Finishing Your Career Like John Elway Is Beyond Dreaming

To the credit of Brock Osweiler, the young man has waited a long time to show us the skills that he brings to the table as a quarterback, but in reality this team could just as easily win the Superbowl with Trent Dilfer if it had to.

That is the name that comes to mind whenever you are talking about the "game manager" tag that usually only becomes a key aspect of the conversation when you have the kind of defense to make it part of the conversation.

Like Baltimore did back then, Denver has that defense, and no matter how great the shadow cast by the name Peyton Manning (his game these days is hardly shadow worthy), the biggest shadow of them all is coming from the Denver Broncos defense.

In many ways, it was the shadow of the defensive excellence that has made Peyton's mediocre play so very intolerable.  Now, it will be the thing that demands Osweiler repeat his no turnover Chicago Bears performance against every other team on the schedule and in the playoffs if he hopes to join Trent Dilfer on the list of  game managing, Superbowl champions.

Running the ball is not always about the yards.

To the back handed credit of Brock "The Unknown" Osweiler -and my repeated criticism of Peyton "The Audible King" Manning- sometimes just running the play that the coach called is the best play.

For over a decade now, coaches on teams with experienced quarterbacks have had to decide how much "Peyton Manning" freedom they would give their quarterback to audible in and out of plays as they see fit.  Manning was the blueprint, and in essence, coaches have had to decide whether the offensive coordinator or the quarterback would establish the offensive identity.
                            
In Denver, WE HAVE PEYTON MANNING and the limits on how much Manning gets to effect the play calling began.........never.  Well, it actually did start a little bit last year when our previous Offensive Coordinator (Adam Gase) would yell at Manning for changing out of run plays EVERY time a defense gave a fake look.
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What's the biggest difference between a Denver Broncos team with Peyton Manning versus one without him?  PLAY CALLING
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This year, Kubiak has played the tug-o-war of play calling with Peyton like John Fox and Adam Gase did because Kubiak is the head coach and the play caller too.  When Manning didn't stop turning the ball over, and just so happened to have enough of an injury to use as his excuse, Kubiak finally benched Manning and took 100% control over play calling.

In other words, the identity and experience of Kubiak as a play calling head coach has never really been seen by this team or this community until the Chicago Bears game.  Actually, even Kubiak was stuck in a post Manning fog until late in the second half when he finally started running the football and playing to the strength of the team- the defense.

He was adamant about that point in his post game speech, and he has actually claimed the necessity of it (ball control and defense) even when he didn't insure the consistency of it under Manning.

This team has had a defense and a running game for four years that deserved an 80% to 20% run to pass balance that Manning just do well.  The biggest difference between our defense in four years is an older Chris Harris Jr. and Aquib Talib versus Dominique Rodgers Cromardie who gave Denver easily as much as Talib has- minus the eye poking.

By maintaining an 80-20 balance from here until the final game, Denver should be the last team standing.  Sure, Kubiak could have vicarious dreans for Brock, the backup who could actually replace the legend and become one himself.  Many times in the past, Kubiak himself was cast in the role of replacement to John Elway during injury, creating similar controversy when Elway wasn't performing up to par. That should be the least of his concerns this time around. (unconfirmed reports from 104.3 The Fan radio show say Elway is actually more in favor of Osweiler than is Kubiak)

Whether Osweiler plays well in a few games and not so well in others, creating a way for Manning's smooth return, or if Osweiler lights up the sky and blocks Manning from an easy return to action, THIS TEAM MUST RUN THE BALL.....PERIOD.

Personally, I would prefer a healthy Manning with 20 years of experience and knowledge to finish out our 80-20 run to victory so long as the men in the locker room agree with me.  Running the ball more consistently would not only make Manning appear to be a better quarterback, it will make him a better quarterback.

If the Denver Broncos are to win in the end, whoever hands the ball off will still only be credited for being the game manager of an all-time great defense.  That won't be great for the Manning legacy, but it will beat the heck out of not winning at all or winning with Osweiler handing it off 80% of the time instead.

Trying to finish your career like Elway did is a fairy tale, and fairy tales only happen once.

What's Wrong With Peyton Manning? Who Still Cares?

Back in those 'so called' good ole days, when Peyton Manning was lighting up the stat sheets and keeping all of you part time Denver Bronco fans- full time Fantasy Football fanatic- happy and healthy in your league standings, the criticism against Manning was minimal at best.

In fact, I often felt kind of lonely and sort of mean writing posts that declared to hell with Peyton Manning and all of his fancy smancy trick offensive calls.  Sure, it was going to put the defense on the back of their heels, for a little while.  If coached by Bill Belicheck, Manning's mystical offense loses its power and control, looking like the dead run and shoot style from the now defunct USFL.

Yeah, Manning looks like some hot scheme gone cold just like the run and shoot.  He can still exploit the less experienced NFL secondary players, but even they have the film from that Superbowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, who have functionally written the doctrine on defeating Manning.

