DENVER — Just when you thought the 2020 Broncos season couldn’t get worse, along comes a day ending in “y.”

Without bad luck, the Broncos would have no luck at all.

Please stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Broncos have a promising young player who makes NFL Sundays worth watching around these hills … annnd he suffers a season-ending injury. Come on down, rookie tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. You’re the next Bronco going on Injured Reserve.

Vic Fangio’s way past the point of feeling sorry for himself. Monday as he revealed that Albert “O” is out for the year with an ACL tear, Fangio sounded more like a fly fisherman who snapped his rod, stuck a No. 2 streamer through an ear and dropped his truck keys in the South Platte.

Is it against COVID-19 protocols to give this man a hug?

“It’s hard to pinpoint any one or two things as to why it’s happened,” Fangio said with a sigh.

True. He would need 17 things. Seventeen Broncos have been placed on IR, and any day now Okwuegbunam will make it 18. Remember back when “18” and “Broncos” was a fun combo?

This run of injuries isn’t fun. It’s a lesson in Murphy’s Law.

Hate to be the bearer of (more) bad news, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Even diehard Broncos fans should buckle up for a bumpy finish to 2020. The second half of the schedule shows six teams with winning records, only two with losing records. Their combined record is 41-26. They are Super Bowl contenders (Bills, Chiefs, Saints) and playoff hopefuls (Dolphins, Raiders). Even the stinky opponents will be playing at home (Panthers, Chargers). Like I was saying, it could get ugly.

The Broncos are 3-5. They have yet to play a game as the betting favorite. Eight games, eight ‘dogs. And as far as I can tell, the Broncos won’t be a betting favorite the rest of the season.

Playing the underdog card has never been this easy, not to mention this honest.

Fangio has taken the only plausible approach, the no-excuses approach: “A good carpenter doesn’t blame his tools. He’s just got to find a way to get the job done. That’s my mindset.”

The Broncos are paying so much for players who aren’t working, it’s like a government task force. Their IR adds up to $43.3 million. That’s the most expensive IR in the NFL. Find a team with a bad injury situation, and you’ll find a bad team: Eight of the 10 teams with the most cash on IR have losing records. Only the Cardinals (5-3) and Ravens (6-2) have overcome the bug.

The Broncos lost their best player on offense, Courtland Sutton, and their best player on defense, Von Miller. They’ve lost inspirational leaders, Mike Purcell, and spiritual go-getters, Jurell Casey. Sunday, they played the Falcons without their top two cornerbacks and every starter on the defensive line. They are coolers at the roulette wheel, league leaders in flat tires.

The Broncos have football issues. No doubt about it. But the connection between good health and good records has never been clearer than during the NFL’s coronavirus season. And I wonder if players on losing teams, college or pro, begin to check out and get lax on COVID-19 protocols. Something to watch, anyway. Oh, and about football and the coronavirus. It’s not the virus that’s dropping Broncos like flies.

“We have seen zero evidence of transmission player-to-player on the field, either during games or practices, which I think is an important and powerful statement,” Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills told NBC’s Peter King.

The Bad News Broncos get their bad news from Director of Sports Medicine Steve “Greek” Antonopulos and head athletic trainer Vince Garcia. Fangio should change their caller IDs to “IRS” and “Parking Enforcement.”

“I hear from (Greek) every morning. I either wake up to a call or a text from him as it relates to COVID,” said Fangio “Then Vince is the guy who brings me the news on the injuries. So, yeah. Those two guys haven’t been my best friends lately.”

Quick, where’s the last place the unluckiest dudes ever should visit for a weekend getaway?

Las Vegas.

Broncos at Raiders, Sunday.

Figures.