Broncos Come to Bury or Praise Josh McDaniels?
Just over thirteen months ago, the Denver Broncos fired the oft vilified Josh McDaniels and the then 3-9 team appeared to be years and years away from contending again in the National Football League. After the latest miraculous moves of Tim Tebow, and the strength and speed of one Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos won only their second ever playoff game in a decade since moving into Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Suddenly, the 2011 AFC West champs are going to jump on a plane and visit their former coach this Saturday night in New England.
McDaniels, who spent most of this season as the offensive coordinator in St. Louis, is officially employed again by the New England Patriots, just in time to welcome some of his hand picked Broncos in the Divisional Round of this year's Super Bowl tournament. Next year, he will get his old job back as the offensive coordinator, since the current holder of the job is moving on to coach Penn State. That is an amazing set of dominoes that had to fall for this incredible reunion of former coach and the Denver Broncos.
More incredible than the circumstances, more incredible than Denver's improbable run to a division title and a literal lightning strike of a victory over the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers is the idea the Broncos may owe at least owe McDaniels a 'thank you' card and at best, an apology.
There, I said it, an apology may be owed to a youthful coach who earned near universal scorn in the town that paints houses, cars and family pets bright orange every fall. After an 8-8 finish his first year, ironically the same record that allowed the Broncos to end their playoff drought that dated back to the Mike Shanahan era, McDaniels was fired before the end of his second season.
Sure, he was elusive and rude to the media, yes, he emulated his old boss by wearing hooded sweat shirts every moment humanly possible and even copied Bill Belechick's video taping scandal with one of his own, but the biggest perceived problem was his talent evaluation that led to his demise.
He traded a top flight quarterback in Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton, he gave away running back Peyton Hillis, and drafted the still controversial Tim Tebow. To top that, his other picks like defensive lineman Robert Ayers and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas seemed to be picked far higher than their ability was showing on the football field. However, Ayers was a force on defense against the Steelers, including a power rush and sack of Ben Roethlisberger that evoked ghosts of the Orange Crush defense of yesteryear. After an injury plagued first year, Demaryius Thomas put on a display that needs no adjectives, showing all-pro skills that fans can look forward to against New England and beyond.
Oh yeah, he picked up that Tebow kid too. You may have heard of him at this point. Sure, Tebow may yet evolve into a trivia question, but no one will ever be able to take away a glorious run to the playoffs and a record setting performance victory that will last in the minds of football fans for a very, very long time. As to those endless critics of the young quarterback, I imagine only improvement with a full off season of working with the team and coaches forging a more complete system around his unique talents.
Ultimately, Broncos certainly want to bury the Patriots this weekend, along with their 'old' yet young and immature former football coach, but however the game plays out, they should at least thank Josh McDaniels for a playoff kick-off he helped make possible.
McDaniels, who spent most of this season as the offensive coordinator in St. Louis, is officially employed again by the New England Patriots, just in time to welcome some of his hand picked Broncos in the Divisional Round of this year's Super Bowl tournament. Next year, he will get his old job back as the offensive coordinator, since the current holder of the job is moving on to coach Penn State. That is an amazing set of dominoes that had to fall for this incredible reunion of former coach and the Denver Broncos.
More incredible than the circumstances, more incredible than Denver's improbable run to a division title and a literal lightning strike of a victory over the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers is the idea the Broncos may owe at least owe McDaniels a 'thank you' card and at best, an apology.
There, I said it, an apology may be owed to a youthful coach who earned near universal scorn in the town that paints houses, cars and family pets bright orange every fall. After an 8-8 finish his first year, ironically the same record that allowed the Broncos to end their playoff drought that dated back to the Mike Shanahan era, McDaniels was fired before the end of his second season.
Sure, he was elusive and rude to the media, yes, he emulated his old boss by wearing hooded sweat shirts every moment humanly possible and even copied Bill Belechick's video taping scandal with one of his own, but the biggest perceived problem was his talent evaluation that led to his demise.
He traded a top flight quarterback in Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton, he gave away running back Peyton Hillis, and drafted the still controversial Tim Tebow. To top that, his other picks like defensive lineman Robert Ayers and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas seemed to be picked far higher than their ability was showing on the football field. However, Ayers was a force on defense against the Steelers, including a power rush and sack of Ben Roethlisberger that evoked ghosts of the Orange Crush defense of yesteryear. After an injury plagued first year, Demaryius Thomas put on a display that needs no adjectives, showing all-pro skills that fans can look forward to against New England and beyond.
Oh yeah, he picked up that Tebow kid too. You may have heard of him at this point. Sure, Tebow may yet evolve into a trivia question, but no one will ever be able to take away a glorious run to the playoffs and a record setting performance victory that will last in the minds of football fans for a very, very long time. As to those endless critics of the young quarterback, I imagine only improvement with a full off season of working with the team and coaches forging a more complete system around his unique talents.
Ultimately, Broncos certainly want to bury the Patriots this weekend, along with their 'old' yet young and immature former football coach, but however the game plays out, they should at least thank Josh McDaniels for a playoff kick-off he helped make possible.
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