Rookie head coach Vance Joseph won't be getting a second season to turn the Broncos around.
A team source told Pro Football Weekly on Sunday that Joseph will be fired some time after the Broncos entertain the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs in the finale. An ESPN report from Adam Schefter earlier on Sunday cited a source as saying Joseph faced "increasingly longer odds" to be retained, though no decision had been made roughly an hour before the early games kicked off in Week 17.
Following a 3-1 start, Joseph's Broncos have lost 9 of 11, including several blowouts. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was fired in Week 12, but a revolving door of quarterbacks has made it difficult for Joseph and interim offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave to stabilize the NFL's 29th-ranked offense (26th in points).
Joseph, 45, was hired by John Elway following just one season as a defensive coordinator, with the Miami Dolphins in 2016. But Joseph hasn't had unfettered control, as Elway reportedly made the decision not to retain Wade Phillips, who landed on his feet as Rams defensive coordinator, and the timing of McCoy's firing was also curious as he never had a chance to work with 2016 first-rounder Paxton Lynch.
Indeed, Elway left a mess of a quarterback and offensive line situation for Joseph, and now it appears the rookie head coach will become the fall guy for an organization that's just 14-17 since winning Super Bowl 50.