In 1992, the Broncos were coming off of a season in which they had gone 12-4 and had lost to the Buffalo Bills 10-7 in the AFC Championship game after John Elway hurt his leg and was replaced by Gary Kubiak, well before ‘Koobs’ went on to become a head coach incapable of winning 10 games.

That offseason, head coach Dan Reeves concerned that John Elway’s play was deteriorating with age decided to use the Broncos first round pick on what Reeves believed was the team’s most obvious need – a new quarterback. In the first round, Reeves drafted Tommy Maddox, a young (leaving school after his sophomore year), talented but raw quarterback.

Anxious to see what his new toy could do, Reeves got Maddox 4 starts in the following year after an Elway injury. The Broncos finished the year 8-8 and Reeves was shown the door. Maddox would follow him a year later.

In 2006, the Broncos were coming off of a season in which they went 13-3 and lost the AFC championship game 34-17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ignoring a glaring need on the defensive line that was ultimately the biggest contributor to that Steeler loss (and no one will tell me otherwise), Mike Shanahan used his first round pick to address what he viewed as the team’s biggest need: a new quarterback. After all, Jake Plummer had only thrown for 3,366 yards, 18 TDs and 7 Interceptions the year before (not to mention that 13-3 record). Shanahan traded up in the first round to draft a young, cocky, big-armed quarterback named Jay Cutler.

With Shanahan’s heavy praise for Cutler ringing in his ears from the first day of training camp, Plummer looked and played scared. Despite that the Broncos started the season 7-2. But after two consecutive losses, Shanahan was anxious to see what his new toy could do, so Plummer was benched and Cutler took over. The Broncos finished 2-3 and missed the playoffs. Plummer retired that offseason to live in the mountains of Idaho, play handball and spend time with his former Bronco cheerleader wife (or as I call it, living the American Dream).

Shanahan and Cutler muddled through a 7-9 and 8-8 season before Shanahan was shown the door and Cutler cried his way to Chicago after new coach Josh McDaniels made a boo boo on little Jay’s delicate feelings.

In McDaniels first year, the Broncos started 6-0 with wins over the Patriots, Cowboys and Chargers. After an epic collapse in which his team lost 8 of their final ten games, giving up an average of almost 30 points in each loss, McDaniels decided that quarterback Kyle Orton (3,802 yards, 21 TDs, 12 Ints) was the main problem and traded back up into the first round to select cult leader and walking professional question mark Tim Tebow.

The following year, realizing how raw and unprepared Tebow was to step in and play, McDaniels signed Orton to an extension. But the team started dreadfully, going 3-9 in their first 12 games, giving up an average of nearly 28 points per game and McDaniels was shown the door. Shortly afterward, a shoulder injury gave Broncos leadership an excuse to put Orton on the bench (3,653 yards, 20 TDs, 9 INTs, in 13 games) and give Tebow a chance to play. Looking like the overwhelmed rookie he was Tebow played decent (82.1 passer rating) but the Broncos lost 2 of 3.

This season, knowing that no one wants him to be on the field (except the coaches and execs that have made a living in football for the past 20 years), Orton has looked more shaken than Plummer in 2006. It was only a matter of time, once the team started losing that he would be yanked for Tebow.

Well, it finally happened yesterday. With Tebow mounting a 4^th quarter comeback that fell one mad, scrambling hail mary short of a win, it’s his team now. Orton might as well start shopping for homes in Coeur d’Alene.

Will a game plan built on Tebow running the ball 1.5 times for every one of his pass completions continue to work once it is no longer a surprise? I don’t know. It could – it certainly did during Tebow’s stellar college career. Will he grow into a mature passer, capable of sitting in the pocket and reading through his progressions? Do the Broncos even want him to grow into that or does that remove some of the Tebow-essence that makes him seem so god-like to his acolytes?

Apparently over the next 8 weeks we will find out.

I certainly won’t make the argument that Orton is as good as Jake Plummer and it is sacrilegious to even utter his name in the same sentence as Elway. But there is an all-too-obvious pattern of putting all of the blame at the feet of a quarterback.

