing a second-and-5 at the Washington 35-yard line.
However, a Russell Wilson turnover two plays later ignited Washington.
“The number one key in this game with [Washington], and we looked at it — …every one of their games last year where they didn’t have a takeaway, they lost the game,” said Sean Payton, the team’s head coach. “We give them the ball at midfield, and that momentum shifts at that point with the fumble.”
Howell and the Commanders offense scored a touchdown and notched a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 10 points. Then, following an unsuccessful two-minute drive, Washington got the ball back in time to tack on a 49-yard field goal before the break and cut the halftime lead to 21-14.
A quick Denver three-and-out to start the second half preceded another Washington score, and the Broncos faced a tie game just minutes after leading by nearly 20 points.
I think that was a big transition moment in terms of just [during the] two-minute drive, we didn’t really get anything going right before the half, unfortunately,” Wilson said. “Then coming out in the second half, we get the ball, they made a few good plays and the next thing you know, it’s three-and-out. That was a point swing there.”
Denver briefly retook the lead on a 31-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but Washington responded with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.
Washington — which added another touchdown drive on its ensuing possession — finished three-of-three in the red zone and scored touchdowns on three of its first four drives of the second half.
“I thought we were poor,” Payton said of the defensive performance. “We didn’t help them with the field position, with the turnover, but our red-zone defense was poor. First-down defense — we’re not fitting certain pressures. We have to look at how much do we have in, defensively, [the] same way [as the offense]. I didn’t think we played well, and we’re going to see a lot better offenses than that. I think in the second half, I didn’t like the rushing numbers that I thought we played well with in the first half, if that makes sense.”
Denver gave itself a chance late, but the team couldn’t quite rebound from a stretch in which its offense went scoreless on five-of-six drives and its defense struggled against Howell and Co.
“I don’t think we were sound enough, I don’t think we were composed enough when things were going wrong, because you can’t let that linger for as long as we did in this football game,” McGlinchey said of the team’s offense. “We got off to a great start. We had them on the ropes from the start, and we stalled for much too long. That is simply unacceptable.”
As a result, the Broncos allowed what could have been a statement win to become the largest lead they’ve given up at home since 1995.
“There won’t be a lot of people jumping on our bandwagon,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. “I believe you can watch any of the… ESPN shows.” They’ll be complaining about what we did and where we need to improve. It’s all on us.”
While history has not been kind to 0-2 teams — only one of 23 0-2 teams has made the playoffs since the playoffs expanded in 2020 — the Broncos have little choice but to keep going on.
“I get it, and I get that we’re going to write and talk about it,” Payton told reporters. “I can’t change the fact that we’re 0-2 right now, but I can certainly change how we approach the next game and prepare for the third.”
