Keeler: Is Broncos GM George Paton just John Elway 2.0? Quarterback’s still problematic. So’s depth. The secondary. And the offensive line.

If Broncos fans think the bottom of the AFC West standings is depressing, look at everybody at the top for a second. Check out the one common element.

Buffalo? Franchise quarterback. Baltimore? Franchise quarterback. Cincy-freaking-nati? Franchise quarterback. Chargers? Raiders? Franchise quarterback. Franchise quarterback.

Dallas? Green Bay? Tampa? Arizona? Los Angeles Rams? Quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. Not a Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson in the bunch. Or a Sam Bradford.

Everybody else? Pretending. Including everybody at UCHealth Training Center.

For Broncos general manager George Paton, the honeymoon’s over. Done. Finito. At 3-3 after a 3-0 start, the ills that plague the Broncos roster aren’t all that different from the ones we were moaning about last Halloween.

It all feels like John Elway 2.0, doesn’t it? Subpar offensive line play. Brain cramps in the secondary. A head coach who throws silly flags and an offensive coordinator who whips out pencils. A quarterback who can’t play from behind.

Yeah, but you said Teddy Bridgewater was the …

Hang on, hang on. I said Bridgewater is the best, most capable option if a.) your alternative is Drew Lock; and b.) you’ve got a defense that can win the games he can’t.

Now that Steady Teddy doesn’t have b.), Fangio’s continued employment is even more of a slap in the face to Broncos Country.

Paton doled out a whopping $40.3 million this season to his secondary, according to Spotrac.com. Given a choice, would you rather have Justin Fields or Mac Jones learning the NFL ropes at Dove Valley right now? Or Patrick Surtain II running around in Orange and Blue, watching helplessly as opposing quarterbacks keep torching his teammates?

But the injuries …

But nothing. The Broncos lost with Josey Jewell. They’re losing without him. Uncle Vic is 3-0 against the NFL’s junior varsity. He’s 0-3 against teams with a pulse. A pulse and a quarterback.

But Ben Roethlisberger …

Threw for 253 yards and two scores. In the face of Fangio’s so-called strength. Given $40.3 million on the Broncos secondary, you hope Paton keeps his receipts.

Since 2019, the only constants on Bryant Street have been Uncle Vic and a losing streak that sinks the season before Election Day. This one came late, but it’s here. A team full of veterans on one-year contracts keeps playing, and coaching, as if it wants this era over with. Right along with the rest of us.

Cripes, are Broncos fans sick of watching this team get dunked on at Mile High. Did you see Aaron Rodgers strutting around Soldier Field this past Sunday? Did you hear what he told the Windy City lady who’d allegedly flipped him the double bird?

The closest we’ve come to that here was Lock dancing in the face of the Chargers last year.

We keep saying it, and Broncos general managers keep ignoring it: The NFL is closer than ever to a Madden video game. More space for receivers to work. Enforced freedoms and protections for quarterbacks. Pass and move, pass and move.

It doesn’t matter how many injuries you have at inside linebacker if you’ve got a gun-slinger who can put the fear of Yahweh into the opposition’s entire defensive staff. If you’ve got a signal-caller who can do what the Raiders’ Derek Carr did at the end of the second quarter, marching Vegas 82 yards in 31 seconds for a touchdown, and a double-digit lead, that essentially iced the tilt at halftime.

The modern game is about the 2-minute drill. Who can run it. Who can’t. Who can make magic out of nothing. Who can crush souls and break wills with three or four flicks of the wrist.

Bridgewater doesn’t break wills so much as bend them and hope. Since Week 1 of the 2020 season, he’s completed 67 of 113 throws within the last two minutes of a half, good for a 59.2% clip, with seven touchdowns and five picks. Lock, for all the Twitter love, has been a coin flip in those same situations: 47 for 94 (50%), three touchdowns, five picks.

Compare that with the NFL teams in the penthouse, and the depression starts to set in again.

The Chargers’ Justin Herbert over the last two seasons has completed 77 of 115 throws within the final two minutes of a half, a 66.9% pace, with six touchdowns and two picks. Arizona’s Kyler Murray isn’t far behind: 59 of 91 passes (64.8%), three scores, no interceptions. Rodgers: 53 for 82 (64.6%), 10 touchdowns, no picks.

Until Paton can do what Elway hasn’t since 2016, and find a soul-crusher of his own, nothing changes but the names. Nothing substantial, at any rate.

To put it another way: The Raiders came to Mile High without a coach but with a healthy Carr leading the charge. The Seahawks went to Pittsburgh without a healthy Russell Wilson but with Pete Carroll raring to go. Guess which team won?