Screw you too Brew.

If you chart it, we have basically seen some version of that approach every since that fateful game.  Win or lose, its the better way to go with Manning and the geriatric scoring bares that out.

Was that a dig at Manning's advanced age as an NFL quarterback?

Screw you Peyton Manning.

No, no!  This time its a good screw you Manning versus last years cursing of all that "Omaha, Omaha" crap that hasn't kept Peyton from being one of the NFL's greatest turnover artists and not Manning the Magician that he still thinks he is.

This time I say screw Manning because we truly don't need him to win anymore, giving him the potential to be the most respected game manager in the NFL; which is also an ultimate disrespect to all-time great passers.

Game managers are not respected in a world that finds no fantasy football value in such a thing.  Those of us who recognize the slippery slope of competitive addiction that lies in fantasy football or any one of those Facebook games, can still watch NFL football and our beloved Broncos for the value of the experience.

High scoring starts of previous seasons, that ended with stress and concern about how to close out a tight battle with a worn down defense that has played too many minutes because we show no commitment to run, kinda sucked for me.  Offensive production that amounts to points on the board may seem valuable no matter how you get them, but all points are not created equal.

Time of possession is a point of another sort in the game of football, and tilting the field for a rested defense is not only similar to scoring, that is virtually an Aquib Talib interception away from 6 points in this era of Bronco football.

If Peyton Manning- who used to humbly step to the podium and say he didn't really care how the team accomplished a win back when he was usually the reason for the win- actually doesn't really care how the team wins, it is now time to put up or shut up and follow the diagram for success no matter where it seems to be taking this team.

The last guy to get us over the top (Terrell Davis not John Elway), seems to think the same kind of stuff that I feel regarding what we are seeing out on the field.

According to Davis, "I see things a little different than some. I see a team that can get in an ugly brawl and win".

Why does it matter that Terrell agrees with me?  It doesn't.  It only matters that he is agreeing with me while using those recognizable terms that only come to bare in the championship moments of sports.

Inevitably, every sporting event- that doesn't involve the massacre of one team over another- gets compared to THE ultimate sporting event, the one in which your arse is truly on the line.

Boxing comparisons are supremely cliche but represent the only vernacular we have when sports ascend into the realm of war.  MMA doesn't quite translate the same and Bruce Lee is that hero we don't even dream of being like, so we dare not compare his one finger punch to anything that happens on a field or court. But, boxing?  Everyone can relate to a good fist fight and might have even dreamed of what it feels like to win one.

Superbowl legend from the Dallas Cowboys Michael Irving, stated it in an interesting way.  He said (I will paraphrase) if you want to hurt a team you attack them at their weakness.  If you want to utterly destroy them you attack them at their strength.

No matter what teams are doing to take attack the strength of Manning's offensive exploits when firing on all cylinders, nothing they do to Manning can disrupt the undisputed strength of this team- its defense.

I called this defense special even before Manning started playing poorly enough to bare that witness as well.  Only real, Orange Crush-like Bronco fans who actually care about defense, recognized the constant call to action that the defense had to answer in previous seasons, carrying Manning through what has become increasing moments of predictability.

Manning will never be the best player on this team for as long as he remains on this team.  Manning is still in the top ten list of best players on the Denver Broncos team, and Brock Osweiler is not even in the top 20 or 25 considering players who recently stepped up and impressed in the absence of injured starters.

If all you really have left in Peyton Manning is someone who can be the consummate game manager for a team that probably needs one more than any team has needed one in recent years, then this Denver Bronco team just found its QB for this year and the next.

What's Different With Denver's Defense?

Manning can reduce the mental error and turnovers, and needs to do it for the sake of his career and legacy.  How he closes the book on his career is soon to be determined.  Will he get a title and ride out like Elway did?  Can this team actually get better with rookie Shane Ray or old man Demarcus Ware out of the lineup?

Speaking of what do you see, despite injuries of their own, this Bronco fan sees a team that has played well on defense for the past two seasons culminating in this breakout year in which our number one acquisition in the off-season was not any one player, but one very special coach.

Wade Phillips is the only real difference between the defense we now laud and the under schemed, over utilized defense who are essentially the exact same players as before. Between Phillips and a stellar special teams unit, the Broncos are as good as every other undefeated team out there, who all have some areas of needed improvement despite their spotless records.  Fix our capable but sputtering offense and the Broncos would clearly be the best team in a league unsure who the best team actually is.

When things get tight, hold strong Bronco Fans.

This defense and its new coordinator deserve exactly what they are getting right now- the culmination of several years of good work gone mostly unnoticed. They are a marriage made in football heaven, and the reason why I would take these Broncos, including our more than capable QB Peyton Manning, into battle against any team with the absolute confidence that we can win.

