Does Gary Kubiak Have Soft Spot For Backup QB's?

Don't forget your history Denver Broncos fans.

NFL teams are going to chase after the ways that worked until they don't work any more. For a few seasons now, defense has been fighting the offense tooth and nail to determine the championship path of perfection. While no one in Denver is going to complain about the heart trauma we endured en route to winning the crown, no one in Denver- especially the coach- wants to risk heart or health to have a season similar to last year if we can avoid it.

The idea that any champion would prefer not to repeat the same championship journey they just traveled is somewhat unusual when you think about it, but that doesn't take into account the truth of Denver's season.

The truth was as bumpy as riding a wild Bronco promises to be. That ride is actually the same that Denver fans have always endured, fighting to get national commentators that actually want us to win while working our nationally televised games.  Usually, we are the team they pick to lose.

Denver Bronco favorite, Norris Weese,
was injured in 1979 and passed away from cancer
at age 43.  Is this the year for Norris, and Gary?

I understand.  Our history has plenty of victories laced between predictably traumatic losses as well. Some NFL fans once made a business out of betting against the Broncos while I quickly learned the necessary knowledge of never betting for them.  Not that the Broncos don't win, they just never seem to win when my money is on the line.

That is our history.

Coming up short. Getting our hearts Orange Crushed before we could Mile High Salute at the world. We are the underdogs like Norris Weese.

Do you remember Norris Weese? Weese was the player we cried for when Craig Morton's old arse was giving us a headache, and our defense too much work again. Morton's geriatric similarities to what we endured last year, with an old and less than agile Peyton Manning, had this town screaming for the backup just like we did with Weese.

Weese almost saved us in our first Superbowl from having to listen today to Dallas Cowboys fans remind us that they won that game and that they are still America's Team. Thanks to that Superbowl IT session, Weese got the starting job the next year, but a knee injury that year (1979) ended his playing career forever. Weese passed away from cancer in 1995. He was 43 years old.

Thankfully, Manning's injury (wink, wink) made way for Brock Osweiler to prove himself a capable player in the league, but he also helped to prove that he really didn't have IT either, while proving the same thing that Manning had been proving before he got too hurt to watch anymore.

Osweiler and Manning both proved that Denver's defense was other worldly.

We just about saw the backup step up and be the hero, until suddenly he started to really look like a backup again.  How that scenario played out combined with how this current QB scenario is playing out shows telling signs of what happens when your head coach has been carrying the clipboard for too damn long.

Back in his playing days, Gary Kubiak was our other Norris Weese. Fans of sports love to engage in revisionist history, but the truth is that a lot of you fans did not really like Michael Jordan the way you like him now, and John Elway had to finally win a couple of titles to avoid the same career ridicule that Manning was about to endure if last year's SB50 win didn't fix that for him too.

Elway was a high risk player for years. For some time, his passes were too hot even for his own teammates to handle.  His first coach was way too conservative and often boxed the team into such predictability that we could be diagnosed and disrupted rather easily by the opposing defense.  Elway did not always thrive in that conservative format even though he always showed signs of IT. Like Paxton Lynch, Elway was drafted in the kind of slot that makes you have to show and prove, not sit and stew.

Between 1983 when Elway arrived and 1984 when we got rid of Steve DeBerg and forced our young QB to sink or swim, Elway got benched more than once. At first it was for the more experienced DeBerg, until we got rid of him, leaving backup duties in the hands of Kubiak. 3 out of 5 of Kubiak's career starts came during those first two season of Elway and Kubiak, simply because Elway was that bad back then.

What is the difference between a legendary starter and their backup?  We don't really know because those backups serve a role to make sure we never really get to know them that well.  They are the spot duty bridge that keeps the legend afloat throughout the season so that they can be legendary when times comes to make their legend known.

In reality, the legend Manning ended up being as good as he needed to be when he needed to be good. Yet, his good was the same good that Elway displayed when he finally became a champion himself. Both versions of good involved turning around and handing the ball to the bucking Bronco out of the backfield in Terrell Davis or CJ Anderson last season.

Denver, as a franchise, might be looking to return to the way it was, but the way it was had Hall of Fame quarterbacks winning titles in the end of their careers. Similarly, both were motivated and humbled by failure and frailty, seeking to end things on a good note.  The way it is NOW has two backups types trying to do what the HOF'ers typically take care of on championship teams while keeping the heir apparent away from his inevitable throne.

Will A Game Manager Do?

Trent Dilfer was already a regular starter of the Baltimore Ravens team that he is credited for "game managing" to a championship. That team was a lot like this team though, on the list of defensive GOAT's in the NFL. Denver's defense joined that conversation after winning the Superbowl last year, giving room and rise to the possibility of a "game manager" quarterback replacing Manning to help this team win it all again.

What we should consider is the fact that the Denver Broncos tried like heck to keep Brock Osweiler for too much money, but lost him to Houston for too much money.  Would the Broncos have offered too much money if Kubiak did not think Osweiler could be groomed to be worth the money? Early report from Houston is that Osweiler probably isn't really worth the money.

In other words, Mark Sanchez is not only trying to compete against his own butt-fumbling history, he is competing with a coach who clearly has some secret Norris Weese syndrome; some love and wonderment for a backup who seems to have IT, but never really got a chance to show IT because of whatever reason backups like to use.

Is Jordan Taylor making us need a 6th receiver and one less QB?

