Broncos find their scapegoat, fire offensive coordinator Mike McCoy

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

Late last week, the Denver Broncos’ issues were on the players for being soft, general manager John Elway said. On Monday, it apparently became offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s fault.

McCoy was fired by the Broncos a day after they fell to 3-7 with a home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave was promoted to replace McCoy.

The Broncos are one of the more disappointing teams in the NFL, and a large part of it has been offensive struggles. Quarterback Trevor Siemian struggled badly and was benched. Brock Osweiler replaced him and hasn’t been better. Second-year quarterback Paxton Lynch hasn’t been healthy enough to play.

The Broncos were 18th in the NFL in yards per game and 24th in points scored at 18.3 points per game. Denver started the season well, including a 42-point game in a Week 2 win over the Cowboys, but had scored only 14.6 points per game since then. The offense had fallen under intense scrutiny in Denver, which was the reason Siemian was benched.

McCoy was brought in this offseason by first-year head coach Vance Joseph after McCoy was fired as the San Diego Chargers’ head coach. He had been the Broncos’ offensive coordinator in the past and was expected to rejuvenate an offense that wasn’t great last season. Instead the offense got worse, and with the Broncos’ season getting worse by the moment, he was made the scapegoat for their troubles.

The Denver Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy after a 3-7 start. (AP)
The Denver Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy after a 3-7 start. (AP)

– – – – – – –

Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!