A "Successful" Broncos Season is what?

First, you have to separate what is defined as a great season and a “successful” season. In 1996 the Broncos were a 13-3 team, had home field throughout and then proceeded to lose to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. After this one was over I didn’t call that Broncos season a success at all. After this one no hard core Broncos fan and no one in the media called that season a success either. It was such an epic failure that there was talk after the game that the great Elway might retire.

I consider that loss the worst defeat in Broncos team history, #2 was the Washington Redskins Super Bowl loss, then at #3 the epic fail by Jake Plummer when he blew his wad in 2006. The SB losses to the NY Giants and San Francisco 49ers were devastating but both teams were better than the Broncos so it wasn’t a big shock when we came up on the short end.

I remember the Jaguars game like it was yesterday. The day before the game I bought a brand new 32 inch Hitachi Color TV. I invited about 10 friends over to watch the game. I was absolutely convinced the Broncos were going to win the whole thing that year because they had the best regular season record in the AFC and I believed at the time no one could stop them. That one hurt, hurt bad, it crushed Elway and the City of Denver. Did they win a lot of games that year and put up great stats? Oh yeah but to call that season successful is bad joke.

The same would be true of the Redskins loss in the Super Bowl. The Broncos got a second chance after losing to what was a far better team than them in the Giants the year before. The Broncos were the best team in the NFL during the regular season in 1988. The Redskins were lucky to be there.

They let the Bucs QB Doug Williams and RB Tim Smith have career days when both wouldn’t even be backups on most teams. For whatever reason a pretty good Broncos D up until that point unraveled, especially in the secondary that didn't help matters either. Tony Lilly, who can forget Lilly getting beat like a school boy on every pass play.

Then of course there’s 2006, a team as it turned out that was one player, a QB, away from a SB.

After the last Super Bowl win in 1998 Mike Shanahan would go onto have what some would call “successful” seasons. None of them translated into a Super Bowl win however and the memory of the last one has turned into a 13 year wait for another.

The game is played to win championships period. If the Broncos blow a chance here with home field advantage with Peyton Manning at the top of his game and the D playing as well as they have in years I wouldn’t call it a successful season.

THEY MUST WIN THE SUPER BOWL! GO BRONCOS!!

Tebow should not waste away in NYC

Tebow is wasting away with a horrible Jets team.

Tim Tebow says he wants to start or he wants to be traded or released from the Jets and who could blame him. In hindsight Tebow probably wishes he hadn’t went to New York. I’m sure Rex Ryan feels the same way. In all the years I’ve watched NFL games I’ve never seen a single worse performance in a game by a QB than Mark Sanchez in the Titans game.

He made some of the worst throws I’ve ever seen and you might go as far as saying it was the worst performance by any position player in any game in NFL history. Nothing can excuse the dreadful game he played. The irony is as bad as he played he still had a chance to redeem himself and win the game in 4th Q in the final minutes and then fumbled a snap, it wasn’t the best in the world for sure but one he should of handled it.

50 turnovers in 2 years aren’t going to promote job security. IMO his career in NYC is over and if the Jets don’t trade or outright release him at season’s end their making a big mistake. Frauds in the NFL can hide for only so long, The reason the Jets had a good team the last couple of years was because of a good D. When it crashed this season Sanchez was finally exposed.

That said Ryan made a huge mistake by not putting Tebow in the lineup at about Week 5 or 6 after it was apparent that Sanchez’s confidence was completely gone.

IMO Tebow today no matter what haters say about him is better start at QB even with all of his warts than Sanchez or say QB's like Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker, Ryan Lindey, John Skeleton, Nick Foles, Chad Henne, Christian Ponder, Brandy Quinn, and Matt Cassel. I would argue he’s even a better start than guys like Carson Palmer or Ryan Tannehill.

You can bet your backside many of the teams listed here with these subpar starters at QB would have loved to have Tebow on their team and gladly given him a shot to start, learn and grow on their teams.

I’m convinced that Tebow’s story has yet to be written. Someone someday is going to give him a chance to be a starting QB in the NFL because he’s a winner, a warrior and a team guy through and through.