For now, the guys that would usually be out in front are out of the way, and the only thing keeping Trevor Siemian from getting a chance to show he can lead this championship defense to another one is our collective anxiety of going into a regular season with two inexperienced quarterbacks, and that's it.

Keeping two QB's and cutting Sanchez might make room for a 6th receiver, a spot Jordan Taylor will need opened if he hopes to be the next great white receiver from Denver.

Kubiak has lauded the ability of Siemian for some time now, especially on the day that he had to explain why we needed Sanchez in the first place.

Kubiak might have named Siemian the starter when we first lost Osweiler if there had already been a book on him to go with.  He is now attempting to help Siemian write a book that Broncos fans will respect and believe in enough to stick with him until Lynch can't be held down anymore. Siemian is nursing a shoulder ding that he took while trying to stop the pick 6 that he threw against San Francisco, yet his coach has named him as the starter, not knowing if he'll even be healthy enough to play? That's all you need to know to understand that the coach has a soft spot for backups like he was.

Kubiak entered the league the exact same year that Elway did and served as his backup for 9 years in Denver. He compiled a 3-2 record in spot starter duty, and had 14 touchdowns with 16 interceptions and 1,920 yards passing. There is no easy way to say, one way or the other, what type of player Kub's would have been if given the chance because history doesn't work that way. Sanchez on the other hand has had chances more than once and seems capable at times but extremely bad at other moments.

We've seen some of his worst play in recent years (YouTube the worse if you have not), but none of it has really happened while in Denver yet.  Although we all want to hold him to account for the interception and the fumbles that happened in the first two preseason games, no one wants to hold the coach to account for not running the ball more than he passed it, like we expect he will do in the regular season.

If we want to be perfectly honest, who in the entire western hemisphere doesn't realize that Peyton Manning has retired, and the Broncos are searching for their next quarterback?

Does this guy look like he has IT, or is he more ordinary
like Kyle Orton? Is ordinary good enough for this team?

Clearly, every defensive coordinator in the league knows this, so the expectation of too many hand off's would contradict the types of things you're looking to evaluate when evaluating quarterbacks: things like throwing accuracy and pocket awareness.

Sanchez is fairly good with accuracy but pretty crappy with pocket awareness.  Running the ball a lot more will help this, but he may never get to that luxury if he can't show us how he'll react when things are off schedule; when defenses are defending us like the defending champion we are.

Siemian may not have the IT factor that wows your senses, but he does have some special stuff that makes you feel Gary Kubiak warm, or Norris Weese kind of comfortable. Without a doubt, he has the quiet hopes of the coach that, with opportunity and growth, he might do no worse than what Manning and Osweiler did last year.

Better yet, he'd like him to do just a little bit better than Manning and Osweiler did last year if he can. Kubiak's search is for someone that can keep it close enough for our defense to make plays by limiting turnovers.

I expect Siemian to get a real shot this year in part because of the backup syndrome of our head coach who has already named Siemian a starter this week even though he is not fully healthy from the hit he took. Kubiak might have squelched the questions of who will get the benefit of game 3 game planning and minutes, but he is also signaling to the entire league who he hopes will win the first game of regular season job by giving that player the inside track to prove himself Kubiak or Weese like.

I am still hopeful that Kubiak, and Broncos fans, give Sanchez a fair chance to show how he would run THIS offense and not some distorted tryout version of our offense that allows defensive opponents to not play honest.

Not that I think Sanchez offers us any real hope for victory. His reliably marginal play behind our reliably stringent defense could actually serve as a functional bridge for Siemian to be our new Norris Weese, wanted and supported by fans for several games, buying time for Lynch- the guy with IT- to get ready to take us to that next level.

Conversely, if you make Siemian the immediate starter, moving to Sanchez in the hopes of him being something dramatically better or different than his history, would be foolish to expect and hard to sell to fans without severe skepticism. Sanchez's only real value to this team is to be thrown to the wolves; to serve as a bridge to Siemian and then Lynch, which means Sanchez plays as long as we are winning. Siemian must equally serve as a bridge to Lynch who must NOT be given the job but must win the job in practice. Lynch must be given enough time to learn his role without getting shell shocked and ruined by NFL edge rushers while learning.

Not that players with IT ever experience that kind of shell shock, but they do experience injury when placed in the wrong NFL situation.

Will being a career coach /backup QB help Kub's
or cause him to have a soft spot for the wrong guy?

Unless Sanchez does something we've never seen him consistently do, and balls out like he's auditioning for his next team (which he is), Siemian is being given the first chance to also ball out and keep the rookie from seeing the field this year if he so desires.

Either way, this season promises to be another serious display of Denver's coaches making the most of whatever hand they are dealt and still yielding championship performance. We'll need a lot of luck to shine on this team and end an eery turnover trend that's been happening for over a year now.

If the Broncos are truly lucky enough to actually win another title- with butt fumble or a backup QB no less- this one will be for Kubiak the coach and for Kubiak, the clip board carrying, lifelong backup quarterback. 

And for Norris Weese.

For Better Or Worse, The Broncos Are Must See TV

Even with the absence of the legendary Peyton Manning, the narrative would mostly be exactly the same as last year if not for that SB50 victory by my hometown Denver Broncos. and the hindsight view of what Manning did for this team as well as what he demanded of the AFC West opponents who hope to be champions too.....and because of concussions.

