Grading The Week: If Vic Fangio could embarrass Patrick Mahomes on NFL’s big stage, then Broncos, Sean Payton can too

Oh, we wobbled, sure. But we never lost faith, Uncle Vic. The film guys up in the Grading The Week cubicles knew your day would come against Patrick Mahomes. We knew it was only a matter of time.

Granted, we didn’t think it could come three years and two franchises after the Broncos kicked you to the curb. But hey.

A toast to Vic Fangio, for finally landing that Super Bowl ring at age 66. For bringing a parade back to his home state. But mostly for giving Broncos Country hope. For dragging Mahomes, the Tom Brady of his generation, down from the NFL’s Mount Olympus and into his midnight green wood-chipper.

When the Chiefs lose, the Front Range wins. When the Chiefs faceplant in front of Kendrick Lamar, Serena Williams and Mustard on the NFL’s biggest stage, the Front Range stands a whole heck of a lot taller. And, more importantly, the gap between Kansas City and its AFC West brethren who’ve grown tired of looking up at Taylor Swift gets a little smaller.

Fangio showing cracks in Chiefs Dynasty — B

The Broncos don’t have a Jalen Carter, although Zach Allen was darn close at times. They don’t have a Cooper DeJean, but Riley Moss, DeJean’s old Iowa teammate, was tougher than a slice of three-day-old Casey’s Pizza.

But what encouraged Team GTW the most about the Chiefs’ massive “L” in Super Bowl LIX was how many Eagles-ish tendencies we can also find in what Sean Payton’s baked into the current Broncos.

Mobile, smart, tough QB? Check.

Grinders on the offensive line? Check.

Relentless on the defensive line? Check.

Shutdown dudes along the boundary? Check.

The Eagles do it better right now, but the Broncos can do it, too. Before Super Bowl Sunday, we hadn’t seen Mahomes looking that helpless and bored on the sidelines since Denver’s final, fateful offensive drive at Arrowhead back on Nov. 10. The Broncos did almost everything right save for that field-goal try at the end. Ninety-nine times out of 100, that’s a statement win for Denver, exorcising a decade of demons in the process.

We already know the Broncos can win at Kansas City. We think that Bo Nix will — sooner rather than later. And we know that Nix got closer in front of the Sea of Red than Fangio ever did as Broncos coach from 2019-2021. Based on his rookie year alone, Nix already looks better than Drew Lock, Teddy Bridgewater or Joe Flacco ever did in orange and blue.

Uncle Vic is one of the better coordinators of his generation. As a head coach? He wasn’t Pete Carroll. Heck, he wasn’t even Wade Phillips. He was better off without the Broncos. And if Sunday was any harbinger for the next five seasons in the AFC, the Broncos should be better off without him, too.

Jamal Murray’s rage — A-minus

Delano Banton: Nuggets MVP? We kid, we kid. But the GTW wise apples are also in favor of anything that lights that kind of fire under Jamal Murray. The Blue Arrow’s 55 points this past Wednesday against the Blazers provided a glorious flashback to Murray’s 2020 and 2023 postseason forms. If all it took for Angry Jamal to turn into Bubble Jamal was a soft ejection this past Monday against the Blazers, then by all means, Western Conference — make him angry. Because y’all won’t like him when he’s angry.