If Not New England, Who Is America's Team?

Who is America's Team? Is Brady competing for that title too?

Save for the championship conclusion, the replacing of Trevor Siemian for Peyton Manning created the same mediocre output that nearly mirrored our year of watching a less than healthy starter squeak his way into the playoffs, before finding a way to win it all. Hindsight seems to blame the same coach that it credited just one year prior. Given the drain and strain to repeat after winning, both theories are likely true.

Had the Broncos made it into the playoffs this year, I'm certain no one was interested in trying to take them out, especially Tom Brady who couldn't do it last season with Rob Gronkowski in the fold, so I doubt that he would have unseated the reigning champions of the NFL without Gronkowski. Of course, those comments are driven by my desire to at least lightly cook the crow I've had to eat from those Cowboys and Raiders fans who weren't too happy with the results of last season and tried to use this season's shortfall as a means of getting back at proud Broncos fans like me. Sadly, they both may have joined New England in the role of capable rivals to Denver, the NFL's reigning champs for at least a few more hours.

In the end, my feud with fans of Oakland and Dallas was fulfilled when they ended up playing exactly one more game than we did, quickly joining us at the fishing hole just as I predicted. Admittedly, I had as much chance of being right about the very capable Cowboys as they did about us when they swore we couldn't win Superbowl 50.

The injury to starting quarterback Derrick Carr prior to the end of the season virtually set the Raiders fate in stone.  For Dallas, however, the obstacle was that flaming hot Aaron Rodgers who'll probably be named this season's MVP and the reason why so many expect Atlanta to beat Brady too, considering how they thoroughly dismantled Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers team.

It's not as if Dallas didn't put up a championship fight against Rodgers, and it's not as if I'm discounting either of Denver's revived rivals- our division rival or that team who hates us for the audacity to be loved by America too. The future is bright for both Dallas and the Raiders, regardless of what city the latter ends up representing next year. In fact, their futures are so bright that any continued success in Denver bodes well for the NFL and a return of ready-made rivalries between two of Denver's more hated NFL opponents. If Brady finally gets old, these talented teams should replace him nicely.

Smart NFL fans recognized immediately that Denver and Dallas would undoubtedly meet up in the regular season next year, and somehow, New England would mysteriously remain on the schedule just as they do every year. The Raiders are a "two games per year' division foe that will get better, but never will they clamor to be called America's team while enjoying their image as the NFL rebels. Every other team in consideration for the title of America's team represent teams that we love or teams that we seriously love to hate.

If we're to be perfectly honest, New England is America's team because an equal measure of love and hate is what determines these things, and the Cowboys have underachieved for a bit too long to be hated much anymore. We mostly can't stand their loud mouthed fans. The Broncos might be a few Tom Brady trophies away from being even more beloved and thus hated more, although last years somewhat fortunate Superbowl victory is probably why Dallas fans and fans of other legendary teams started driving the Denver hate wagon. But it's cool so long as there remain competitive reasons for these teams to continue to rival one another.

Reasons such as Dallas experiencing a lasting resurgence while Denver rides the talent of that defense to the limit of its championship potential.  Or reasons such as Denver loading up on coaches like a team preparing for another run. Or how about reasons like Pat Bowlen being clearly alive and kicking and not dead and gone. Under the leadership of Bowlen, the Broncos have always been willing to do whatever it takes to win including a consideration of every capable quarterback including Romo- who would be another pretty good reason for building a rivalry between Dallas and Denver

Despite the playoff miss, Denver remains center stage in the lead up to the Superbowl because they continue to do what Bowlen has done for many years at the helm of the Broncos- spend the money and take care of people. Ironically, Jerry Jones and Pat Bowlen were recently engaged in a fan-created Hall of Fame war because these great owners are known to put their money where their mouth is.  Alzheimer's may have silenced Bowlen's voice, but his championship spirit is alive and evident.

Tony Romo leaving Dallas is not really much of a story at all because it's essentially a foregone conclusion. Rumors of Tony Romo to a championship organization like Denver is as intriguing now as it was when the whispers of it began months ago. It's in tune with the talent of the current team and with the decision to let Manning lead Denver to the last title. Nothing about this team says scrap it and take the chance on grooming a youngster.  Everything says Romo could probably achieve what Siemian or Lynch most likely cannot.