The Dallas Cowboy fans would like to remind you how they still dominate apparel sales even though Denver is the team defending the crown.  I'm the kind realist like true Broncos fans who've seen highs and lows, and who understand that Peyton did improve the AFC West, making it harder for this team to beat a bunch of improved teams without him. In reality, the America's Team shows plenty of signs of being better than 4-12, and expecting a healthy version of the richest team in football to continue to stink is a tainted glasses view of things.

In reality, we kind of need the Dallas Cowboys to become truly relevant on the field again just to offset the negative impact of all the concussion conversation that keeps hurting the league.  The future influx of our best athletes into sports other than football will reveal the impact of all this hysteria. What the league could really use right about now is a return of those Boys,  Love them or hate them it matters little.  They have the LeBron effect that draws both sets of eyes to the viewing.  It is an effect that the NBA will sorely miss when LeBron finally calls it quits. It's an effect that the NFL needs back via Dem Boys.

Some of this prediction might be might deep down longing for a league I love, but I am predicting that the richest team in football, the Dallas Cowboys, won't suck forever and the end of forever is now.  I am predicting that they actually bring the rookie running back along slowly enough, and he begins to show his promise near the end of the season, but they will grow terribly enamored by his talent and forget that he is not ready for playoff blocking assignments, causing them to lose in the Superbowl to my Denver Broncos, who will avenge the loss from our very first Superbowl, Superbowl XII.

Among the rest of football punditry the prognostication is mostly the same as last year, adjusted by two words; think and expect. They don't think we'll do quite as we'll or expect that we know how to overcome the challenge of losing key players without getting hungover from the thrill of  a SB50 victory.

I'm here to show them all why that all sounds good, but they are likely to be wrong.

While certain things have changed, nothing about our performance inspiring, championship coaching will be different, and that's why we win.

Actually, it will be somewhat different for our coaches who are returning after instant success while teaching a brand new system. Last seasons success gives the coaches instant street cred that will shorten the learning curve a bunch.  Their willingness to play everybody will give us an early glimpse of our future potential. Whether we realize that potential in the form of another Superbowl should not be a desperate goal of the fans, even if the team desperately intends to shut up the naysayers by repeating.  Loads of low expectation league wide will help them perform, unless loads of unreasonable expectation from Broncos fans cause us to make changes not conducive to our long term development.

Kubiak won't plan to be knee jerk at QB, but Broncos fans_some still salty about losing Brock Osweriler- will be, and that is the one element that concerns me the most.  From an outside perspective, our expectations this year is only distanced from last year by the trophy we bring to each game. Beyond that, we'll struggle to be favored in most of the games, meaning we will upset popular expectation- and Vegas- to do what we intend to do this year.  But don't get mad at Vegas or popular expectation for the respect they are indirectly showing to Peyton Manning the legend while seemingly dissing us.

We won't have Peyton, and nothing is going to help us know the impact of that except playing. With honest analysis, there are just as many signs of potential for better as there are for worse. The challenge of going 3-3 or 4-2 in the AFC West is enough to make things tough given the difficulty of the rest of our non-conference, Superbowl champions schedule. Splitting in the AFC West used to be good enough.  This year, add in the rest of the schedule and that might not be good enough to avoid a Wild Card(better)....or worse.

That offensive line seems better, more stout, more depth and eager to set league rushing records behind a guy who closed out games with amazing skill and style in CJ Anderson. For those who watch practice, they see CJ barking out protections to Mark Sanchez, who is seasoned enough to understand what the back is telling him. CJ says the barking is worse, or less useful with the younger QB's get more confused with such guidance, an early sign of which QB is getting the internal nod to lead this team this year.

Anderson stands poised to prove himself our new offensive team leader while proving his coaches game plan championship worthy, and not just something we accidentally won with. He also must prove himself able to stay healthy enough to help out his mighty might backup Ronnie Hilman, who is better...when used in small guy moderation- worse when overworked.

The entire stable of backs will be enlisted like back in the days of the original No Limit Soldiers and the Mile High Salute. I would expect that we carry an extra back with the return of the fullback too. The goal appears to be to make the team into a run whether you're expecting it or not team; a commitment that will demand chemistry they can't yet have with their rebuilt line, and health they've not shown in recent years at the offensive line or among the injury prone running backs.

Which is why we'll need depth and chemistry, the most challenging holy grail of any Superbowl pursuit.

Keep in mind that the run or bust approach (clock control with minimal turnovers) will also be forced to work  despite a league of coaches not fooled by media skepticism or punditry. Opposing coaches will bring defending champion preparation against the Broncos, mindful of the film, the ring we just earned, the Superbowl MVP we just signed and the thunder our boys brought to bear while earning it last year. Until further notice, that is the vision of us that they all see on film. Which means that the media skeptics are either counting on mostly championship efforts from each of our potential opponents, or certain decline from us.

They are mostly predicting decline Broncos nation, even though there truly are as many reasons to be excited as there are to be worried.

Linebackers are in place and ready to wreak havoc.....assuming Demarcus Ware can bring as much to the field as he brings to the locker room. They will likely need both to win it all.....although Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray are potential stars that might be ready to fill a void if Ware can't overcome those dreaded back issues he's plagued with. It might be better, or a blessing in disguise if the young players get the lion share of the reps and all that much needed development while Ware slowly heals himself for another title. It will be worse if we get stuck with players who are not our guaranteed Hall of Fame end rusher and foolish to ask young players to perform like a legend.