In the past when the Broncos have shoved aside a known-quantity at quarterback for the next big thing, it has been a coach-led decision. This time, it was done in spite of the coach. This was purely about appeasing an irate fan-base and finding out what that first-round investment has actually bought. This morning the fans that began chanting Tebow in the 2010 pre-season wake up feeling like they are the ones running this team. They are finally in control.

But maybe the fan base should pause for a minute and reflect on the fates of those others that focused blame on the quarterback despite glaring problems elsewhere.

Coaches can get jobs with other teams – Reeves took Atlanta to a Super Bowl and Shanahan may actually turn the Redskins back into a respectable organization.

What are fans going to do if the decision they made for the organization backfires?

We just completed week #13 of the NFL season and the Broncos season is over. It is almost like the Broncos thought they were only playing a college football schedule. 13 weeks and done.

The saddest part is that if they were playing a college schedule, they wouldn’t even qualify for the Fight Hunger Bowl, which I believe is being contested between a team of hobos from San Francisco and a team from Oakland. I heard the trophy is an old shoe and some pizza crust.

The Broncos season is so over, that they went ahead and fired head coach Josh McDaniels last night. A play straight out of the Raiders handbook. Every day it seems like Pat Bowlen is getting more like pudding-eating Al Davis. Are we sure that Pat knows the season is still going or did he think that embarrassing loss at Kansas City was the actual end of the season not just the end of the playoff possibilities? I know McDaniels had made several mistakes but in the end, teams become perennial losers by repeated upheaval more than one or two bad coaching decisions. Having new coaches every 18 months are a much more sure way of getting repeated Top 5 draft picks than letting a young coach have 5 too many games.  Just ask the Raiders.

The strangest part about the Broncos coffin-nailing loss is that it was the inverse of every Bronco game to date this season. Where Kyle Orton and a strong passing game had kept the Broncos in games when their running game never showed up and the defense was aspiring to keep their opponents under 30; in KC, Orton looked like he had one too many ribs the night before while Knowshon Moreno finally looked like the first round draft pick he was and the defense bent and bent and bent but rarely did break.

While the defense didn’t break on Sunday, the Broncos as a whole are broken and thus McDaniels was shown the door yesterday.

Based on my facebook page of high school friends this was a very popular move but I still wonder – what will firing him really bring? He has only been a coach for a year and a half. The team is still learning how to play in his system and frankly a lot of those players just aren’t very good. There was only one reason for firing him after just 2 years: if he has lost the team. If the team didn’t respect him and wouldn’t play for him, then he should go (see: Titans, Tennessee and Fisher, Jeff). If the team still likes him, respects him and wants to play for him (as all indications seem at this point), then completely overhauling the team for the 2^nd time in 3 years will do nothing but put the Broncos in the perpetual downward spin cycle of perennial losers like the Bills and Browns and of course Al Davis’ Raiders.

But McDaniels is as gone as the wind. I don’t hold much confidence that interim coach Eric Studesville will be the head coach in 6 games, so when the next guy comes in, what can he do to right this ship? Here are the suggestions for fixing the Broncos that seem so obvious from my couch:

1 – Bring in experienced GM/Personnel guy. Bowlen fell into the same trap with McDaniels that he did with Shanahan: he gave all personnel decisions to a coach who shouldn’t have that ability. The biggest errors of the McDaniels era were errors of impatience: trading for Brady Quinn, trading up for Alphonso Smith, trading for Lawrence Maroney. These were knee-jerk reactions to a perceived weakness. An experienced presence with ultimate personnel decision authority might be enough to bring cooler heads to the table before pulling any more of these mistakes. (Note: I specifically don’t mention the Cutler and Marshall situations because I am still glad that Jay Cutler is gone and B-Marsh is a self-destructive cancer that overestimates his ability. I don’t miss either of them).

