By Nick Gustafson
It’s that time of year again where we think about all of the things that we are thankful for, 6 and 0 starts, a dominating defense, and a team that refuses to quit and grows stronger in the second half games. Can we still be thankful for those things even if they have been taken away from us? Since their bye week the Broncos have been on quite a slide and are in jeopardy of sliding out of playoff contention all together if they don’t rectify some of their problems immediately. Expectations for this team were very low at the beginning of the season. Coming off a tumultuous off season and a pathetic preseason, no one expected much of the lowly Broncos. Then those same lowly Broncos managed to start the season with 6 straight wins and expectations soared. They became division champs in week 6, a lock for a first round playoff bye, and legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
In the fickle world of NFL speculation, what a difference 4 weeks make. Teams in the NFL rise and fall from stardom faster and more often than the sun rises each day. There is constantly a “new” team ascending to make a run for the championship, and another collapsing that just days before was sure to be hoisting the Lombardi trophy in February. Almost never is the speculation completely accurate, but in today’s world of 24 hour sports channels and instant gratification, that airtime has to be filled with something. Thus countless hours of stats and predictions are broadcast day and night letting the world know who the next great team is and which is sure to fail. The Broncos have been on both sides of that coin multiple times this season and are hoping another flip is in their future.
Given almost zero chance to win even half of their games before the season started, the Broncos would have been better off sitting out the season according to some. After a stunning 6 game winning streak the Broncos were given more credit than they deserved. Prognosticators anointed them kings of their division with 10 games still remaining in the season. Four weeks later, all loses for the Broncos, and the talk of losing more than half of their games this season has resurfaced. If the Broncos could manage another 6 game winning streak they would surely be deemed Super Bowl contenders once more. The chances of the Broncos reeling off six more wins in a row are probably about as good as them starting out this season 6 and 0.
No one knows for sure where the Broncos will be when the first 16 games of the season come to an end. Carving the Giants up on Thanksgiving would go a long way to getting them into the playoffs where they would ultimately like to be. The Broncos needed an immaculate deflection in the Bengals game to spark their first win of the season and they used that to carry them through their first six games. The Bronco’s fire was obviously not tended during their bye week and is now all but extinguished. The reeling Broncos are looking for anything to get them started back in the right direction. Perhaps the thought of looking like a bunch of turkeys on Thanksgiving in front of a nationwide audience will be enough of a spark to ignite the Broncos once again.
November 24th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
i read a comment somewhere on a 9news article that said something like if they only paid full salary after a win the broncos would be 10-0, the problem is they are paid even to lose! so whether ego is at risk, they still get their money ha
well…i couldn’t do any better playing football lol so i will leave it to those guys; but come on denver show your fans you’re in it for more than the money – GET YOUR HEART BACK INTO THE GAME AND PLAY SOME FOOTBALL!!
November 24th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Oh how smart I look now. It seems like every team in the NFL is looking better while we are falling apart. Oakland, KC, Titans, heck even the Browns and Bears are showing life. Hate to say I told ya so. Its a bad sign when Kyle Orton recieves a heroes welcome when he comes into a game.
What do the Broncos need to win? A quarterback and a defense who wasnt around to see the invetion of the motor coach would be a good start.