Once again, it's all a coin flip either way. Just like the secondary.

The secondary should be better and the most reliable group with so many returning players, but worse without Aqib Talib whose future makes that an unanswered question while we wait to see if he'll face punishment from the league.  I'm excited to let Bradley Roby get starter reps because I would love to see how he handles it- meaning even I really have no way to know until he gets the chance.

Unanswered question? Coin flip on the results.

Receivers are better with lots of depth from fresh talent in the fold....but they might appear worse because they must relent lots of pass opportunities to an uncertain, developing tight end core, a position vital in a Kubiak offense. Way too little tight end production last year lead to way too many turnovers and a less than stellar Superbowl jaunt, though winning it all is always better than losng, even when it's worse than you intended for it to look.

I would like to claim that learning how to win close games last year might actually be a sign of something better..... if it didn't feel worse because all of that good fortune seemed to come from Peyton's presence and prowess, and was used up on the successful pursuit of SB50..

After coming up short in recent years, scratching and clawing seemed a better approach last year......yet, expecting more of that again seems worse, maybe a little more desperate than confident now that we are defending our title and not chasing after one necessarily.

The Broncos really aren't claiming any cool rally cry, just an expectation for improvement of a team that most recently won it all. That shares no information about what improvement looks like or what other teams are doing to better themselves. Which means, getting better is always relative. If too many teams outpace your improvement, you're going to look worse and probably not repeat the same success as you had before.

 Fans mostly react out of emotion, not reality. Until further notice, champions are suppose to be respected. Just because you doubt the champions chances doesn't instantly give you room to dismiss them until they've dismissed themselves. Those who actually compete understand this, so a few smart pundits who played are watching the practices, getting out of their emotions from last year and recognizing the potential for better, not worse, while the rest of you just want to be right about this team being worse than they were when they proved way better than you expected.

2016 kicks off in less than two weeks for the defending champions, and we are all eager to know if the Broncos can get better, or if last season was a pure anomaly and the results will be dramatically worse. The signs are so unclear thus far, they demand WE watch closely. searching for signals that point either way.

In other words, until further notice- until we prove unworthy- my Denver Broncos are MUST SEE TV and the rest of your teams are optional viewing.

If you aren't planning to watch the Broncos preseason opener
you aren't really a fan of the NFL. Just saying.

Again and Again, Elway (And Vegas) Wins

Punditry is the profession of know-it-all'ism, yet time and time again, we know it all's keep falling for the same emotional okey doke like everyday fans do when we don't adhere to axioms like defense winning championships as they keep saying. After Superbowl 50 ended, the top defense had added to their victories over the top offense when both meet up in the Bowl, increasing the lead to 10-2.

Defense is that known quotient that all champions attest to as the reason they walk around with the shine of victory's glory, but its never really the reason we tune in for the show.  We appreciated Von Miller being the most reliable entity in all of football this year, but not enough to ignore the bore of watching Manning and Osweiler dink and dunk their way to Superbowl supremacy.

Consequently, the speed at which our local conversation has switched over to draft and free agency in Denver is mind blowing.  Come to think  of it, we might have been  there prior to our Superbowl victory, with our head coach and the backup quarterback (the original backup, not Manning) included in the conversation of people we should retain, or not.  For now, most of that Fire Kubiak stuff has died off, yet the backdrop of doubt over the backup who's scheduled to get paid remains, along with quiet skepticism over coach Kubiak's approach and his worthiness to keep leading this great team that Elway has compiled.

The defense played so well, that we don't really know which coach to actually credit for this victory, so let's focus on the compilation of players and coaches instead.

Once again, John Elway has done exactly what people thought impossible, just like he did when he took Denver's under manned football teams to the Superbowl again and again, culminating in Superbowl victories, again and again, to close out his career. Whoever actually won the award for NFL executive of the year needs to take that award and deliver it to Elway, pronto.

This time, Elway successfully pulled the levers, engineered a plan and put it into place by compiling the parts, pieces and the mantra for how it would be accomplished.  In defensive era football, you get lucky to connect on the few chances that even great defenses will give you to make big plays in big games. Take too many chances and you are more likely to turn the ball over and suffer defeat at the hands of teams perfectly willing to make field goals and grind it out versus shooting for the stars and getting stuck in the trees.

That was how I viewed things as a pundit of the team I love.  But the Broncos remain the team that I love, which means my deep analysis is often just hope masquerading as clear eyed perspective.

In order to gain that clear eyed view when I look at teams and games from the "know-it-all" view of a pundit, I have to tip my hat to the place with the best track record for know-it-all'ism.

VEGAS.

According to the word on the street, Denver was struggling too much with offensive production and identity with the in and out of  Osweiler and Manning, whose best production had barely shown glimpses of the kind of greatness that Denver's defense produced regularly.  Listening to that same word on the street, I heard that Pittsburgh's offensive production was too much to stop for Denver or any defense.  The same unstoppable expectation torch was passed to the legend, Tom Brady, after Ben Roethlisberger and his Steelers couldn't get it done.

The rhetoric was justified and the expectations reasonable based upon the emotional view of the contest and the  regular season track record of the quarterbacks being asked to live up to the emotional view of things.

Yet, the Vegas betting lines never matched the emotions.

Sure, Vegas had New England to beat Denver, but they didn't have them to win by the numbers that emotional pundits promised the Patriots should win by.  Was Vegas confused and struggling against the trend of emotional bets?