2 – For God’s Sake keep the Defensive Coordinator: the Broncos have hired every marginally qualified defensive coordinator in the country at some point over the last several years. At some point, it isn’t the schemes that are the problem. All of this churn is causing more problems than a bad alignment on a 3rd down. Give the players an opportunity to learn and get comfortable in a system. Rather than finding yet another coordinator instead spend the time and energy on finding some more players. Dumervil returning next season will help the abysmal pass rush, but he needs a partner on the other side, so he can’t be double-teamed. The linebacking corps has had more cast changes than Saturday Night Live over the last couple of seasons – either settle on a quartet and let them gel or go find another player. Brian Dawkins is like a 5th linebacker at safety but at his age, if he is helping stop the run game, he is not helping defend the pass. Find a safety that can play centerfield so the team doesn’t give up so many long plays down the middle of the field.

3 – Take a breath on the offense: There is a single word that best describes the offense: young. This unit needs time more than any further changes. 2 rookies on the offensive line. A rookie wide receiver (who needs to get and stay healthy). A 2nd year running back. The team has talent, now they just need time. This is where the patience comes in. The next few weeks will determine if the offensive line is going to grow together. Yesterday, they finally showed how good they can be in the run game. If they can continue to come together over the remainder of the season, the biggest weakness can become a strength. We saw a glimpse of what Knowshon can do yesterday when he has a chance. Demarius Thomas can be B-March v2.0 (now without the team killing attitude!). If Lloyd can continue his play and Eddie Royal can settle into a Wes Welker slot role, the passing game can remain strong. As for the man passing the ball…

4 – Try out Tebow: Let me be clear on something first: Kyle Orton is the least of the Broncos problems. He is the sole reason they have even won as many games as they have this season but at some point Tebow has to get a turn if for no other reason than to shut up the morons ignorantly calling for him every 10 minutes. I may have been clear on my concerns about Tebow since before the season, but the Broncos spent a first round pick on him. They clearly believe in him more than I do. With this season lost, now is an opportunity to see what they have in him. Let him play a considerable portion of games the rest of the way (2^nd half at Arizona. Home vs. Houston would be good opportunities). Not only is it a great marketing move, thanks to the freakishly devoted Jim Jones-esque cult that has formed around OLASTT, but at some point it is time for Tim to sink or swim. Orton is still under contract through next season, he is mature enough to understand it will be his job to lose (unless Tebow comes in and dominates like he is playing against the Florida non-conference schedule). If Tebow really is a quarterback worthy of first round draft pick, now is a consequence-free opportunity for him to show it. If he demonstrates he is still too immature (or just isn’t good enough), Orton is waiting in the wings.

The next coach of the Broncos has a bigger mess to clean up than someone buying a home that was foreclosed on 4 years ago.

Clean out the mess though and it is still a nice house.

A single word like betrayal may sound like the name of some lame movie starring Clive Owen or Kurt Russell but in this case it isn’t. It is instead the feeling of every Bronco fan today.

We feel betrayed.

I feel betrayed.

I didn’t come into this season with visions of a great Bronco team. I knew there were holes – especially along both lines and in the running backs – but I saw enough talent to envision another season defying the skeptics that pegged this as a 4-12 team. If last year’s team could go 8-8, with offensive players learning a new system and defensive players ill-equipped for the positions they were being asked to play, then that should be the absolute floor for this team.

Even after last week’s heartbreaking loss to the Refs, I mean Jets, I held out hope that this team could compete in the lackluster AFC West.

And then the Raiders came in and put 38 points on the Broncos in the first half yesterday.

There is no excuse for what transpired yesterday at Mile High. Darren McFadden ran through the Broncos defense like they were Mississippi State. Actually that may be an insult to Mississippi State. If McFadden had looked that good against the SEC he would have won the Heisman.

The Broncos just didn’t show up yesterday. They were out-coached, but more importantly out-played. There were no grand schemes on the field that they weren’t prepared for. They just got beat: they took a shot right to the face and called off the fight faster than Brock Lesnar the night before.

But this isn’t meant to excuse the coaches. Beyond the X’s and O’s it is a coach’s job to motivate and inspire effort. There was none yesterday.

I have been the biggest McDaniels cheerleader in the 303 area code since the day he arrived at Dove Valley. Tired of the Shanahan mediocrity express I was excited for a fresh, young mind to take over a stale franchise.

The 6-0 start and more importantly the team’s enthusiasm re-enforced all of those feelings. Even after dropping to 8-8 I was still a believer.

But that is out the window now. What that team did yesterday should never happen.

