When Broncos running back Jamaal Charles coughed up the football on his third touch of the night in his return to Arrowhead Stadium, social media critics expected the former Chief would have the worst night of anyone dressed in orange and blue. By the time quarterback Trevor Siemian had thrown his second interception of the game, he had easily trumped Charles for that claim. By Siemian’s third interception (Denver’s fifth turnover of the game), head coach Vance Joseph had assumed the mantle.

It was a terrible night for Charles, whose fumble led to a Marcus Peters scoop-and-score and an early Chiefs lead. Even Charles’ 39 yards on eight carries, which put him over 10,000 yards from scrimmage for his career, were no real salve after giving up that opening score.

It was a worse night for Siemian, who completed just 4 of 15 passes in the first half and was intercepted twice. His passer rating at halftime was a measly 8.9. (158.3 is considered perfect.) He ended the game 19-for-36 with a touchdown and three interceptions. Siemian was sacked three times for 11 yards in the loss.

Beyond the box score, Siemian made multiple poor throws – under- and overthrowing receivers – and multiple poor decisions that led to the lopsided outcome. (Denver lost 29-19, but trailed 20-3 early in the second half.) He had thrown an interception before he had completed a pass. His second interception came when he tried to float a ball deep to Jordan Taylor when it appeared he could have run for a first down, instead (and on third down, no less). Siemian’s performance solicited numerous calls for him to be benched at halftime.

The only person who bore more criticism than Siemian was Joseph, who stuck with the quarterback despite Siemian’s ineffectiveness. Joseph also made several other questionable calls that had just as many folks calling for his job, or at least questioning his competence as a head coach, as there were wanting to see Siemian benched.

After Isaiah McKenzie fumbled a punt that cost Denver its first offensive possession of the second half (his fourth fumble of the year), Joseph trotted the rookie out again on the next punt play. That caught the ire of many observers, as did Joseph’s decision to go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter.

With just over 10:00 to play and the Broncos trailing by 10 with the ball at their own 48. Denver did not convert the play and Kansas City converted another field goal (one of four in the half) to extend their lead.

It was an avalanche of frustration from onlookers that will surely have Broncos Country talking deep into next week about the future at quarterback and the future of their first-year head coach.

Here’s how the whole situation played out on social media, with tweets from around the Denver sports scene weighing in…

https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/925163122268213249

https://twitter.com/TJCarpenterShow/status/925163146909835266

https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/925170990946144256

https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/925183022747586560