None of my old screw you Manning posts had any confidence that we could actually win without Manning performing at least marginally well. Now I really really mean it.

Broncos Building A Championship Or Bust Foundation

To run or not to run.

That is the question that has betwixt'ed the Broncos for the past few season, maybe for as long as Peyton has been at the helm.

Years of Manning's marvels have littered the league and the record books with evidence of a quarterback who knows how to unravel a defense,  and an equal amount of evidence of how he did it as well.  When the method didn't change, the evidence of how began to mount in favor of the defense; nothing more telling and tolling than the empty backfield and the declaration of hope that it gave hopeless defenses who used to face off against Manning without a clue of what he'd do next.

Nobody conquered Manning.  They all survived and  a few overcame him in the end.  An army can win battle after battle, but will only be remembered when they storm the hill and overtake the castle.  Those great teams from Minnesota and Buffalo that nearly won four titles, but failed on them all, are historical blurs for a select few fans who lived to watch it happen. For a few years after they finished, we actually showed a great deal of respect to Minnesota's QB, Fran Tarkenton or Buffalo's Jim Kelly.

Modern fans don't get reminded at all about teams and players that did a lot of good stuff, but couldn't get it done.

Dan Marino could be in the GOAT (greatest of all time) debate.  But he didn't win.  As a result, only those who watch him on his Sunday football show even know his name anymore.  And none of them put him into the GOAT argument like we did right after he finished playing.  If you are too young, Dan Marino may as well be Dan Fouts for all the aerial success that each had that never amounted to Superbowl victories.

Currently, my 3-0 Broncos are stuck in the middle of an approach that calls for running even when it doesn't result in large production.  It is hard to argue with the record, yet easy to question the run game results, assuming of course you are the naturally paranoid type of person who needs to question such things of an undefeated team.

I could address the question of the run game by reminding Denver's critics of the defensive stalwarts that opposed us to open the season. Baltimore, Kansas City and Detroit- teams with well developed defensive identities of their own-  are teams that also like to run the ball and play good defense themselves.   Yet, that would sound like an excuse since way too many of us have insisted that running is the only way to really win in the end.

We and thee (Broncos), are equally aware of the necessity of running the ball, which is why this year appears to a be run game that isn't working instead of one that got abandoned altogether long before games end as was the case many nights under John Fox.

Save for the close out, 10 minute possession in the Baltimore game that was rich with running, the results in the run game have appeared to be less than stellar.  But, if you factor in the time of possession victories that have insured a fresh defense; one that is currently number two in total takeaways on a team that is leading the NFL in turnover differential, then the scenario appears more like a star rising to meet its stellar stature.

These Broncos are bullies by intention.  It may not appear that way with our 55 yards per game run average, but they've destroyed opposing run games and created key turnovers whenever opposing run games have titled the field against us (11 turnovers, 10 takeaways through 3 games).

Manning is taking a few too many hits and had a few too many turnovers himself while slow footing it out from under center, so Coach Gary Kubiak has been forced to compromise his run dreams by adding way too many pistol sets (QB in the shotgun with running backs behind the QB) in an attempt to keep opposing defenses somewhat honest.

But that also places our running backs an additional few yards behind the line of scrimmage versus a normal "underneath the center" run attack. creating a stronger necessity for a crafty and capable running back to cause misses and make up the lag. Until the running backs improve their pass blocking, the whole plan will have to adjust a bit explaining an offense that is sputtering beyond the run game.

CJ Anderson is nursing injuries from that first game beating he took, and Juwan Thompson just joined him on the beaten and battered list, but Ronnie Hilman is still fresher, running for his future, and seems to create those necessary misses that has kept opposing defenses honest.  Even with dinged up backs and marginal production, there has been no disrespect or disregard for Denver's run game.

In fact, the opposite is true in that teams have committed mightily to stop our run, opening up Denver's pass game to just enough breathing room to win games for us.  From my point of view, the passing game is much more shaky when you consider the easy connections we nearly made and the impressive catches we've had to make to fill the void and save games.

But even that is some nit picky, bull crap paranoia.

Yo Bronco fans!  Chill out and stop
playing fantasy football with your
home team players.

For me, the signs are so clear that I've lost my room to criticize, and thus my reason to write a bunch of paranoid postings like we pundits have correctly crafted to condemn the home team for 3 years straight.  Sure, they could get better in areas, but the last three Peyton Manning seasons have placed a huge premium on looking good over being good when being good matters most, in the playoffs.

This team appears to have come up short if you consider the mere presence of Manning as a reason why we should have won at least one of the last three Superbowls.  The true narrative is that we've only played for one of three and lost the only Superbowl we played in rather resoundingly, looking like a team that really had no reason to be in that game in the first place.

I don't know if this team will win it all.  What I know is that they are seriously building to become one that can. No, I've never built a championship football team, but I've seriously played with enough building blocks to trust the quality of this design.