Could it have been an arrogance that came from last week’s near win against the Jets? Could the coaches and the players felt that they didn’t need to play their best to beat the lowly Raiders?

One thing that McDaniels has proven repeatedly is that he is not short on confidence. In most cases, it has served him well (I shudder to think what Jay Cutler would have done in that situation yesterday), but if his confidence tipped into arrogance yesterday and lead to that abysmal effort, than he needs to wake and grow up quick.

I am not one of those knee-jerk morons ready to fire McDaniels and bring back Shanahan – I have seen that movie and know how it ends. Nor am I about to lay the blame at the feet of poor Kyle Orton. Last I checked he isn’t responsible for stopping the run game of the Raiders or find the run game for the Broncos. The only logical excuse I can come up for those idiots chanting for Tebow during the game yesterday was that they wanted him to come in and play Safety and actually tackle McFadden.

I can only hope yesterday was a wake up call to coach and players. You can’t come out, sleep through a game and expect to win.

I am not ready to call an end to the McDaniels era. But for the first time, I can imagine a time when I would be.

I used to live in D.C. so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. However, there was always one thing that made me laugh: the utter overreaction to bad weather. When I lived there, Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland once declared states of emergency 2 days before a hurricane arrived. When snow hits, the entire city shuts down for days. Even Sasha Obama thinks it is a little pathetic.

So, I guess if a few snowflakes can send the city into a near hysteria it shouldn’t be a surprise that the arrival of supreme egomaniac/legendary coach Mike Shanahan would unleash some sort of frenzy.

However I was not expecting them to pick up a Pro Bowler from their division rival, potentially overturning the entire NFC East in the process.

As I have already discussed, I think any team would be lucky to get McNabb. To give up the 37^th pick this year and a 3^rd or 4^th next year for the opportunity to have a proven winner come to town and lead a talented team that has been lacking direction and leadership? Not to mention the giant chip on Donovan’s shoulder coming from being dumped by his team to a division rival.

For the record, last year’s 37^th pick was Alphonso Smith to the Broncos. Please raise your hand if you would rather have Smith or McNabb?

Mrs. Smith, please put your hand down and stop lying.

If you want a sneak peek into what McNabb has in store for him in Washington, just look back at Jake Plummer. An erratic veteran quarterback is brought in by Shanahan to jumpstart a rebuilding effort. While he makes the team more successful, his unforced errors and outspoken personality slowly grates on control freak Shanahan until Mike is forced to go out and draft a high profile successor all but ensuring the veteran spends the following season with one eye on the pass rush and one on his back-up.

The price that the Redskins paid and whether Andy Reid and Howie Roseman made the right move by going all-in on a 4^th year pro will be debated endlessly until the season starts but that overlooks the two most interesting questions to come out of this entire transaction:

Question #1: What does Mike Shanahan not see in Jason Campbell?

Campbell has not exactly set the league on fire since being drafted by the Skins in the 1^st round of the 2005 draft but his passer rating has improved every season (76 to 86 in four years) amidst the national disaster that has been the Redskins. In four years he has had two separate head coaches and 3 or 4 offensive coordinators. Is it a coincidence that in his fourth year in the league and second under Jim Zorn he had his best season? Wouldn’t another year of maturity, some tutoring by a guy who fancies himself a Quarterback guru and a little more stability in offensive play calling only be good things for Campbell?

I don’t know what Shanahan didn’t see in Campbell but you have to imagine that some other team is going to be more than happy to pick up Campbell on the cheap and let him mature into a decent quarterback. Was McNabb an upgrade over Campbell? In the short term, if he can stay healthy, yes. However, out of all the areas of work needed by the Redskins was the guy who completed 64% of his passes for 3,400 yards really the most pressing need?

Question #2: Was this one last middle finger by Shanahan to his old boss in Dove Valley

Shanahan left his long tenure as Bronco head coach in less than perfect circumstances, being fired days after the completion of yet another mediocre, underperforming season. I like to think he was fired for not being willing to cede some authority over personnel decisions, an area where he distinguished himself through his ineptitude but, regardless, it is not hard to imagine some wounded feelings buried inside that leathery little body.