Similarly, pundits had Cam killing Denver, but Vegas had him squeaking out a win by 3.5 points that stretched to 5.5, giving ground to emotions betting habits just to help maintain the ruse. Did Vegas already know what we finally learned?

Let's get this straight once and for all.  VEGAS IS RARELY CONFUSED ABOUT WHO WILL WIN.

If you ever start to feel like the fix is in when you watch too much NFL football, it is not because the players have pre-planned some shenanigans, it is because Vegas tells the NFL- and the rest of us- who will win (indirectly) and the NFL believes what they say, even though the rest of us don't listen.

In fact, the NFL listens closely, they try to engineer story lines around Vegas probabilities.  What that demands is to understand what Vegas does when they expect a team to be a double digit winner versus what they do when you expect the wrong team to be a double digit winner. Whatever you are thinking about the game, remember that Vegas intends to be the only real winner.

If Vegas ever catches America talking about a blowout from a team they don't even expect to win the game, it becomes a case of betting enticement that ALWAYS ends up with Vegas on top. Keep the line too low, and the bettors catch wind.  Push the line too high and the bettors get afraid their team can't cover those points.




Just so you know, Vegas might be at it again.

When the opening lines for next years Superbowl champion came out, the Broncos were nowhere near the top, with 14 to 1 odds of them winning again.  By day two, those odds dropped down to 20:1.  Did Vegas lose faith in the QB  and the free agent uncertainty in Denver, or were there just not enough people biting on the opening line so Vegas had to extend the lure a bit?

Believe it or not, Vegas might they have agitated the wrong bettor this time?

Did the lack of betting line respect for the Broncos final games impact the bite in the dogs from Denver?  Did it propel the Broncos teammates into a brotherhood of togetherness unlike we've ever seen in recent championship history? Will Peyton Manning bring that championship trophy over to the Papa John's that is 3 minutes away from my house in Denver, Colorado (where my daughter works) so we can get pictures of it?

I said that partially to name drop the fact that Manning owns the pizza parlor where my kid works, but I am mostly talking about the future for Manning the man.  What happens to this legendary champion after all the crowds stop cheering, and he's no longer climbing up the record books? Can Denver find the same passion and inspiration for greatness without their on-the-field coach pushing them to be greater than they otherwise would? Love him or hate him, Manning was exactly that for this team.  A reason to do more, and a teacher to tell you how. As a result, he still might be the most important piece of the championship puzzle that Elway has to keep together.

Is Manning really ready to call it a career just because everyone (except his teammates) thinks he should?

That is where my betting hat starts to analyze things.  Manning, a generally cocky QB, was perfectly happy to tell the entire world how thankful he was to his Bronco brothers for letting him jump on their back for a championship ride. We understood that he was riding wounded, we just didn't accept what our eyes were telling us.  Had Manning finally lost the supremacy that makes NO ONE question him as the best regular season quarterback of all time?  That may seem like a slight against his playoff failures, but sports are a funny business, and we fans rarely agree over topics like GOAT, even if we are limiting him to regular season GOAT only.

In reality, no one ever argues that point.  He stood right at the gates of being crowned as the true GOAT before Seattle and the Seahawks turned him into another losing donkey two years ago.

Quite frankly, that was the last thing that Manning needed for his already tattered legacy, and most of us Broncos faithful were not terribly happy to be gaining a quarterback with the same underachieving label that we already lived with long before his arrival, despite our back to back championships two score ago.

Functionally, the Denver Broncos have shunned their losing label with their Superbowl 50 win, but Manning has not.  Until further notice, he has simply jumped on the back of a team that was totally sick of the criticism over their tainted history with Superbowl's, and said enough already.  They said it in such a way that those same shell shocked pundits are now weighing the defensive performance against the greatest defensive performances of all time.

Denver might not have yet gained the title as Greatest D Of All Time (GDOAT), but the conversation hasn't really concluded yet either.  We are still reviewing the tape from the Bowl and the season to see what we looked at but didn't understand until it was too late. What we keep seeing keeps impressing us more and more to the point that you are either betting that Denver loses defensive players to other teams, or you are betting they retain them and solidify their place in history, depending on what side of this fan fence you sit.

That entire bet hinges on what happens at the quarterback position.  Either the Broncos will spend on their quarterback, or they will spend on their defense, because this championship team can not be retained without a financial sacrifice from several key players.  You know, like the sacrifice from a brotherhood of men that bonded itself together to overcome rookie and wounded quarterbacks as well as doubt and coaching criticism against their way of getting it done.

The criticism kind of continues in the lack of expectation for this coming year.  Either Vegas doesn't expect much from Denver, or critics don't.   The betting lines seem to suggest that critics are to blame just like they were in Superbowl 50, when Vegas knew Denver was going to beat Carolina even though the pundit expectation was for Cam to do a whole lot of dabbing.

I am also searching for some betting odds that Manning will not only stay in Denver, but that he will bring that trophy to our Papa John's so my daughter and the rest of the staff can take pictures and learn what hard work and perseverance can achieve. That speech rings slightly hollow if you were simply along for the ride.

So then he'll take a humongous pay cut just to ride that Bronco one more time, because he has plenty of outside loot with my daughter trying to pump out pizza's like a champion before she heads off to college this fall, .

Peyton might have won Superbowl 50, but did he do enough
to silence those critical of his post season failures?

