I can't believe this actually happened!

I’ve been saying that since 1:30 Pacific Time yesterday and I’m still saying it today but not for the good reasons that some other Broncos Fans might be.

I was wondering what would motivate me to get started writing about this and it hit me. What inspired my blog today was when I heard what one fan repeated more than once in a video blog. He said that all of us in "Tebow Nation" needed to take a chill pill. It’s not fair and utter nonsense to group all of us who respectfully disagreed with the Manning signing into that category when for some of us it's about what the direction and the long term future of the team is going to be, not about Tebow. The “team” I’ll underscore that point, should always be the primary concern.

Dismissing smart fans isn’t right; some think that this was a quick fix and a big gamble to take as I do. Talking about Manning in the past tense is wonderful don't get me wrong. If he plays like he did in the past great but I personally doubt he's going to be the guy "Who'll takes us to the promise land" as many others have mockingly tossed around about Tebow.

Why? Because this is still the same rebuilding team that Tebow labored under, despite the criticism of how he ran the offense. He did an amazing job given he played under a very Conservative HC and OC, a young and inexperienced OL, a group inconsistent WR’s who dropped way to many balls when he did throw it to them, no clutch catching TE and a journeyman at RB who isn’t likely to give us another year like last year with no quality RB to back him up.

This isn’t excusing some of Tebow’s poor play in some of the games but given this set of circumstances and since by all rights it was his Rookie year he did more than a phenomenal job. This in part is why even though he’s still rough around the edges deserved at less one more year to see if he could improve. 

On D we need another Corner, a Safety, better Defensive Linemen and at least one if not 2 LB’s considering DJ’s age and Mays' inconsistent play in the second half of last season. I know Mays just signed a contract, maybe he gets better but he didn’t play well in the second half of the season. He had too many missed tackles and he didn’t always play well against the run or pass maybe some fans hadn’t noticed it but I did.

This is harsh criticism I know, but if you’re completely objective and honest and not being a blind homer Broncos Fan this is the reality. Let’s not forget about these pending suspensions either, what do you think that will do for the Broncos D to start 2012 season?

So now we’ve put all of eggs in Manning’s basket and will have to settle for less than’s or has been’s at the other positions through free agency. The money showered on him limits the amount of money to sign free agents or players from the upcoming draft also and thus affects who we draft. The little bit of breathing room the Broncos had for cap money is all but gone too.

The smart money would have been to go after some of the quality free agents that were available early and maybe look at drafting or trading up or down to get one of the QB’s that wasn’t likely to go early in the draft. Then, if either Tebow or said QB tanked we could look to 2013 to get someone else. At least in this scenario we’ve attempted to fill up some of the other holes on the team.

This Manning situation reminds me somewhat of the Broncos signing of Plummer. Plummer is no Manning we all know that but the same frenzy and impatience to get a QB who was really the only free agent worthy of signing became all consuming even though Plummer’s talent and resume hardly justified it. Why, because there were so few to choose from just like this year. After Manning you’ve got table scraps like Matt Flynn and a failure like David Garrard no wonder the bum rush panic was on. Since the only 2 guys who look to be sure things from the draft are Luck and RG3 the reckless chase for Manning was on.

The money and investment spent on Manning is enormous and I believe we should expect enormous results, like winning a Super Bowl, anything less and this signing was a waste of money and a failure since his window of opportunity is so small. If he’s great as everyone seems to think he is then this isn’t unreasonable to expect.

As always I’m a Broncos Fan first and last and on Sunday I’ll be rooting for Manning and the Broncos to win. If he wins a SB I’ll happily eat crow but in my view the odds are very long indeed of that dream ever happening. Hate me or love me it’s what I see from my armchair. Let’s pray he proves me wrong.