With the move to get Donovan McNabb for the Redskins, Shanahan has placed an ‘EVERYTHING MUST GO’ sign on Jason Campbell’s locker only a few weeks after his former compatriots in Denver went out and traded for Brady Quinn, another young quarterback with a poor record and lots of ‘potential’. Am I the only one that would think before signing Quinn, Josh McDaniels may have reached out to the Skins to check on Campbell’s availability? Is it too much of a leap to think Shanahan told the Broncos he wasn’t available (when he obviously would have been) merely out of spite? Could a grudge by Shanahan have been enough to keep him from trading Campbell to the Broncos even though, he knew Jason was already a Dead Man Walking in D.C.?

It is an unconfirmed fact that McDaniels talked to the Skins last year about swapping Cry Baby Jay for Campbell. Given that history, before sending (Shanahan favorite) Peyton Hillis and draft picks to Cleveland for Quinn this year, don’t you think a call would have been made to Redskins HQ to at least check on Campbell’s availability once again?

If you ask me, Shanahan decided that a decade of drafting busts and attitude problems didn’t do enough damage to the Broncos.

He couldn’t pass up one last opportunity to give them a short, tanned, leathery middle finger.

You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn

Bob Dylan (as recorded by Manfred Mann)

 My first indication that something happened last night was an email from the Shadow blaming me. He saw my inflammatory Notre Dame article as the karmic fuel that last night sent Brady Quinn to the Broncos for ‘Tyler Hanbrough effect’ fan favorite Peyton Hillis and a couple future late round draft picks.

So do I feel guilty about possibly being the cause of this trade?

No, because it is a great trade for the Broncos.

I am not the biggest fan of Quinn. I have maintained since his Golden Domer days that Quinn was a mediocre quarterback who relied on bigger, stronger wide receivers to get open and make him look good. However, let’s face it. He was in a no-win situation in Cleveland, which come to think of it, is really the only situation in Cleveland.

He was surrounded by little talent, both on the field and in the coaches’ offices. He was going into his fourth season under coaches Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini, two rotted limbs that fell off the Belichick coaching tree and have shown no leadership ability since leaving Bill’s womb that doesn’t involve crying uncle to the NFL that the other team is cheating.

Quinn’s best receiver in Cleveland was either stone-hands Braylon Edwards or rookie Mohamed Massaquoi who was only an average receiver catching passes from Matthew Stafford in the run oriented SEC.

By the way – apparently the brass at the Browns doesn’t read PFB. I can’t be the only one that sees Jake Delhomme starting for the Browns as the worst idea since someone asked Sarah Palin to write a book. Playing against better defenses with worse talent around him? Someone get Vegas on the line. Whatever the Over/Under is on number of interceptions for Delhomme next year, I will take the over.

Will Quinn come into Dove Valley, blow away the coaches and take over the starting role from Kyle Orton? Probably not. Will he be a better back-up than Chris Simms? We can only hope. If he finally gets the apprenticeship denied him in Cleveland and learns from a quality quarterback coach and quarterback that has started (and won) for several years than he can only get better.

Even if Quinn demonstrates that his ceiling as an NFL player is to be Steve Beuerlein, a mostly career back-up that can start in the pinch and is on occasion traded to a team convinced he can start , than Quinn will be a success for the Broncos.

The best thing about this trade is that the Broncos gave up nearly zero for him. Despite the constant pleading of the fan base, Hillis was never going to see significant playing time for McDaniels. Even as the running game faltered late last season, Hillis remained on the bench.

While the fans calling for Hillis to play seemed to have an unspoken (maybe even unconscious) reason for wanting to see Peyton play, McDaniels likewise had an unspoken reason for not playing him.

Whatever the reason, Hillis was never going to be a factor in the Broncos backfield. Whether his one good game as a rookie warranted an opportunity or not, can be debated forever.

After Hillis all the Broncos gave up was a 6^th round pick and a conditional pick. Yes, the 6^th round is special to Bronco fans, thanks to the gift from god named Terrell Davis; but since T.D. descended from heaven to play for the Broncos, the 6^th round has brought players like Greg Eslinger, Chris Myers, Traindos Luke, Josh Sewell and Aaron Hunt. The best players drafted by the Broncos in the 6^th round since 2001 are Jeb Putzier and Spencer Larson.

