Case Keenum’s may soon be gnawing on a bar of soap, but he doesn’t seem to care.
Keenum is far more concerned about the outcome to a game that saw him having a chance to emerge with a victory that would have kept his team viable for a playoff berth. But a last-minute drive for a potential game-winning touchdown didn’t pan out.
“That’s what I dream about, that’s what I want,” Keenum told reporters after the 17-16 loss to the Browns. “I want the ball in my hands with a chance to go win the game. And to get that close, and to not, it pisses me off. I know my mom is going to be mad for using that word, but it hurts.”
The Broncos luckily got the ball back after a questionable decision to settle for three from inside the 10 with inside of five minutes on the clock, after Browns interim coach Gregg Williams called a timeout just as the Broncos were jumping into the neutral zone on fourth and one from their own 10, and after the Browns were stuffed for a loss when the play finally happened.
“I can’t complain because I had the ball in my hands with a chance to win the game,” Keenum said of the sequence of decisions that likely sealed the team’s playoff fate. “It’s all I can ask for.”
While Keenum won’t complain about the decision to settle for three while down by four, he will complain about his own performance.
“A lot of anger at myself,” Keenum said. “There were some plays I could make that didn’t and then some plays that I want back today, but, yeah, a lot of anger.”
Anger may not be the emotion that Broncos fans are feeling. Resigned to another non-playoff season after a 3-6 start, a trio of wins created a flicker of hope, but two consecutive losses have put the Broncos right back where we thought they would be: On the outside, looking in.
Which is still better than sitting in the bathroom with a bar of soap in the mouth.
