I keep it Real for the people who need it, and the truth is that Denver needs their coaches like no other team on the planet. They thrive on their desire to represent their coaches, and their coaches have instilled a never say die mindset that probably comes from the front office too.
I thank Gary Kubiak for what he did for Denver, and I'm hopeful that he can do the impossible and find a way to do it again.
But Gary, is it not worth dying for.
My concern for Kub's has everything to do with my admiration for the undeniable spirit that shows up in every game we play. Be it good, bad or ugly, the Broncos fight tooth and nail, and they've done it from the arrival of Wade Phillips and Kubiak. The spirit of our coaches showed up in the four wins and the two losses we've endured, fighting tooth and nail in them all. If we are honest about this year and last, this is the same team that won the Superbowl. The defense is good, not perfect, yet littered with playmakers and instilled with that spirit.
It would be nice to assume that Phillips and the defense are a unique and different aspect of this team, however, the defense knows better than anyone what it will take to remain on TOP.
TOP (Time Of Possession)
TOP is the key. Without keeping the offense on the field, and the defense fresh, our defense is as compromised as any defense would be. Why we consistently give up points early in games is not even much of a mystery in that teams know what they are going to get from Denver (consistent man defense), and know they better get while the getting is good against this team. Points come early but not often late and rarely without a TO (turnover) from our offense to help the other side.
Gary is the spirit, and Gary is not a quitter, and Gary had a week and a game at home to watch his team stink up the field realizing how predictable his offense has become, and how much the team looked eerily similar the same team that Kubiak is the regular play caller for, even when he wasn't
I don't expect Gary to quit now because quitting is not in his DNA. Stories say Gary returned to practice after his time off as if nothing had ever happened. No explanation, no time to waste talking about it. Injuries and setbacks are part of the journey and Gary is nothing if not a great representation of the boss who hired him.
In reality. Joe Decamillis- the interim coach who usually fires up the special teams- was a better choice than Wade Phillips who probably doesn't want the head job. Neither did Gary.
Gary did his best to turn down this job, but John Elway wouldn't let him. Elway was backed into a corner with the firing of John Fox because he hadn't done his due diligence in making sure Fox's replacement was already interested. Winning the championship wasn't a contradiction to the talent Elway had compiled to get it done, but the manner in which we did it was a contradiction to everything you tend to expect in championship teams.
I'm not saying that no other team has won the championship in such a ragtag fashion, I'm saying we criticized those teams for doing it that way and still do. If we are planning to do it that way again, we are certainly open to whatever critique comes along the way.
Gary.....coach Kubiak, is a fabulous coach who has shown the humility to fix his team where it is flawed, but now it's time that he does the same to himself. Kubiak is a predictable play caller who really shouldn't be doing the job anymore because it is much too stressful and absent accountability when done by the boss.
I personally do not want Gary Kubiak to call another play, though he can advise and make final decisions on things like 4th downs or 2 point conversions. I'm not certain his buddy Rick Dennison is the right guy for the job, but I'm willing to give him the rest of the season to figure it out since that is the exact amount of time Gary should remain at the helm.
I'm not even certain I am comfortable with the notion of him staying that long, but I know that Kub's is not a quitter and no one, probably not even his wife, will get him to quit on his team. He was inspired by the fight he saw in his wounded quarterback and in his team because it was the fight he put in them. The willingness of this team to fight and the ability to fight are not questions. What was a question was how hard we'd be asked to fight in every game in this season.
Now we are learning that we'll be asked to fight like the defending champion. Until further notice, ours is a status that ensures the very best from each opponent and demands something similar from the Broncos in response. No way we could expect to be perfect when we weren't perfect last year against less angrily prepared competition and with more experienced quarterbacks on our team to get it done.
Asking Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch or any rookie quarterback to repeat the feat has always been a lot to ask. Asking Gary Kubiak to coach this team to the same success he did last year is sort of a similarly impossible request. It will take time, and practice, and even more ups and downs to repeat as champions. And from the looks of things, it could look just like before.
That being said, win or lose, Gary needs to hang it up at the end of the year. He can stay on as offensive coordinator because that was the job he wanted to keep when he told Elway no the first time. When you are accountable to a boss, you push yourself to please yourself and your boss. The only boss Gary is trying to please these days is himself, and some of that involves proving his decision to go with Siemian, Lynch, and no other quarterback, to be something more than risky football.
Gary has made this bed and must lie in it so that he doesn't ever have to wonder, "what if?"- and then Gary needs to do the right thing for himself and his family and step down from head coaching. Any Denver Broncos fan who is still more interested in winning another title than they are with not having a coach pass away while chasing that title has a dark spirit.
I've enjoyed and appreciated Kub's for all that he has done to restore this team to the realm of greatness, but now I'm not having fun anymore. I'm worried that he is too fired up and too intense to not let this job get to him. I'm also worried that Kubiak realizes just how validated this team and its fans will be from winning another title and proving last year to be more than luck, but he needs to forget all of that.
If the football gods have it as our fate to get back to this years Superbowl, I'm fairly certain that the players will "Win one for Gary" and avenge our first Superbowl loss against the Cowboys when they do it (my prediction). But will we be tempting fate asking that of Gary? Will he?
I can find a way to excuse the bad behavior of players like Aqib Talib because currently ,he is my playmaking problem. I can even look past the stale play calling because play-calling success and playmakers have a twisted relationship that comes and goes at times. What I can not excuse will be myself or Broncos country if for some reason Gary doesn't make it through all of this intact.
Stay healthy and stay alive Coach Kubiak. We aren't the Cowboys or the Raiders. We've won a title during the internet era, and have memes to prove it.
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