Why all the hate toward Vance Joseph?

I get it.  Vance Joseph was held responsible for a 5-11 season in 2017.  Fair or unfair it falls mostly on him.  His rookie head coaching year involved three quarterbacks no longer on the team and not starting anywhere else in the league.  His starting running back is a backup in Carolina, tight end is a starter by default in LA (Chargers), and his offensive coordinator is now the o-coordinator for Arizona (they have scored 6 points in two games). Yes, VJ hired the last one but based on McCoy’s success in Denver his first time around had us all believing that was a good choice.  I’ll admit Joseph looked in over his head a lot last year.  His press conferences were confusing https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/12/nfl-broncos-vance-joseph-motto-no-surviving and his decisions proved costly.  That being said, he was not given the best of tools to start with.  The QB “decision” was a media driven joke while their run game was underwhelming.  CJ Anderson was applauded for getting his FIRST 1,000 yard season after 5 seasons in the league behind a line that looked absolutely lost.   I know this sounds like one big excuse for VJ but I assure you, I was as frustrated as anyone with the play calling and overall decision making process he carried to each game.  I was sure John Elway would move on from him but when he decided to give Joseph one more shot, I didn’t object.  It was his first season.  5 wins. Bad enough for a 5th pick overall.  Now, the pressure is on, no question.  After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday, the Broncos are 2-0.  Both games looked ugly but had their moments and standout players.  Against Seattle, their new big money QB threw 3 picks but also tossed 3 TD’s.  Von Miller is on his way to having a monster season with 4 sacks after two games and they found something special in undrafted rookie Phillip Lindsay.  Their pass coverage is suspect and Case Keenum has been a modest version of Jekyll and Hyde.  There’s a lot of work to do for the 2018 Denver Broncos but I am seeing some positive signs and that bodes well for Vance Joseph.

The Broncos were down 12-0 at half against Oakland.  Many disagreed with the way they handled the clock at the end of quarter 2 but you can’t afford a mistake in that situation.  Thirty seconds on the clock, on their own 25, and a timeout.  Suddenly Broncos fans mistook Case Keenum for  Aaron Rogers.  I’ve seen even the best coaches play it conservatively in that spot. However,  when they did toss one deep, Keenum overthrew DT but it wouldn’t have counted anyway (Illegal touching on DT).  Yea, that’s on the head coach right?  I have no issues with trying to catch the Raiders sleeping after a run.  Convince the Raiders you are playing for half then run a deep pass.  It’s been done before it just didn’t workout this time around.   On third, they ran it again and got more than expected so called a timeout.  Sorry, I just don’t see that sequence as atrocious as some fans are making it out to be.  To start the second half, Denver marched down field with relative ease and cut the deficit down to 5 (12-7).   I saw a healthy mix of runs and passes in that 3rd quarter that kept the Raiders guessing.   I loved the call to go for the TD on 4th down in the 4th with about 6 min on the clock.   Down two scores if you don’t get it then maybe you lose. Or maybe you force a safety.  Maybe you kick a field goal, get a stop but run out of time for a TD.   But if YOU do score then you need one stop and a short field for McManus.  I’d have called that in that situation any day. O Coordinator Bill Musgrave should be applauded, obviously, but he didn’t take the heat in the first half so shouldn’t Joseph share some of the praise in the second?  Ultimately, the Broncos outscored the Raiders 20-7 in the last two quarters of play.  Teams like New England make a living off making halftime adjustments yet when a coach coming off a 5-11 season does it he’s still torn to shreds.  I agree with logic;  the jury is still out.  He’s 2-0.  Can’t do any better than that. Perhaps you could win better but at the end of the day, all we look at is that record.  Sure, Denver could collapse and have another 5 win season but for now, the games they played, they have won.  Has he saved his job?  Has he tossed some ice on that hot seat?  Not really.  2-0 was expected…at least by me.  Now, 4-0 will cool it off a bit.  But that includes victories over a Baltimore team that looked unbeatable in week 1 and as boring as Joe Flacco’s expression in week 2.  Then, of course, a HUGE Monday game against the class of the division in Kansas City.  I am with the fans that are waiting to see what Vance Joseph is  made of in year 2 but as for those that are tearing the dude apart after 2-0 all I can do is borrow a fitting word from one of the best…….