Orange and Blue Forced to Wait in Line
While the Rockies hold our attention, the Broncos begin their first season of the post-Shanahan era.
It’s been a busy several weeks here in Colorado SportsLand. I was going to write about the Rockies, but my partner-in-crime, Ian, is doing so fantastically – check out the Tracy v. Torre post – it’s good stuff. Instead, I’ll do what I’ve been avoiding – write about the Broncos. I sat down to write before the Return of Cutler Game, and couldn’t come up with anything coherent. Same story after the game. Then after the 3rd string drubbing of the defending NFC champs… oy. I just don’t know what to say. For the first time I can remember, this season is a complete unknown, a likely mess, and only a couple injuries away from a complete and unmitigated disaster. You know things are getting hairy when one of your top-rated search terms is “Josh McDaniels is an idiot”. Seriously – thanks for that Google Analytics. You made me smile a bit today.
It is opening weekend for the NFL – you might have forgotten amidst the purple haze that has once again captured our fine city. Just like Shanahan in 07, McDaniels has the luxury of dealing with his crap while the city is busy with another team that is riding the wave of playoff contention. And as soon as baseball wraps up, the Nuggets are waiting in the wings to reprise their amazing run from last season. Don’t talk to me about the Avs. (unless you want to talk to me about where I’ll be sitting opening night for Joe’s retirement ceremony — I won’t give details, but if you guessed Section 144 Row 9, I wouldn’t deny it)
Back to the Broncos (see how easily it is to distract?) … Even during the “Bridge Years” (that would be the Wade Phillips era – Reeves to Shanahan), we had Elway. And you pretty much knew how the scheme would look. The team wouldn’t completely suck, it would always play its division rivals tough, and home field advantage was just that – an advantage. Now we’re facing a scenario we haven’t seen since the pre-Elway days – a team that stands a real chance of losing every time it takes the field. Now I’m not saying this is a 0-16 team– not by any stretch. Just that every victory they get, be it 1, 2, or more, will have to be hard-fought, regardless of opponent, regardless of location. Denver will not be the favored team very often. Be honest – no one is saying the same thing about the Steelers, the Patriots, the Eagles, the Giants. Even the once lowly Falcons are getting some cred right now.
So how do things look at Dove Valley, from where I stand? I stand in the same place most of you do – interested, but with no insider knowledge, only what the local media sees fit to feed me. I stand in a place where I want to be optimistic, but I’m cautiously pessimistic. And how things look is UNSETTLED. That’s the only way I can describe it. You have the new coach, who by all accounts is a brilliant football mind, but seems lost at times. He made some seriously gutsy moves, and now is staring down the throat of a city who’s team he just pulled the bottom jenga block from, and now it’s teetering left to right, and we’re all holding our breath waiting to see if it falls. The hoodie, the cone-of-silence act, those have to go. I’m ready to accept him as coach, he’ll be here a while, but the half-assed Belichick impersonation has got to go. But Josh has one thing on his side right now – ok, two things: 1. Pat Bowlen. As long as Pat likes you, you’re in. 2. the regular season. As of Sunday, the games start to count, and each tick in the W column cements Josh’s place as coach, while each tick in the L column is the gentle breeze blowing on the jenga tower… enough of those, and down it goes and Josh goes with it.
But overall, it just feels like an organization that was rocked much harder by the loss of Shanahan, then the loss of Cutler, than it wants to admit. They might say everything is fine, this is just what they had in mind, but this whole organization is still struggling to find its identity again. There are no more ties to the old days, save Steve Antonopolous, who Lord willing will be taping the ankles of Broncos players until the day he dies. This team needs to find out who they are, and only the regular season will do that. Are they going to the playoffs? Don’t count on it. But I’m not ready to predict a 2-14 debacle just yet… I think this team has what it takes to win just enough games to keep Josh in town (probably 5), and then you can count 2010 as the real test. Josh might be coach, but he ain’t coach for life just yet.
Finally, there was word from Adam Schefter that the Broncos were in talks with Marshall on a new deal. That’s surprising, and none of the Denver outlets seemed to want to pick up the report, which makes me wonder. Schefter usually has his ducks in a row… but I wonder how solid this is. This gives us hope that maybe Brandon will play his brains out this year, then we can deal with all this at the end of the season. That being said… don’t be surprised if Brandon gets shipped off in a flat-rate postal box for a couple groundskeepers and a ticketing sales rep to be named later.
And of course – through it all, I will be there, every Sunday, with my orange Elway jersey (#7 is MY quarterback!) cheering and cursing to the bitter end.
You’re absolutely right; this team does miss Shanny much more than it misses Cutler. Jay was never much of a leader. And as much as you can bash Shanny for not being a good disciplinarian who demanded physicality and 110% from every player that took the field, that was never his M.O. Players went out and played for Mike because they respected him, and maybe the changing face of the NFL player was more responsible for the Broncos’ fall from grace than anything else.
I don’t know that this team has found an identity yet, but I will say that the defense is closer than it was under Shanahan in recent years to being a fully functioning unit capable of challenging any opponent. Should Denver ever make the playoffs again, that will be the jumping off point for any kind of success. Lord knows it’s not going to be our offense any time soon… or EVER with Kyle Orton under center. Tyler Brandstater for QB!