Mile High Meltdown: Josh McDaniels Gets An “F” As Head Coach

After reading this morning that Brandon Marshall is being benched by Coach McDaniels, I couldn’t help but wonder; what the “hell” is going on in Denver.

In the first place, Mike Shanahan never should have been fired. He’s a Hall of Fame coach and an offensive genius. Besides from winning two Super Bowls, he revolutionized the game with his use of zone blocking with an undersized offensive line. It was so effective, that for a long time it seemed like any running back could be put in the backfield and he was guaranteed at least a 1,000-yard season.

In Shanahan’s last year in Denver, he put together an offense that was ranked second in the league and poised to take the next step to elite status. Had he stayed, the Broncos might have had the number one offense in the league this year.

It is true that he made some mistakes over the past few years. The worst sin he committed in Denver, was firing Larry Coyer, who is quietly working miracles in Indy this year, just like he did in Denver.

However, those aren’t the kind of mistakes that you fire a Hall of Fame coach for is it?

My take has always been that Mr. Bowlen should have taken the general manager duties away from Shanahan and kept him as head coach. Instead, the Broncos’ shocked the world when they fired Shanahan and took a huge risk hiring another one of Belichick’s coordinators.

If you stop and think about it, every coordinator that has worked for the Patriots has been successful, that is until they went to another team.

In fact, name one coordinator that has gone from the Patriots to be the head coach of another franchise, or college team, and been successful? That’s right you can’t, because there haven’t been any. Everyone of them has been unsuccessful and been fired.

Maybe Mr. Bowlen should have paused and thought about the success rates of ex-Patriots coordinators before he capriciously fired Shanahan and hired McDaniels.

From the minute McDaniels arrived in Denver, there has been nothing but drama from the Mile High City. From the way the Jay Cutler incident was handled, to Tony Scheffler, and now Brandon Marshall just to name a few, it has felt like the Three Stooges were running the show.

There is more to coaching a team then practicing, game planning, and being an “offensive genius.”  Part of being a successful coach, is getting the team to believe in you and your vision. It doesn’t matter what style you use to achieve it, it must happen, or all of the other stuff is for not.

This quality is something Bill Belichick has and it’s been a big contributor to him being one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game. It’s also the one quality that seems to be lacking in his underlings when they leave the roost.

Tony Scheffler, after the Broncos loss to the Eagles, expresses his frustration about his reduced role this season and then a few days later, without notice from the coach, without a man-to-man talk, the guy is sent to the practice squad?

Brandon Marshall is accused of exaggerating his injury and so he gets benched? This is the same Brandon Marshall that is going to the Pro-Bowl, is only the fifth wide receiver with 100 catch seasons, and who set a record in Indy with 21 catches in the game against the Colts.

This is also the same wide receiver who played all of last year with a tear in his hip and still put up 1,265 yards and six touchdowns. This year his stats are almost the same except that he has scored 10 touchdowns.

Now, all of a sudden, Brandon Marshall is not a team player? After all that happened in the offseason, all that unnecessary drama. All that belongs squarely at the feet of management because of the way they handled the Jay Cutler situation. This guy has done nothing but go out there and produce for his team.

Coach, Brandon Marshall is right when he says don’t blame me because of the way the season is unfolding.

The Broncos are heading into a game that they need to win to have a shot at making the playoffs. They are going into that game without Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler because the coach of the Denver Broncos doesn’t know how to deal with people.

McDaniels has created a working environment based on fear. Don’t think for a minute that doesn’t effect how the players perform on Sunday.

It is very likely that the Broncos will end up 8-8 again this season, not for a lack of talent mind you, but for a lack of a coach that knows how to treat players. Daniels doesn’t understand that to lead men into battle, they have to believe in you. They have to know when things get tough,their coach has their backs.

Nobody wants to fight for a guy that doesn’t take personal responsibility for his actions and his part in things. Who wants to put their life on the line (and in football that is not hyperbole), for a guy who isn’t man enough to even come talk to them when there is a problem.

Coach, if you want to turn this franchise around, then you better learn to be a man, like your mentor Bill Belichick, or guys like Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, or Jim Caldwell.

There is a reason certain teams are successful year in and year out; it has a lot to do with how they treat their players.

If you want to return the Broncos to their glory days, you better learn that soon, otherwise you’re just going to be another failed Belichick protégé.

 

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Denver Broncos Look to Make a Statement Before Even Taking the Field

Josh McDaniels wants to build a winning team in Denver.  Beyond that goal however, he has proven that he is a coach dedicated to building a winning mentality. 

With the Denver Broncos in a 2-7 rut following their early season winning streak, they find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture with one game to go.  The Broncos (8-7) will play a Kansas City team that has underwhelmed on the whole, but has proven capable of upsets over quality teams (having beaten a backsliding Steelers team in overtime in week 11).

For this critical game McDaniels elected to deactivate the team’s leading offensive weapon in Brandon Marshall.  He went a step further by making clear the move was not purely for health reasons, calling it “a coaching decision, not a medical issue.”

He elaborated by stating “our word for the week has been accountability. And we’re looking to put the 45 guys on the field on Sunday that want to play together, want to help us try to win and qualify for the playoffs, and anybody that showed any indifference to that, we’ll play without them.”

With their playoff life on the line, McDaniels elected to drill a point home to the rest of his team; anyone is expendable if they don’t show the proper fire and desire.  The chances of a second reconciliation in the offseason (after starting this year in a tumultuous fashion) are quite slim.

Marshall had complained of trouble with his hamstring, and maintained he would not have been able to go should McDaniels have left him active.  McDaniels disagreed. 

“There’s a number of players that are going to play on Sunday with things that are much more difficult to deal with than what he has,” he stated, taking care to drive the point home by making mention three separate times.