Our apologies to the last teams standing, but for whatever reason, the exploits of Denver (and Dallas now that they are winning again) dominate the NFL media coverage. If Bowlen was expected to die soon and not just stricken with an illness that has removed him from the public sphere, maybe the league would have considered selecting him to the HOF in front of Jerry Jones. The fact that these owners have been inducted in the proper order that they deserve to go in could be a sign that Bowlen isn't nearly as close to gone as we think even though he's mostly forgotten. These men and their championship teams will continue to mirror each other in certain ways because greatness has a familiar face to it.

It wasn't just Dak Prescott and Paxton Lynch that each of these teams coveted.  Take note of all the other players that each team has chased or shared, and then realize that Mark "butt fumble" Sanchez would have probably won that extra game Denver needed to make the playoffs this year. If there was any case to be made for the necessity of Sanchez this season, there is certainly one to be made for Tony Romo with Denver next year.

The signs are clear that Bowlen's Broncos are upset with this season's result and are girding up for another title. Elway and Kubiak rolled the dice on the health and skill of Siemian- and the hopeful progression of his backup- and they came up with craps, albeit by one game.  Yet, that one game remains the obvious reason why a better backup would have helped.

This defense and this team believe in Seimian, but it deserves the best quarterback available as a more durable starter or as a capable backup to deal with the high probability of a slow-footed Siemian, and glass jaw Romo getting injured in the NFL.  I'm not saying that it's time to scrap the Paxton Lynch plan or demote Siemian without merit. I'm saying Lynch is not good enough to put the heat on Siemian yet, and every position needs pressure from the backup. Competition at every position is how great teams stay great and overcome injuries in a sport that promises them. Romo may not remain healthy enough to be the starter, but if acquired by Denver, he too would have a quarterback capable of forcing him to play at his best in Siemian.

While the dream of a Denver versus Dallas Superbowl with Romo behind center is enticing for sure, the financials of a Romo deal are the main reason why it might not happen. But Romo has expressed an interest in Denver, and for every financial hurdle or legend named Brady, the Broncos have had one simplified answer.

Pat Bowlen.

In his tenure as owner of the Broncos (Pat's not dead), removing hurdles has been his forte. As long as he remains alive, Elway understands that he had better do his very best Bowlen impersonation. So far, he's doing pretty good.

Tom Brady is on the verge of solidifying his NFL legacy in which, win or lose, he will go down as one of the best to ever lace them up.  During his reign of excellence, Brady has often faced off with Denver, but Bowlen's Broncos remain the only team in the entire league that Brady has a losing record against, including an AFC championship game loss last season. As pundits look back on this season, they see Denver's D was likely the only thing that could have derailed Brady and the Patriots.

Atlanta's abuse of MVP worthy Rodgers has loads of people leaning towards the Falcons in this game, but most of those people are Brady haters like me and wouldn't pick Brady even if he had this year's Cleveland Browns as an alternate Superbowl opponent. Like it or not, Brady is the cream of the NFL crop, and Denver, Dallas, and every other history-rich team needs Brady to quit playing at such a high level so we can all come out from the shadows he casts.

I'm excited about the Superbowl even though it means the end of my team's reign as champion and a pretty good chance that Brady could solidify his place on NFL's Mount Rushmore. The tears in Denver's "No-Repeat" beer were shed on the last day of the season. Besides, my Broncos killed the Raiders in that game, so those tears tasted kinda salty sweet anyway.

When it comes to forecasting this game, Brady has to hurry up and win because, as long as his nemesis Pat Bowlen is still alive, so are the championship intentions that he inspires. That HOF owner, Jerry Jones, seems intent on shining up his star too, so the biggest risk to the Atlanta Falcons is not only Brady, it is his dwindling time and his recognizing the rise of other legendary organizations with serious championship motivations.

Ironically, Atlanta's offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan- son of legendary Broncos coach Mike Shanahan-  has brought glimpses of the Broncos way all the way to Atlanta and is threatening to unleash piles of it all over Brady and the Patriots. Will Shanahan and the Broncos influence prove to be Brady's kryptonite or will Superman finally find an antidote solidifying New England's grip on the title of America's team? That question is the reason we all will watch tomorrow.

Lady Gaga and the commercials should be pretty good, just in case the game is not.

I Miss The Days Of Just Being A Denver Broncos Fan

I wish I could go back to being just another Denver  Broncos fan, born and raised in the Denver Metro area.