I am betting that this time around, he's looking to dismount our championship horse while feeling like he was a worthy jockey and not just along for the ride. This time, he'll be playing with the same chip on his shoulder that the city of Denver flicked off with our recent championship.  This time, our championship win won't be for John or Pat or for anybody else on the planet.

This time will be for Peyton.  Bet on it.

Denver Might Play Everybody To Scratch, Claw, Win.

Although football ain't basketball, this basketball coach still can't understand why starters get more shine than finishers; and why is there a huge need for fans of my Denver Broncos to pigeon hole the team or their head coach Gary Kubiak over this quarterback decision.

Conventional wisdom in most team sports does request a narrowing of the lineup come playoff time, and a declaration of starters just to keep the conspiracy media hounds from hunting until you do.

On the other hand, common cliche's declare that every team needs a leader, and that having two starting quarterbacks usually means that you probably don't really have one.

Cliche's are mostly annoying because life makes them perpetually relevant even while bothersome to read or hear.  Once again, these common cliche's are annoying the local masses because the Denver Broncos organization and two mediocre quarterbacks brought the cliche's into question. Is Brock not quite the leader they need him to be or are the Broncos stifling the future by delaying the development of our future quarterback?  Annoyingly, my answer to that question is to offer a question myself.  Does the issue of Brock's current development matter as much if Denver wins it all?

What happens if Peyton Manning gets some of that
Colorado weather that we are famous for? Does he health
instantly make him a better backup to Brock?

 If Brock doesn't play at all in the playoffs, he will miss out on valuable development regardless of the outcome. It took both injury and Tom Brady to send Drew Bledsoe to the scrap heap. Osweiler didn't do that to Manning. He merely played okay. Which  probably tells us all we really need to know about him. Until he changes our view, Brock has joined that dreaded potential/upside zone that special players never find themselves.

Brock is not yet, and may never become the quality of leader that the Denver Broncos will need to win it all. What he is is an important player on a team that is, collectively, one of the top teams in the NFL lead by an aging quarterback who is now nursing achy feet and a nasty helmet to the back from a  Steeler's safety blitz.

However ugly or unconventional it might appear, my AFC West Champion, American Football Conference, number one seed Denver Broncos have just as good a chance of winning it all as any team remaining. From a football fan perspective, the beauty of this playoff season is that it is an uncertain horse race, and who best to overcome this very tight horse race if not a Bronco?

Who is the American Pharoah this season? 

K.C. was dangerous simply because they were left for dead and playing with house money. Now they are dead, and there is no dark horse or clear cut triple crown horse left in the NFL playoff race. Seattle was lucky to have the Vikings hook it left, but not lucky enough to overcome 31 points in the first half from Cam Newton and the Panthers. The Panthers got out of the blocks quickly, and have already eaten a rather large Seahawk (making a Cardinal a seemingly small appetizer), but this is a horserace, not a bird hunt.

Early odds have N.E. as a 3.5 point favorite to win the game in Denver.

Tom Brady's Patriots are always a reasonable selection to win it all, but they too must overcome the mystique of a city that Brady has not fared well in (2-6 all time in playoff games at Mile High), against a  team that snapped their undefeated streak, sending them on a Patriot version of a season ending tailspin that cost them the very home field advantage they may soon regret having lost.

But enough of these other teams.  We got rid of Jim Rome and Dan Patrick on Denver's main sports talk radio station because Colorado and the Denver Broncos have created their own sports universe.  In Denver, we really don't demand a bunch of national conversation and outside sports debates to give us a reason to watch the NFL. Tim Tebow altered ESPN sports forever, and I, for one, have had enough of the Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith's First Take act that began primarily because of debating over Tebow and my Denver Broncos. Denver Broncos skepticism is now a sport and a category of viewer of a unique but significant sort. In other words, there are a lot of lovers and haters watching my Broncos these days.

Keep in mind that my Broncos are not only the team that shocked the football world by pulling off that number one seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos organization has shocked some of their own fans into questioning what the heck are they doing at QB, and why aren't they doing it another way?

No really. In Denver, they are still screaming for that dummy Kubiak to take away their heart attacks and just place them in the grave by inserting an inexperienced quarterback into a situation that he has hardly proven he can endure. 

In Broncos country, there are just as many fans of the Broncos who are convinced of Brock being the better bargain as are those vying for old man Manning to get it done.  Though the team is winning and advancing, the immense social divide on the Manning/Osweiler topic hasn't been seen in colorful Colorado since that OJ trial, as the debate rages over who deserves to play and will Kubiak make a switch at any moment now.

I can't say that I didn't have a similar question when our offense seemed to stall out against Pittsburgh. What remains without question is that it would take 10 teams in the league to adopt the Chip Kelly model (how did he get another job?) or for the Seattle Seahawks defend and run style not being in the mix again and again, to make Elway and many others general managers think otherwise about the defend and run approach. What we are frustratingly watching from the Broncos is partially from lack of execution (dropped passes and missed opportunities), but primarily it is the exact design of the plan.

If the original plan of building a defense in Denver and running the ball is still in place, Manning is the clear cut current choice to make the right reads and exploit the correct run or pass play when the defense offers that look. Love or hate either quarterback, or the way in which we've won, this Broncos team has done it in this exact fashion throughout the entire year, and they are fully prepared to continue winning in a fashion that most teams avoid mightily.