Whether Quinn comes in to hold a clip board or ends up taking Orton’s job under center, I would much rather have him than someone with as much of an impact as those guys.

So blame me if you want. My only response will be:

You are welcome.

The Indianapolis Colts are still undefeated after playing the Broncos this past weekend. Not exactly breaking news, I realize. But what you may not have realized is that there are people arguing that the Broncos also (sort of, kind of) won.

Yes, we have entered in the murky world of moral victories, a long time favorite cliché of sports writers to describe a loss more painful than an expected drubbing would be. As a fan, a moral victory often doubles as a soul-crushing loss where an underdog team plays just well enough to get your hopes up before ultimately failing to win (see Florida State at Miami 2002).

After pulling themselves out of the resulting fetal position, a fan will start to talk themselves into the loss being a good thing. The team played well, they hung in there, they showed grit, just a couple lucky breaks from pulling out the shocking victory, they may not have won this one but they are surely going to win next time – yadda, yadda, yadda. It is the language of the optimistic loser.

And of course I know of what I speak – look at any of my postings regarding the Seminoles.

My first problem with this line of thinking is the linguistic problem of calling something a moral victory. I don’t think you can use the term victory when they in fact lost – it isn’t like the Broncos’ record is now going to be 7-4-1 like they had on overtime loss in hockey. And what do morals have to do with anything? He played great in a loss so all of Brandon Marshall’s off field transgressions are forgotten? Does that make Peyton Manning immoral? If that is the case, is every loss by BYU by definition a moral victory? Interestingly, there seems to have been an entire alternative definition of moral created just to support the phrase. How can I get that kind of help when I make up non-sensical phrases – like The Sproles?

So, putting aside the literalness of my issue with declaring a moral victory, was the Broncos game, something that had ‘psychological rather than physical or tangible effects’?

Actually, yes.

Bronco fans remember the trips to Indianapolis under Mike Shanahan. Games where the Colts put up 40 plus points and the Broncos got lucky to get to double digits. Those games were over before Archie Manning had even reached his RCA Dome suite.

This game looked to be the exact same story when the Colts marched down the field with the first two drives and had 14 points before the first update came across the screen from another game. Then a funny thing happened on the way to a blow-out.

The defense started slowing down the Colts, started getting turnovers and the offense started moving the ball. Sure there were mistakes that ultimately cost them the game (turnovers, penalties, and Eagles-esque inability to gain a yard on 3^rd and 4^th down), but when the Broncos scored to make the 21-16 mid-way through the fourth quarter, there must have been a few moments of concern in the Selling-Our-Souls-to-the-Oil-Based-Devil Dome.

If the playoffs seeding were to remain as it currently stands, the Broncos would go to New England for the first game (the only NFL team imploding quicker than the Cowboys and a team that the Broncos already beat once, back when Randy Moss still gave a crap). If they were able to beat the Pats, they would then return to Indy to play the Colts again.

Most likely that Colts team would have not played a full-length, meaningful game since…well last Sunday, while the Broncos will have won at least 3 of 4 do-or-die games. You think there might be a little rust on that offensive machine that scored 14 points before the knees of the Broncos ‘veteran’ secondary had even stopped creaking and popping?

If in the next (hypothetical) meeting, if the Broncos keep the Colts from starting fast and already have some idea how to move the ball on the Colts defense (and learn how to gain a yard when necessary), you don’t think that this Broncos team has the confidence and talent to shock the country?

So, while the Broncos did lose the game, fall a game further behind the Chargers and get a game closer to the rest of the Wild Card mob, it is hard to argue that this wasn’t a positive for the Broncos. They exorcised the Indy demons (a little) and convinced themselves they could slow down the best offense in the AFC and move on the Colts defense. If these teams meet again that has to bring some positive ‘psychological rather than physical or tangible effects’.

I am sure that the Broncos coach agrees with that.

“When you lose, you lose,” McDaniels said after the game. “There’s no moral victories in this league.”

Oh.

Nevermind.