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Under the bus the defense went following Denver's crushing loss to the Browns on Saturday night.
“I wanted points there," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said of his controversial fourth-down decision late in the 17-16 defeat. "We had about 4:35 to go in the game and we had one timeout and the two-minute warning. I trust our defense to get a stop there. If we don’t get points there, a touchdown has to win it. It was my decision to take points.”
If we've learned anything, that's the closest Joseph will come to ownership of his latest gaffe: a mid-fourth-quarter field goal on 4th-and-1, trailing by four points. His logic? Get the ball back and kick another field goal. Don't risk points with the rushing offense stifled. Let the defense, as they've done so many times, shoulder the load.
“Absolutely," he said. "That third down play didn’t look great, and we had points. Again, I trust our defense to get a stop the next drive and we did. The first play obviously was a big run. That was the biggest run of the game. I was hoping we got a stop there, got the ball back and would have a field goal to win it. That was the thinking.”
But there's no rationalization that absolves Joseph, whose in-game management is arguably the NFL's worst. Settling for three was his call, and his call alone. If you need proof, his players immediately distanced themselves from anything related to it — always a great sign.