Vic Fangio summed up the Broncos’ 2020-21 season Monday with an eight-word quote.

“A loss is a loss and they suck,” Fangio said, reflecting on the Broncos’ 10 losses this season.

With Sunday’s 19-16 loss to the Chargers, the Broncos will finish the season with at least 10 losses for the third time in the past four years (2017, 2018, 2020). From 1968 to 2016, the Broncos had only suffered 10 or more losses three times (1990, 1999, 2010). 

For Fangio, who is in his second season as coach, 2020 has thrown him all sorts of curveballs, from 35 players going on injured reserve to playing a game without a quarterback. Still, Fangio has never been one to offer excuses and when asked which loss this season has been the toughest, his answer was simple and to the point. 

“All of them,” said Fangio, who is 12-19 as a head coach. “They’re all equally tough.”

He said the “indication all along” from upper management has been that he’ll return next season, despite a second-straight losing season. This lines up with what was expected, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that the Broncos intend to bring Fangio back for a third season. 

But after that, there are no guarantees. The Broncos will need to show some serious improvement and probably a playoff berth if Fangio is to return in 2022. And Fangio knows there are some major steps that need to be taken for that to happen. 

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“We just have to make a lot of improvements, obviously,” Fangio said. “We have to get healthy; we have to improve as players and coaches — we’re all in this together. I say many times that players and coaches are teammates, and we have to improve in those areas. We have to make the plays when they’re there to be made. We have to call good plays. We have to execute better, and obviously getting guys back healthy will play a big part in that, we hope.”

The Broncos have been a victim of the injury bug this season, losing two of the team’s best players before the season even started in outside linebacker Von Miller and wide receiver Courtland Sutton. 

But the Broncos have seemingly had opportunities to win games this year, losing five of them by seven or fewer points, including games to the Titans, Steelers and Chiefs, teams that are all likely to make the playoffs this season. The Broncos had a chance to win all five of those games, but didn’t make what Fangio calls “winning plays.” 

“We have to be able to not give up the kickoff return to start the game, deep into our own end,” Fangio said. “We have to make our kicks, we have to catch the ball consistently, we have to throw it accurately and consistently, we have to tackle when our tackles are called upon. When the ball is on the ground, defensively, we have to find a way to come up with it. We have to get the ball out more defensively and create more takeaways — that’s been a big problem for us, and we have to do a good job of taking better care of the ball offensively and consistently in all parts of the field.”

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At the end of the day, Fangio’s right — players have to make plays happen when they present themselves. 

But what exactly can he do, as the coach, to help those “winning plays” happen more often? That’s a question Fangio will be pondering this offseason. 

“That’s a good question,” Fangio said. “We definitely will look hard and long at it. I just think you have to keep practicing, put the players in those situations and be able to convert them and make them when the opportunities come. Doing it in the game and doing it in practice is two different things. We have to be able to carry it from the practice field to the game field.”