Still Keeping Score

It ended early on a Thursday night. All of the hopes and dreams of the Denver Broncos merely improving their place among other NFL teams compared to a season ago have been put away. The white flags are being flown at half-mast at Dove Valley. I haven't actually seen white flags at Broncos headquarters, but the team has certainly surrendered. With the trade of one of the last few members of the Super Bowl 50 champions, it's abundantly clear that Denver has given up on winning in 2019. After a modest two game winning streak and some aspects of the team coming together ahead of their clash with the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos strangely folded like a house of cards before half-time. Or folded like a cheap suit. Or a lawn chair. Or folded like Joe Flacco holding on to the ball too long. Anyway, there was a lot of folding going on last Thursday night. I like Flacco. I think his reputation as a Super Bowl champ will always be a highlight as he helped his...

I'm ancient enough to remember the glory days. The days of old Mile High, where the boot stomping on those creaky metal stands would make a rumble that literally rattled opposing teams on the field below. And the fear was probably because of the way the stadium moved at times, it looked like it could fall over. Ah, but the noise level was incredible. I probably have some as of yet undetected hearing damage from attending some of those classic games. In that era, quarterbacks would rotate in from afar with the occasional hopeful draft pick and the Broncos would compete the best they could. Charlie Johnson was the first of the old guys I remember, guys with a strong arm throwing from an invisible wheel chair. The barely mobile types like Steve DeBerg or Craig Morton, but they had some wisdom and a little zip on the ball. Old man Morton and a strong defense took the Broncos to their first Super Bowl. That first appearance on the big stage didn't go well, but the Bronco...

Days before the Broncos travel to Oakland to play the arch rival Raiders on Christmas Eve, chaos reigns supreme. Broncos Country is in full, open rebellion. From the always on the hot seat head coach, to the players on the field the to very leaders atop the organization in Dove Valley, no one is safe from the growing critique of unhappy customers. There are rumors of old coaches returning to town, rants regarding possible turns the Broncos could have taken or should have taken. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Angry callers rule the radio air waves. Former quarterback Chad Kelly due back in court. Dogs and cats living together! Losing to the Cleveland Browns may be the straw that broke the last line of defense, turning the last of the loyal fans against the home town team. If that's not enough crazy for you, there are factions of the Bowlen family pushing in different directions for ultimate control of the team. Bill Bowlen's recent legal court actions await the NFL and...

It's not easy to say farewell to one of the best players to ever don the orange and blue, but trading Demaryius Thomas is a move the Broncos had to make. After Denver picked up two quality wide receivers in the most recent NFL Draft, there was talk of trading DT or Emmanuel Sanders back during training camp. After watching the team in Dove Valley myself, I understood why those early trade rumors continued to persist. Almost all of the young wide outs were doing some amazing things, including free agent Patrick Smith. The depth was solid enough that Jordan "Sunshine" Taylor, a solid contributor from last season, was on the outside looking in and his unfortunate injury bought him some additional time on the roster to start this year. In a perfect world, Thomas would be allowed to stay here in Denver until he was ready to retire. The business of the sport doesn't allow much room for such happy fairy tale endings, even for former first round draft picks. Picked du...

Ready or not, the new NFL season is here. Broncos Country is about to find out if the most recent overhaul of the roster will be enough to return the team to winning ways. Led by the cast-away quarterback, Case Keenum and a fascinating draft class, Denver will face off against former AFC West division rivals and their Super Bowl XLVIII oppressors, the Seattle Seahawks. Most fans and local media members are attempting to temper their excitement as no one really knows if all of the changes made in the off-season can move the Broncos in a more competitive direction. Even the Vegas oddsmakers are shrugging their collective shoulders for the opening contest. The line opened with both teams as even, save for a slight home field advantage with game hosted here in Denver. I made the trek to Dove Valley during training camp and I learned a few things by watching from the grassy knoll overlooking the team practicing under the summer sun. The first thing I noticed was that a number of grump...

Of all the moves the Broncos could have made to improve at the quarterback position, they went for practical play over the spectacular. Apparently, the Broncos do have a "Plan B" and his name is Case Keenum. As the legal tampering period leading to NFL free agency opened up yesterday, Denver was linked with every single soon to be available quarterback in the league. I heard A.J. McCarron in the morning, and by the evening the name of future hall of fame quarterback Drew Brees was mentioned as a real possibility. Of course Drew Brees would have been the fun way to go and the Broncos would have been able to take a short cut through a lot of roster holes with a guy who has looked great throwing for over 70,000 yards in his career. It was a beautiful fantasy football moment that vanished into the night and there would be no repeat of the Manning-style free agent quarterback miracle in the Mile High City. I'm certain John Elway heard long before the rest of Broncos Co...

Once the last whistle sounded at the Super Bowl and well before the green victory confetti settled on the artificial turf in Minnesota, speculation season kicked off in grand fashion. Heck, the media folks were asking Eagles' quarterback Nick Foles if he thought about where he would play next year -- right after he was asked about being the ultimate surprise Super Bowl MVP of the new century. The only one-punt championship game of any era I can remember produced instant questions in a league that has been suffering a bit of a quality quarterback shortage the last few years. The Eagles shut down some of that speculation by not offering Foles to any other team. The rumored asking price was as high as two first round draft picks. It is a nice way to tell the league to buzz off while the team tries to figure out whether Foles' seven million dollar salary is too much to pay for quarterback insurance if their youthful gunslinger Carson Wentz gets hurt again. I can't blame the...

