DENVER _ First, they dealt with the weather. Now, it's the whether.
The spiraling Denver Broncos, who suffered a 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in bitter-cold conditions Sunday, now have to decide whether they keep Vance Joseph as coach.
A Thursday night game at Arizona figures to be a critical factor in that decision for a team that has lost four in a row and just made history the wrong way. The Broncos are the first NFL team torched by 200-yard rushers in consecutive weeks, yielding a career-high 208 to Todd Gurley on Sunday.
John Elway, Denver's president and general manager, on Monday said the defense has gotten "very soft" and implored the Broncos to approach Thursday's game like "we're fighting for our lives."
Joseph, asked by reporters if he took that to mean he's fighting for his job, said, "Absolutely."
"And that's every coach in this league every week," he continued. "If you don't feel that way, you're missing something. If we were 5-1, I would feel that way. That doesn't motivate me. I'm already motivated to win games and to fix our football team."
In one-plus seasons under Joseph, the Broncos are 1-9 on the road, losing those nine games by an average of 16.6 points. The Cardinals are 1-4.
Joseph will find a sympathetic soul in Arizona, albeit one who doesn't want him to win. Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was canned from that same position by the Broncos last year.
