The Dolphins crowd at Hard Rock Stadium felt the euphoria of Sunday's blowout win over the Broncos, getting high on touchdowns quarter after quarter. Broncos offensive lineman Garett Bolles felt the complete opposite sensation: one of pure, unadulterated dejection.
While the 3-0 Dolphins are walking on clouds right now, Bolles is wading knee-deep in the fiery inferno that is the 2023 Denver Broncos. Sean Payton has not, in fact, turned this franchise around within the first few games, and after Week 3's humiliating loss to Miami, Broncos players may be losing faith in what they can accomplish this year.
Broncos veteran Garett Bolles, a first-round pick by Denver back in 2017, was interviewed after the game within the walls of what could only be described as a solemn and depressing locker room.
When asked about his emotions, Bolles described the 70-20 college football-esque loss as "S---t."
Bolles continued, "I'm tired of losing, man. I've been here for seven years and all I've done is lost."
Broncos lineman Garett Boles describes Week 3 with one word: 'S---t'
The Broncos put themselves on the wrong side of history after Week 3, becoming the first NFL team since 1966 to allow 70 points in a game. Denver had no answer for Dolphins stars Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, and De'Von Achane, and Miami was able to bulldoze its way down the field drive after drive to rack up points early. Denver never came close at making this a game, and it wasn't until the fourth quarter when Tua Tagovailoa, Hill, and other starters got taken out.
All things considered, Bolles' sentiments about the game feel on point, and one can't help but feel bad for him and the current offensive state of this Broncos squad. He joined Denver after the Manning era and after the Broncos won the Super Bowl in 2015; since then, the Broncos have struggled to hold their own in the AFC West, much less the league as a whole.
Since Bolles was drafted six years ago, the Broncos have gone through a merry-go-round of quarterbacks from Trevor Siemian to Case Keenum to Drew Lock to Russell Wilson. In Bolles' career in Denver, the team has never recorded a winning record, and the most games the Broncos have won in a single season is seven.
It's no wonder Bolles feels like he's been on the losing side of recent history.
Under Sean Payton, the Broncos were looking to bounce back after last season's bottom-of-the-division finish and hoping to maybe break their eight-season playoff drought. Well, Week 3 rather painfully stuck a pin in those dreams. As the Broncos keep searching for their first win of the 2023 season, Bolles and other vets will keep looking down at their shoes wishing for a miracle. Sean Payton and Russell Wilson are not it.