While the rest of the world prepares for the next Super Bowl this weekend, Broncos Country is already hard at work with ideas on how to get Denver back into the big game. After reading through social media responses, tuning into local sports radio and reading way too many sports blogs, it appears the fans and the armchair experts have figured it all out. But the answers are as varied as Colorado weather. Everything from blowing up the entire offense and starting over to all we need is to draft Baker Mayfield with our rare number five overall pick and we're golden. With the Broncos coaching staff volunteered for the Senior Bowl, that horribly played exhibition was covered by local media as if it was the Super Bowl.  You could hear folks really wanting Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen to our magic answer. And well, we heard how well Oklahoma signal caller Baker Mayfield impressed the crowd of credentialed reporters when the word "aura" was utilized with great reverence af...

Future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Von Miller recently claimed he could play quarterback for Denver and basically implied anyone can play that position.  However, the Broncos did try and prove him right by playing as many people back there as possible. It appears not just anyone can play signal caller in the National Football League. I also think the conversation about football in Denver should include lots of other player positions that could use some help. For example, we could spend a few weeks discussing the wildly inconsistent effort by the very offensive line. Or has the tight end spot been replaced by Where's Waldo? We might even spend some time trying to get placekicker Brandon McManus an appointment with a sports psychologist. After signing his first substantive contract, McManus has barely been able to keep his roster spot, much less earn the bonus cash. Dark humor is all the fans have left this season on the eve of the second to last game of the season. And much hum...

When the Broncos lined up to play the winless New York Giants on a nationally televised Sunday night game, optimism, and maybe a dash of overconfidence filtered up into the mile high night sky.  After all, the home team was 3-1, with two impressive division wins, and a rare romp over the Dallas Cowboys, one of the toughest teams in the NFC.  It appeared team co-captain Trevor Siemian had put the quarterback question to rest, and Denver was aiming at a return to the post-season. What a difference a handful of days can make. The Broncos were stunned by the Giants, and then shut-out in the very comfortable confines of Stub Hub Stadium in Los Angeles, with half of the small crowd clad in orange before turning the ball over five times to the division rival Chiefs on Monday Night Football. By the time the final whistle sounded, 15-days passed, from the loss to the Giants October 15th to error filled loss in Kansas City on the October 30th. It was far more trick than treat for ...

Mister not so irrelevant Chad Kelly recently mentioned in an interview on 104.3 The Fan , that he is planning to wear number six for the Denver Broncos. Like most jersey numbers from a team with a history dating back to 1960, the history is a bit of a mixed bag. As many kickers as quarterbacks have donned the number, but with competition like Bubby Brister, Jay Cutler and even worn by Brock Osweiler during his rookie season, Chad Kelly could be the best six Denver has ever had. Of course we're getting ahead of ourselves, the jersey number selection isn't official yet for the newest batch of draft picks, and we aren't even sure if the brash rookie out of Ole Miss will make the final roster. But I'm thinking he will. First off, how much fun would it be to spend an afternoon with John Elway's contact list? In the old days we needed a rolodex or phone books, or little tiny hand scrawled notebooks with phone numbers and now smart phones can stack up a lifetime of d...

Count me among the surprised fans of Broncos Country. I knew two years ago that John Elway, the esteemed NFL Hall of Fame quarterback and current  Denver Broncos ExecutiveVice President of Football Operations, had a strong interest in Vance Joseph. Joseph was interviewed to be the next defensive coordinator here in Denver, but the Cincinnati Bengals made the rare refusal when a coach has an opportunity to be promoted via hire by an opposing team. The Bengals held firm as Joseph was deemed too valuable to let go. Thus, the Broncos turned to Wade Phillips, a guy who hadn't been in the game for a year. And that turned out to be a pretty good twist of fate for the Broncos as they marched on to a Super Bowl title. Former Colorado Buffalo Vance Jospeh did get his promotion from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. As all the world of the NFL seems to be connected to Denver in some form or fashion, former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, ...

Of course there is a quarterback controversy the instant a soon-to-be Hall of Fame signal caller hangs up his cleats for the final time.  As Peyton Manning moves on to the next phase of his life, the Denver Broncos are attempting to defend a SuperBowl Championship. Only seven NFL teams have successfully defended their titles with a consecutive championship. The Broncos are one of those seven teams going back to 1998-1999. It isn't as 'easy' anymore in this presumed age of parity -- the last team to repeat was the New England Patriots over a decade ago in 2004-2005.  The Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team to ever accomplish the feat twice.  Denver could join some elite company on the all time NFL records list, if they can find someone qualified to take every offensive snap to start the new season. In this case, this was not really a controversy the Broncos were expecting after their victory parade in February.  Back-up Brock Osweiler did a solid job of leading ...

Is it six more weeks of bad weather games or a career with non-championship team? With the recent completion of the NFL Draft, the dust is finally settling on a pigskin version of Groundhog Day.  Just over a month after Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow and offered the promise of an early spring, newly signed Houston Texan quarterback Brock Osweiler flew south for the remaining winter. And at 18 million dollars per season, that provides a lot of warmth. Who could blame a guy who was benched in favor of an aging, surefire first ballot Hall of Fame signal caller in the form of Peyton Manning? If a player thinks more sunshine and a bag full of money are all of the answers to life, then I'm certain Brock will be happy in his new digs.  But I do wonder if running away from the daunting shadow of championship quarterbacks will ultimately haunt the former Bronco. The past is only prologue but the Denver Broncos, in the Pat Bowlen era are the winningest team in the ...