Elway was correct to decree the scratching and clawing road to victory just as he was correct in his 'find the coaches and build the defense' method of making it happen. Which is why I shall repeat my consistent praise of Elway and his coaches.

The great defense we see now is basically the same good defense that we have had since Elway brought it here along with the best coaches he could find. Every season, the rest of the league has hired prominent coaches from Denver's coaching ranks and placed them at the helm of their teams, evidencing the quality of the Broncos coaching tree under Elway. 

It was a coached up Tim Tebow who performed those miracles that lead the Mile Hi mass revelation of Elway's defensive salvation plan. Manning was a saviour of another sort when he dropped from heaven and into Elway's lap to save Denver from a quarterback who also finished off the Steelers during the playoffs, even though he could barely throw the ball.

If we actually are getting the best of the last of Peyton Manning, it is in great credit due to John Elway, Gary Kubiak and even defensive coordinator Wade Phillips whose defense provides the old man all the time he needs to find his stride in any game, while playing patiently enough to take some chances but avoid turnovers.

When Manning brought in his fast paced, fast scoring style that excites the crowd, he inadvertently concealed some of the very strengths of the same great defense that Tebow had. Suddenly, Denver's defensive workload doubled, and the opportunity for fatigue and exposure to injury and big plays did as well.

That was, of course, until this current magical season when the defense matured, and Manning mishapped so damn much that he maintained the league lead for most interceptions even after missing several games with an injury that he'd concealed from at least as far back as preseason. 

Despite the woes and changes at quarterback, it has been our consistent stifling run defense, a dominant pass rush, takeaways and defensive touchdowns that  have kept Denver's D atop the charts throughout the season. In essence, this years defense has had the divine benefit of great talent, great coaching and average to crappy quarterbacking to help sharpen and reveal their mettle, developing them into the top defense in the league on the number one seeded team in the AFC.

Manning or Osweiler? Osweiler or Manning?

The last time Manning dealt with NE in the playoffs, it did not
end well.  Will Kubiak quietly endure mediocre Mannnig?

From my perspective, the answer to which quarterback should play is as clear as can be.  Both quarterbacks should play, and both quarterbacks should remain a continuous threat to play for the entirety of the playoffs, be that a real threat or for the sake of shenanigans.

Why not? Has anyone seen that injury report out of New England yet? Do you think Pittsburgh intended to let us know that Big Ben was able to throw just fine before they went for a bomb on the very first play from scrimmage?  Would they have phoned Denver on Friday if Ben's throwing wasn't great just to get us ready for Landry Jones or Michael Vick?

For a legitimate reason, Osweiler  had weekly questions from reporters about retaining his starting role. It wasn't because of his clear posture as a capable backup, it was because of his cloudy stand as a certain starter.  Keep in mind that Osweiler has been a backup for a really long time, and playing backup is not a role that he is suddenly uncomfortable with or utterly deflated by.  If the Broncos were sitting him for Johnny Manziel, I would understand the deflated sentiment.

The Broncos have not only replaced Osweiler with the team starter (Kubiak never declared Manning as anything but unhealthy), they replaced him with a quarterback who just so happens to be of Hall of Fame certainty. The notion that Osweiler or his supporters would think that he instantly is the better choice after game managing a few wins in the absence of an injured Hall of Fame starter is asinine.

Being "injury" benched for a fairly green backup that went in and did a bang up job in your absence is humbling, and humility is the sports therapy that Manning has needed the most in the waning moments of his career- even more than therapy to his foot or neck. The ability to make "that play" when "that play" needs to be made takes a combination of wit and grit. Manning to Benny Fowler on 3rd and 12 against Pittsburgh was exactly that play at that moment of truth.

Brock has plenty of grit but a limited amount of playoff situational wit or the resume to invoke immediate confidence in the players and fans who will look to him for confidence. Brock should be ready as a change of speed guy if you want to run the QB sneak, or a safer choice for Manning's health if the score gets out of hand for either team.

Too cold or too snowy for Manning's stiff neck and bad feet and I instantly go to Osweiler and the ground and pound, dink, dunk and defend game and make Manning help coach him through the challenge. With fairly healthy feet and favorable weather conditions in Denver, Manning brings an ample dose of grit and a double dose of wit along with a legacy that has a huge question mark at the end of it despite the list of accolades, including a Superbowl victory.

Aside from one of these aforementioned scenarios, Manning is the correct choice to start because he is instantly the smartest, humblest and very likely hungriest quarterback in the entire NFL right now.  He is not fully healthy, but neither is Osweiler. Among our two hobbled quarterback's, Manning is more healthy and more likely to recognize the blitzes and get rid of the ball, or audible to a run play as needed.  Great blitzes or a line failure means both quarterbacks get a couple of hits. With a green QB, that potential (and the wasted play or fumble) increases exponentially..


Opposing defenses realize that a young, inexperienced quarterback is usually a one trick pony who locks on the play called and the player targeted from the sideline like it's his football lifeline and not just a good idea designed around an assumption of the defensive tendencies.  No play caller can foresee the future and/or make the pre-snap and post-snap adjustments that will send Manning to the Hall one day and Osweiler 's tall thin frame in the hospital if placed into the wrong moment of this playoff run. Don't forget that Osweiler, who is 3 inches taller than Manning (6'7" vs 6'4"), is nearly the same weight (240lbs vs 230lbs).

What Happens If Denver's Offense Ever Does Play To Their Potential? (Huh?!  I bet you never imagined that idea!)

