With all of the bad football going around in the NFL in 2017 – the Browns threatening to go winless, the Giants sitting Eli Manning in what might be a tanking expedition – it might be easy to overlook the disaster that the Denver Broncos have become, especially with them just a few years removed from a Lombardi Trophy.

But they are, very much, a team in crisis, one with few discernable strengths and a decaying roster and a ridiculous revolving door at quarterback and with a lack of institutional control (players fighting in practice and getting ejected from games) and a first-year coach who seems fairly overwhelmed by it all. John Elway, renowned for his Midas touch with his initial personnel forays, is riding a deep personal losing streak as well with drafts and free-agent signings. Elway, who has been quick to switch coaches, may have to do so for the fourth time in four years, with the Broncos riding their worst losing streak since their days in the AFL and the team appearing in disarray in recent weeks.

Before we go any further, here is a primer on the plight of the Broncos:

  • They have lost seven straight games, their worst single-season losing streak since 1967.
  • They rank 27th in offensive points scored and 25th in offensive points allowed.
  • They rank 30th in QB rating and dead last in touchdown passes and have thrown the second-most interceptions (requiring three quarterbacks to contribute to this debacle (Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch). They rank 28th in passer rating against.
  • They rank last in giveaway points allowed and 31st in turnover differential.
  • They are the fourth-most penalized team in the league.
  • They may have the NFL's worst special teams.
  • They fired their offensive coordinator last week, had practices interrupted for fights and lost top corner Aqib Talib for next week due a suspension for an ugly fight with Oakland's Michael Crabtree last week.

All of this begs the question, of course, of how they got here. And that has to fall on Elway. Elway's initial tenure was filled with success, being the guy to land Peyton Manning (having won a Super Bowl late in his career as a Hall of Fame quarterback, himself certainly helped), and issues like alcohol-related arrests in the front office were largely ignored nationally amid all the winning. Elway did expert work to get stalwarts like Chris Harris and Derek Wolfe signed to tremendously team friendly extensions and signing Talib was a great move. DeMarcus Ware was an excellent signing as well.

But, well, the last five drafts have been beyond spotty at best (more on that later), attempts to address the offensive line have failed, drastically, via the draft and free agency (losing Russell Okung, over-paying Menelik Watson and Ronald Leary in free agency). The quarterback position, since signing Manning as a free agent, has been bad (drafting Osweiler, Siemian and then Lynch, the later in the first round), and this was also the man very willing to pay Osweiler $15M a year to stay in Denver. Luckily for him Texans owner Bob McNair was willing to give the Brock Lobster $18M a year.

Players like Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas haven't been as impactful since getting their massive extensions, and did I mention all the coaches they have churned through, including letting Wade Phillips leave as their defensive coordinator a year ago? Yeah, not a good look. And the defense has taken a major step back under Joseph, who had just one year of NFL defensive coordinator experience prior to Elway shockingly hiring him as head coach.

Denver ranks just 19th in sacks despite all the money in Miller and taking Shane Ray in the first round. They haven't been able to find a feature back. And, the reality is, the group of men who led this team to the Super Bowl – Manning aside – were brought in prior to Elway's arrival and prior to him assuming full personnel reigns. That deep vein of talent has run dry, and the influx of impact players, the past five years, hasn't been close to the five years preceding that.

Since parting with former personnel exec Brian Xanders after the 2012 Draft (Xanders, now with the Rams, was an unsung hero of the construction of this team and someone who, frankly, should've got a ring). when Elway essentially became the lord of all things football in Denver, here is a snapshot of their first three picks in each of the last five drafts:

2013

DT Sylvester Williams -- regular contributor signed with Titans in 2017

RB Montee Ball -- out of football since 2014 with 3 starts

DB Kayvon Webster -- 2 starts for Denver, now with Rams

2014

CB Bradley Roby -- part of great secondary. Excellent player, picked up fifth-year option

WR Cody Latimer -- 2 career TD, oft-injured

OL Michael Schofield -- switched between T and G, left for Chargers as free agent

2015

LB Shane Ray -- 12 career starts, pass rush prowess in flashes but off field concerns

OL Ty Sambrailo -- Struggled mightily, now with Atlanta

TE Jeff Heuerman -- 15 catches for 215 yards and 1 TD in his career

2016

QB Paxton Lynch -- Seems totally overwhelmed in very limited appearances

DT Adam Gotsis -- Contributing to their rotation up front

S Justin Simmons -- Thriving as a regular starter this season

2017

T Garett Bolles -- Tough rookie year as part of a very poor offensive line

DE DeMarcus Walker -- Appeared in 6 games with 2 tackles

WR Carlos Henderson -- On IR

That's not going to get it done. Not close. All of the money and picks injected into the QB position and offensive line have to produce more than that. Roby the only true blue chip player inn the bunch. Couple that with far less impactful free agent signings that what occurred early in this regime, and you've got problems.

I have a very difficult time thinking Elway isn't exploring wholesale changes in the coaching staff and, with Denver on course for a top-five pick, I suspect they end up selecting another quarterback in the spring as well. There are major, macro-level questions about the future of the franchise, with owner Pat Bowlen in declining health and no succession plan that designates one of his seven heirs as the next in line to run the team, with the family having to sort that out though a trust to try to keep the team in the family.

The front office is now under scrutiny as well, this looks every bit like a team at the crossroads, one now aging on the defensive side (which was long their strength) yet still with nine players set to count $7.5M or more against the cap in 2018.

They seem assured of finishing last in the AFC West, and while they happen to meet a team in just as much turmoil this week, in the Dolphins, that won't often be the case. It's certainly not a prime locale aging free agents like Manning and Ware would consider anymore. This smells like a 4-12 team to me, and the worst season in Denver's NFL history, and it's going to take quite a personnel hot streak to dig out of it anytime soon.