Now I am a black American male Denver Broncos fan- born and raised in the Denver Metro area.  I never really wanted to become black, but I wasn't really given much of a choice.

I might have known that I was black long before I was forced into accepting it, but I didn't really appreciate the separation of me and my multi-cultural friends who all rooted for the Broncos the same way as kids.  We lost our ever loving, multi-racial minds when Lyle Alzado and Jon Keyworth and them boys went out and made those miracles happen. Even when they lost, Denver Broncos fans remained united with pride and appreciation for our team.

My particular North Denver neighborhood in the 70's made me an unaware minority among the posse of kids my age that included two Mexicans, one white kid and one mixed race kid whose black dad we seldom saw. Moving 10 up the road to North Aurora offered me and my siblings more of the same racial integration'ary ignorance, until those days that we played against the South Aurora white kids in sporting events and started to understand that poverty created a race of people that many whites attempted (and still do) to avoid like the plague.

It would be years before I discovered that "The Jones's" were also middle class white families that hated the white trash label and would live with the same empty refrigerator poverty and hunger that poor folks endure except for the sake of social segregation and stature.  It would also be years before I discovered that  I was no longer just a young man who loved the Denver Broncos like most born and raised Denver kids do, but I was a black man who had grown too tall too fast to remain non-threatening to the public at large.

Mike Brown Jr. had no real control over the body that he was
born into, and the fear that it would invokes in other people.
Neither does Cam Newton. 

Apparently, my really smart black friend who grew faster, stronger and quicker than I did, evoked similar responses when walking in his own neighborhood that just so happened to be a little too South Aurora for two dark skinned, North Aurora looking boys.  I am not sure if my mother warned me about the challenge of dating one of those white girls that kept calling the house before or after that time we got pulled over by the cops for walking the street while black around the corner from my homey's way too nice house, but each occurance shook my identity and innocence. I was forever altered from that time- from that mirror that I never had a reason or a desire to see in that way before.

The image of me that made people afraid probably had me running to the comforts of an Historically Black College.  And yes- it was comforting to go an entire week without seeing any white people except that one white guy on campus who loved him some black foke.

But it wasn't reality.

In reality, I wanted to go back to my Mexican and white people, my white snow, and to being just a Denver Broncos fan and not a black male Denver Broncos fan.  I wanted to hate the hell out of being in college in super black Atlanta, GA when my Broncos lost to that first black quarterback, Doug Williams; but he killed my team, and it was undeniably easy to feel happy for the opportunity that he was creating for so many young black men that play football, but just want to be MEN.

Was Russell Wilson more accepted  than Cam because he is not
 so black looking or because he isn't so brash......or both?

I am not proud of those days when I celebrated OJ's guilty ass getting found not guilty.  By that time, I was made fully aware of my blackness and the retributive fear associated with being black, and at the time, it felt like the triumph of the underdog. With this upcoming football game, there is a similar guilt that this 47 year old black male, Denver native, Broncos fan can't actually lose this upcoming Superbowl because I am  fully represented by the underdogs I'm supporting on both sides of the field.


I am not at all proud that a really small part of me (I was a Broncos fan long before I became black) is rooting for a win by virtue of a loss. But it's real and it's true.

From the day we first met him, Cam Newton has remained the same unabashedly proud black man who just so happens to love the game of football, but refuses to conform himself to the comforts of critics.  Cam has done Cam since the very beginning.  Most of his critics said that he needed to win like Gronk and Brady before he behaved like Gronk and Brady. Now they just don't like him.

I appreciate the example that Cam gives all of us to be unashamedly YOU.  The fact that he happens to be black is something that he and I wish didn't matter so much for NFL quarterbacks, coaches or American presidents. On his team, they refer to him as Obama.  Is he similarly paving the way for a generation of hopeful black men?

What Cam is doing might revive Tim Tebow's career as well as making my young black daughter feel a little more comfortably with being an unashamedly young black woman- even at work.  Life is too short and too full of critics to allow racial, or any criticism, to limit or define you. Cam is not only teaching the world how an athletic quarterback- who might also be black- can succeed in the role, he is showing the masses how to stay true to yourself in whatever you're doing.

Regardless of the games outcome, there is simply no way for this black male Denver  Broncos fan to hate on Cam, or lose this game.

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.