By Nick Gustafson
Can we please cross the San Diego Chargers off the list of legitimate football teams now? Every year we are force fed the idea that they are Super Bowl contenders even though they currently have as many wins as the tube fed Raiders. They weren’t a good football team last year and they aren’t a good one this year. They won’t be a good team until they get rid of Norv Turner and even then they might not make it. In the cycles of NFL success the Chargers seem to be sinking. Rising are the Broncos, and even the Chiefs are showing they might be pulling it together. Year after year of high draft picks should have the Raiders on the up swing as well, but Al Davis just won’t let them get off the ground. The Raiders have amassed the fastest, least talented and most unmotivated squad in the league. If they were to challenge any other NFL team to a track meet they would surely win, if they were in shape, understood the rules, or even bothered to show up.
A collection of stars might make up a galaxy, but it sure doesn’t guarantee results in today’s NFL. Every team in the NFL is riddled with amazing athletic talent, so how is it that there is such an enormous gap in the quality of teams league wide. How do teams with pro bowl laden rosters continually fall short of their expectations? Jay Cutler was shipped to Chicago in exchange for Kyle Orton, 2 first round draft picks, and a 3rd round draft pick because Jay Cutler was considered a “Franchise Quarterback.” The Bears thought enough of Jay Cutler’s star power that they were willing to pay a very high price to acquire him. Kyle Orton has lead his new team to a perfect record thus far through the season, Jay Cutler has not. Sure Jay Cutler has a stronger arm, but more often than not he uses it to throw passes to the other team. Is it possible that this current Broncos team is better with Kyle Orton at the helm than it could have ever been with Jay Cutler pulling the trigger? I don’t think we will ever truly know the answer to that question, but a case could be made for either side of the equation.
In today’s NFL where the management is working year round, evaluating talent, pouring over countless hours of film and reviewing unlimited pages of stats, how do teams manage to miss the mark so bad? It happens every year and will continue to happen until coaches and GMs around the league realize what one of the youngest coaches in the league already knows and has built his team around, Synergy. To save any members of the Oakland Raiders that may be reading this from having to Google Synergy, it’s when the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Josh McDaniels has a collection of discarded and unwanted players from around the league playing for one common goal and the outcome is a team that is better than anyone expected.
In the modern NFL where most players are concerned with how many millions they are taking home and are willing to sit out just to make sure they gather every last penny, Coach McDaniels has managed to create a team first concept. His Denver Broncos represent all that is right with the NFL. McDaniels has tapped into that Synergy and shown how powerful it can be. He has shown the Broncos that if they go out and play the game the way it is supposed to be played the business side will take care of itself. His players aren’t playing for individual statistics or weekly awards, but those are coming regardless. If he can continue to keep his team humble, hungry and healthy the Broncos are surely headed to the playoffs, another word the Raiders going to have to Google.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
We might have to ban that photo unless you get that horse in some mustard yellow and tobacco brown colored apparel.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Great stuff Nick. Couldn’t agree more on the Chargers, I’m officially a McD believer.
October 20th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Nick!!! Awesome….talk about telling like it is! WOW! Right on target my man!