At What Cost: The Denver Broncos and the Debate Over Winning During a Lost Season
Photo Credit: Andy Cross/Denver Post
Broncos Twitter has not been a fun place to be these last few years. Since Super Bowl 50, Broncos fans have essentially known nothing but suffering, and that suffering has been reflected in how they interact with each other. Spats between fans and media members are common, and there’s always division on what is best for the team. The team’s failures on the field have made the community-and Broncos Country as a whole- an understandably negative place.
Another debate enveloped Broncos Twitter on Sunday, but funnily enough, this one came after a win; After the Broncos defeated the Packers, Broncos fans went back and forth on social media arguing about whether or not the win was, in fact, a good thing. Many fans naturally celebrated the win, taking joy in what looks to be one of the Broncos few victories on the year. But another large contingent of fans was pretty upset that the Broncos won and negatively impacted the team’s draft position. This debate is not a new one: Fanbases of poor teams go through this process every year, but the question is an interesting one, and one that doesn’t have a great answer.
The principal argument for fans who think poor teams should lose more games to have better draft picks is fairly simple. There’s a train of thought that if you are a bad team, you might as well be really bad. What good does it do to be a middling team who needs significant help to become a contender, but without premium draft capital to add elite talent? This ideology, or “tanking” as it’s better known, has picked up a lot of support in recent years with fans. That said, it is looked down upon in the league, and teams simply don’t intentionally lose games. For that reason, a lot of fans believe all losses are consequential and a defeat is never something to celebrate. There’s also the argument that winning is critical to establishing good team culture, and losing will only lead to more losing.
Both sides of this debate have merit. Bad teams absolutely need to add talent through the draft, but losing is losing, and as the old adage goes, “you play to win the game.” The Broncos are squarely in the middle of this hypothetical. They clearly need an infusion of talent on the roster, and a high draft pick would accelerate the process. On the other hand, they just devoted an absurd amount of capital to their new head coach, and starting his tenure off with a disastrous season may yield consequences now and later. It’s a tricky spot to be in, but the moral of the story is that while both sides have negatives, both have positives as well. So no matter which side of this debate you find yourself on, just remember that all fans just want what is best for their team in the long run. We’re all on the same side here.
