The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Monday in a move that was foreshadowed by a report of dissatisfaction with his performance that surfaced before the team extended its losing steak to six games by falling to the Bengals.
When it came time for head coach Vance Joseph discussed the reason for the move on Monday afternoon, his explanation won’t come as a great shock to anyone who has been keeping an eye on the team this year. Whether it has been Trevor Siemian or Brock Osweiler under center, the Broncos passing game has fallen short and that’s why McCoy has been forced to fall on his sword.
“When we changed from Trevor to Brock, my goal was to stabilize the offense and not turn the ball over as much,’’ Joseph said, via KUSA. “It was more about the quarterback position and hoping to get a veteran guy in to stabilize the offense and not give the ball away as much. That hasn’t happened. Brock’s had three starts now and the same problems have occurred. And so I felt at this moment for our football team moving forward that a change was needed, going from Mike to Bill Musgrave, simply because I want to have a more efficient pass game. You have to have that. Our running game has been good. But our pass game has not been good in my opinion.”
Joseph went on to say that McCoy wasn’t fumbling, throwing interceptions or doing anything else on the field by way of saying the offensive issues go beyond the coordinator. McCoy also wasn’t responsible for picking the quarterbacks that are on the roster and that group includes Paxton Lynch, who hasn’t started yet but could after Joseph said he’d be discussing it with McCoy’s replacement Bill Musgrave.
If they do go that route and the results remain unimpressive, it seems clear that the next move can’t be to find someone else to call the plays.