I’m happy to see the Broncos have what has turned into a great season but the Peyton Manning story has yet to really be written too. Peyton Manning MUST win a Super Bowl in Denver, it’s the only way I’m ever going to say it was the right move to sign him. The Tebow trade and the Manning signing are 2 separate stories but will always be connected and in my mind until Manning wins a Championship for the Broncos nothing is settled.

Good luck Tebow, I’d really like to see the day when you get an honest chance to show what you can do as a starter not just because you’re talented and could help a team win games but because you also earned the right to be one.

Media Frenzy not good for the Broncos

First let’s begin with this important point. I'm thrilled the Broncos clinched the AFC West. It's been an amazing season for Manning, the Broncos and the fans thus far.

Still... I don't like the media hype surrounding them right now; I think it could be a hex or a curse. Never count your chickens before they've hatched. The Broncos haven't won anything yet.

We've won the AFC West several times, we've won playoff games and we've won AFC Championship games. None of that is new right? Let’s say they advance that far is it good enough?

Personally, no it isn't enough. Winning it all is the only thing; it's the only way you can call the season a total success. Being a "good" team and falling short like the 29 others may be good for some teams and fans, even for some Broncos fans but not for me. We've been second best before and that stinks. 12 years is a long enough wait for an organization that should expect nothing less than a win in the final game.

The bar must be set high winning the whole thing has to be an obsessive hunger that the owner, the coaches, players and the fans have burning in their guts. We have 2 Super Bowl wins we must have another one nothing less will do.

The team I see still has a very tough road ahead to win that war. Without Willis McGahee I think the odds drop for the Broncos.

Moreno has shown signs of life but his past history as the lead RB has not been the answer. I don't see Knowshon Moreno running for a 100 yards against a good team like the Ravens even without their studs on D. He'll probably hit the wall this week and in the playoffs if he's our guy, the outlook diminishes considerably.

Maybe Manning and the improve D can carry the Broncos but without the legitimate threat of a running game and play action Manning's dink and dunk passing game becomes less effective.

This is far from being in the bag my friends. There are plenty of great teams that could kick the Broncos ass in a shoot out in the playoffs. A good balance of passing and ball control smash mouth football and great D wins Super Bowls. Ask Manning, he's been there twice, once with a great running game and once without. He's 1-1 after a long career and all the bulky stats, the yards, the completions and the TD passes.

So guys, be optimistic but realistic. We need to keep playing them one at a time and when the first playoff game comes we must expect the best in all 3 areas of the game to win and advance. Staying healthy and luck plays into but it to be the team that wins it all a team must create its own luck.

Worse offensive and defensive teams than the Broncos have won the SB. Let's hope it's our turn because we're the best, let’s not settle for second.

The 3rd ring is the thing.

Denver Broncos Defense: The Unsung Heroes

Von Miller INT seals the deal for the Broncos.

It was awesome to see the Broncos clinch the AFC West Title. Peyton Manning deserves credit but the pick 6 by Von Miller was the nail in the coffin. I didn't expect the Broncos to win this many games so I have to eat my words on the early predictions I made. The AFC West may be the weakest division in football but as much as the media wants to crown Manning as MVP of the league to many overlook how well the Broncos Defense has played this season.

Some of you may or may not have noticed I haven't doled out much praise for the Broncos the 2nd half of the season. Today they do deserve it, Manning deserves it, and the D most certainly deserves it. I still feel in my gut and in my heart that until Manning hoists the Lombardi over his head the signing can't be called a success despite his great regular season comeback.

Maybe to some that's asking too much but since Manning cost the Broncos so much in so many ways and since his window of opportunity is so small nothing else will do. Call my expectations to high but that's how this armchair QB sees it.

The Broncos have to get one of their RB's to produce because without the threat of a running game I don't see them going deep in the playoffs. Thomas has made a big jump as a WR and the rest of the Receivers have done a serviceable job but it won't be enough.

Clinching early is great too but no guarantee of a championship. Manning's Colt teams did it many times and he only has one ring to show for it so the Broncos must not get complacent or take any games off the rest of the season. If they finish strong they could be the second highest seed in the AFC and get all their playoff games at home except the AFC Championship Game if the Texans get that far. So the remaining games matter and they must continue to improve in all phases of the game.

Congrats enjoy the win today Broncos Fans but they still have work to do, like taking the Oakland Raiders to the Slaughter House on Thursday. GO BRONCOS!'