I hope Osweiler can be the man one day, and that we aren't still in search of our team's future quarterback. But now isn't the time to worry or investigate all of that. Now is the time to instill fear in the defensive secondary, check down into a run or screen whenever the defense exposes that availability, and to execute the fast break, no-huddle (call your own plays) when a team gets back on their heels from the fear and uncertainty of a quarterback who is notorious for burning you when you gamble, or worse when you don't gamble enough. If all of that works, Osweiler should be ready to play to close out a Denver blowout game.  If none of that works, Osweiler should be ready to play to change the game.

Did the limitations of starter Chris Harris Jr.
create the scenario that saved the season?
With takeaways being so vital for Denver,
Is Roby's ballhawking  the key to victory?

Brock might be a little more comfortable than Peyton is with playing both shotgun or under center, but he doesn't make a defense afraid, so he won't make them back up enough to give the offense the space it needs to be special.  Manning doesn't prefer to be under center as much (slow footed planter fascia might explain that some) and can't scare people like he used to. Nonetheless, Manning's presence makes everybody on the offense a little more special; assuming Broncos receivers don't have yet another case of the
dropsies.

Injuries will be significant, since several players have hobbled their way back into the lineups for both AFC Championship contenders. Broncos pro bowler Chris Harris Jr. has a major bruised bone in his shoulder limiting his ability to do what he does. According to his own description of the problem, he can cover, but he can't tackle. Safety and return specialist, Omar Bolden has a PCL tear that has ended his season hampering a somewhat special Broncos special teams unit. The Patriots are nursing their own injuries, though they are notoriously tight lipped this time of the year, so only they know the extent.

Every team typically has injuries in January and is technically scratching and clawing their way to the finish line. This season in particular, Denver's offense won't need to be as pro-bowl filled as Elway's championship team was, or even as good as the all-time great offensive teams of any past season.  They only have to be better than the competition in a season when nobody stands out as a clear cut favorite to win it all.

To date, no one has quite seen Denver's defense play its best on the same day that the offense and special teams have done their jobs too.  Either it's been the tale of two half's with the offense, or the tale of two half's with the early season takeaways that have greatly diminished in the closing parts of the regular season.  Elway formed this team with the hopes of them scratching and clawing their way to the finish line and playing their best football at the moments that matter. A Bradley Roby scratch, followed by yet another DeMarcus Ware claw to gobble it up and save the Broncos season is exactly what the boss had in mind.

Brady might be 2-2 in the playoffs against
Manning, and 2-6 when playing in Denver,
 but he is 0-1 against Brock Osweiler. js

Will Osweiler see playoff action with a fire in his belly to prove himself capable, or overwhelming butterflies in his stomach from the challenge of winning a Superbowl for a proud organization, but also for an aging legend while that same legend looks over his shoulder?

That is the million dollar question that has forced Brock to look over the shoulder of the legend instead of the other way around.  If Elway's mantra is truly to do it scratching and clawing (aka., anyway that you can), it's a no brain'er to fearlessly prepare to play either of these somewhat injured, less than perfect quarterbacks- especially the one who beat New England and Tom Brady last.

Broncos Acquire Aqib Talib, Interested In Demarcus Ware. Is Elway Pissed?

Should the Broncos fight to keep Knowshown Moreno or move on?

When last the Broncos addressed the topic of Aqib Talib, it was during the playoff rub out that Wes Welker put on Talib that drew the ire of New England Patriot coach Bill Belichick.
Today the Broncos made it up to Talib by making him a part of their team.

When you consider the signing of Talib with the re-signing of Andre "Bubba" Caldwell, it looks as if the Broncos front office is moving forward free of innuendo. First they released long time legend Champ Bailey, and then they indirectly cut Eric Decker with the signing of Caldwell. Decker did not get an offer on day one of free agency, but the market could be waiting for someone to blink.

Broncos could stand to establish some backfield stability by signing Knowshown Moreno to a new deal, but the market will push the price for this horse, and Talib could be the magnet for other key free agent acquisitions if Moreno get pricey.

 Realizing that nothing is earned more than Superbowl championships, two teams have functionally stolen a title away from Denver in back to back season's.  Pundits (and Vegas) doubt the likelihood of Denver being a championship favorite for a 3rd straight season, but the Broncos have made a resounding statement with the acquisition of Talib. Vegas is taking notice as we speak. Current odds have next season ending just as  this season did, with the Seattle Seahawks besting the Broncos.

Richard Sherman may have anointed himself the best in his position, but Talib was the the pre-Superbowl selection to such an honor.  Ask @Skip Bayless of ESPN.  His affection for Talib makes Bayless an automatic fan of Denver, as in the days of Tebow.  If that is not enough, rumors have it that Demarcus Ware, of the Dallas Cowboys, is headed to Denver as well, which could make the Broncos Superbowl prospects a bit unfair for the rest of the league (Von Miller and Derrick Wolfe should return as well)

Will the addition of Demarcus Ware and Aqib Talib
make Peyton the 2nd best player on the team or the 3rd.

Last season's records appear to be in serious danger already, and the season has barely ended. Next year, the defense will be better even after ending  this season as a highly respectable unit.  If the Broncos defense can add Ware as well as Talib, they might turn the offense into the supporting staff.

In fact, the addition of these world class talents would suddenly put into question who is actually the best player on this Denver Bronco team?  Does Von Miller get into the conversation too?