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Sports editor Bryce Evans
Since it's Wednesday, I hope that everyone's settled down a bit from Sunday. I know it must be hard for all of the Bronco faithful to move past that absolute beatdown at the hands of the Bolts the other day, but I think everyone is forgetting a pretty important fact here.
You see, before the season started, I didn't know a single person — even those with Orange in their veins — that honestly expected the Broncos to win close to 12 games; it was simply unrealistic.
Denver had a new coach, new coordinators, almost an entirely new defensive roster, bickering wide receivers and a hand-me-down quarterback shipped in from Chi-Town. Needless to say, most people figured 2009 to be a rebuilding season in Mile High; there wasn't much that showed any promise.
So why are people so upset that, just over halfway through the season, the Broncos are still in playoff contention at 6-4?
Oh yeah, because they've lost four straight — by a combined 80 points.
But look at who they played: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington and San Diego. Really, with the exception of Washington, those aren't bad teams to lose to. More over, those would be teams — again, not counting the Redskins — that you'd accept the Broncos losing to at the beginning of the year. It just so happened they played those four teams in a row.
As I wrote in a previous column, the team's 6-0 record to start the year seemed a bit phony. The Broncos won on a miracle play against the Bengals, then beat Cleveland and Oakland the next two weeks (two terrible teams). They then caught the Cowboys when they were struggling and played New England when Tom Brady still didn't look like Tom Brady and Wes Welker was hobbled. The team's only substantial win was in Week 6 against San Diego, which would have been a toss up anyway.
Sure, Denver is now trailing the Chargers in the standings, but the Broncos pretty much have three guaranteed wins left: two games against the Chiefs and one with Oakland. If they win one of their other three games — against the Giants, Colts or Eagles — the Broncos will finish the season 10-6, which wouldn't be too shabby at all. Plus, that could be good enough for a wild-card slot.
In my opinion, 10-6 would be a great accomplishment for this team, especially considering the Broncos haven't been in the playoffs since Jake Plummer was their quarterback.
There needs to be a point where people can stop and think about the big picture here. The Broncos' season should not be looked at as a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately situation.
There's a reason why there are 16 games on the schedule, and there are even more reasons why a team isn't anointed a league champ only six games into the season.
After Denver started 6-0, I remember Josh McDaniels telling reporters after the game that there was still plenty of season yet and an unbeaten start wasn't anything to get excited about.
And he was right.
With 24-hour sports news and infinite material available online, it seems that there's an overflow of talk about each and every one of a team's games in pro sports. Inevitably, we get caught up in it.
This is why baseball is one of the most relaxing sports to follow, because if a team looked bad today, it can get right back at it tomorrow.
Luckily, with Thanksgiving being tomorrow, the Broncos have a chance to upset the up-and-down Giants after only a three-day layoff. And I'm sure, if they pull off the win, the Broncos' bandwagon will get its wheels back.
You see, before the season started, I didn't know a single person — even those with Orange in their veins — that honestly expected the Broncos to win close to 12 games; it was simply unrealistic.
Denver had a new coach, new coordinators, almost an entirely new defensive roster, bickering wide receivers and a hand-me-down quarterback shipped in from Chi-Town. Needless to say, most people figured 2009 to be a rebuilding season in Mile High; there wasn't much that showed any promise.
So why are people so upset that, just over halfway through the season, the Broncos are still in playoff contention at 6-4?
Oh yeah, because they've lost four straight — by a combined 80 points.
But look at who they played: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington and San Diego. Really, with the exception of Washington, those aren't bad teams to lose to. More over, those would be teams — again, not counting the Redskins — that you'd accept the Broncos losing to at the beginning of the year. It just so happened they played those four teams in a row.
As I wrote in a previous column, the team's 6-0 record to start the year seemed a bit phony. The Broncos won on a miracle play against the Bengals, then beat Cleveland and Oakland the next two weeks (two terrible teams). They then caught the Cowboys when they were struggling and played New England when Tom Brady still didn't look like Tom Brady and Wes Welker was hobbled. The team's only substantial win was in Week 6 against San Diego, which would have been a toss up anyway.
Sure, Denver is now trailing the Chargers in the standings, but the Broncos pretty much have three guaranteed wins left: two games against the Chiefs and one with Oakland. If they win one of their other three games — against the Giants, Colts or Eagles — the Broncos will finish the season 10-6, which wouldn't be too shabby at all. Plus, that could be good enough for a wild-card slot.
In my opinion, 10-6 would be a great accomplishment for this team, especially considering the Broncos haven't been in the playoffs since Jake Plummer was their quarterback.
There needs to be a point where people can stop and think about the big picture here. The Broncos' season should not be looked at as a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately situation.
There's a reason why there are 16 games on the schedule, and there are even more reasons why a team isn't anointed a league champ only six games into the season.
After Denver started 6-0, I remember Josh McDaniels telling reporters after the game that there was still plenty of season yet and an unbeaten start wasn't anything to get excited about.
And he was right.
With 24-hour sports news and infinite material available online, it seems that there's an overflow of talk about each and every one of a team's games in pro sports. Inevitably, we get caught up in it.
This is why baseball is one of the most relaxing sports to follow, because if a team looked bad today, it can get right back at it tomorrow.
Luckily, with Thanksgiving being tomorrow, the Broncos have a chance to upset the up-and-down Giants after only a three-day layoff. And I'm sure, if they pull off the win, the Broncos' bandwagon will get its wheels back.