Marshall disagreed, but kept his comments milder than he had during the offseason, “I don’t think Coach ever played in the NFL, so for my hamstring to be feeling the way it felt, it’s tough for me to go out there and expect to play at a high level,” Marshall stated, “I’ve battled through a whole lot of injuries before. I played the whole year last year with a tear in my hip. So, I don’t think my toughness is in question here.”

One of Marshall’s major contentions during the offseason when making trade demands was how the team handled his prior injury.  He had claimed the extent of the injury was concealed from him, and that he was encouraged to play through the injury despite its severity.

When asked of McDaniels’ references to accountability, Marshall continued, “Well, accountability and injury is different, you know?”  He then added, “I pulled, well, I wouldn’t say I pulled my hamstring, it’s definitely not that bad, but it’s tough.”

Ultimately McDaniels contended that Marshall was putting self interests ahead of the team, possibly concerned with how a poor game might impact his value in the offseason at the expense of fighting to earn the team a playoff berth.

The 6-0 start behind a team thought to be beginning to rebuild was a signal to a changing culture.  McDaniels now has to fight the same second half woes that led to a collapse by Denver after an 8-4 start virtually assuring them the division collapsed into an 8-8 close that cost Mike Shanahan his job.

Will McDaniels’ far more hard-line approach ultimately benefit Denver?  That remains to be seen.  With a win Denver could earn themselves a playoff appearance, but in doing so they have likely just lost a pro-bowl wide receiver.

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Josh McDaniels: Denver’s Arrogant Ruler with an Iron Fist

Josh McDaniels is an interesting man.

At first look, the young head coach seems pleasant—he smiles at press conferences and speaks to the media in a straight-forward fashion—a far cry from his old boss Bill Belichick’s passive-aggressive approach.

McDaniels is obviously intense; a character trait that he’s showcased numerous times on the sidelines in his first year as the Broncos’ head man. After beating his ex-boss and ex-team in the New England Patriots, McDaniels ran down the sideline pumping his fist in excitement. During Denver’s Thanksgiving game the head coach passionately berated his players with a curse-word laden tirade—a tactic that arguably worked and hyped up the players who eventually pulled off the win.

But Josh McDaniels doesn’t always get the approval of all his players, something that if left unchecked could result in a perennial problem down the road.

From Day One of the McDaniels’ regime he’s made it known that he’s in charge and the Broncos are going to do everything his way. He hired Brian Xanders as GM and the two handed out double digit pink slips to former Denver players. He made it known that he thought Matt Cassell would be a better fit than Jay Cutler and ended up trading arguably the best player the Broncos had when he took over.

Then there was his month-long dispute with Brandon Marshall that got so ugly the receiver was showing his displeasure with the coach in skipping practices or showing up to show off his new found ball-batting skills.

But everything seemed resolved, or at least kept quiet for almost the entirety of the regular season, until now.

Marshall, who injured a hamstring in practice, is being benched by McDaniels. “He’ll be deactivated from the game Sunday. That’ll be a coaching decision,” explained the head coach at Friday’s presser.

When asked why the star receiver will be deactivated, McDaniels dodged the question saying, “Our word for the week has been accountability. We’re lookin’ to put the 45 guys on the field that want to play together, want to help us try to win and qualify for the playoffs and we talked about it as a group this Wednesday that’s what’s going to happen this week. Anybody that showed any indifference to that we’ll play without them and we’ll play well anyway.”

“We’re building a team. And if you have players that aren’t going to put that ahead of everything else then that can be detrimental to your club.”

“We’re all accountable to give our very best effort to Pat Bowlen, to this organization, to this city, to all the people that support us.”

“We’re playing Sunday with the guys that want to play, that want to be accountable to each other and want to help us accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

He repeated the last stanza around five times during the press conference when asked about any further details about Marshall, and when asked about why pass-catching tight end Tony Scheffler will be benched as well.

So the real question is this: What happened?

Scheffler was hurt when he heard the news of McDaniels shopping him in the offseason and he’s likely quite upset with the lack of opportunities to be effective within the offense. Really, Scheffler has a legitimate gripe as he’s only caught 31 passes and two touchdowns this season.

But McDaniels also has a point; football is a team game and selfish players have no place on his team.

As for Marshall, I’ve heard from multiple sources that the player said something out of line to the coach, although what exactly was said is unknown as of now.

And as McDaniels is making another stand while knocking the starters down a notch with his iron fist, he’s starting to leave a sour taste in the mouths of some fans.

Marshall and Scheffler are arguably the two best pass-catchers the Broncos have, and with Eddie Royal likely a no-play due to injury, Denver’s pass attack will be mediocre at best.

To think that “the offense won’t change,” as McDaniels said, is ludicrous, borderline arrogant and if the Broncos can’t produce points he will be questioned all offseason.

Besides that, McDaniels is showing that he may have a problem connecting and earning the respect of his players.

Could it be that McDaniels is too callous because he’s so driven toward the goal of winning a Super Bowl? Or could it be that McDaniels’ ego and desire for ultimate power are turning people against him?

Only time will tell, but if McDaniels can’t adapt and work on his interpersonal skills, he will be the one missing games after being shown the door by Mr. Bowlen.

 

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Playoffs Or Not, Broncos Exceed 2009 Expectations

As the New Year begins and the football season comes to a close, one cannot help but look back to the beginning of the season, and even the year, when the Broncos were entrenched in one of the most attention-getting and controversial offseasons in franchise history.

The Broncos had fired long-time head coach Mike Shanahan and in mid-January hired former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to replace Shanahan at the helm.

Little did we know what would transpire. A couple months following McDaniels’ arrival, rumors spread that the new head coach tried to trade quarterback Jay Cutler in a deal that would have sent former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassell to the Broncos.

The McDaniels-Cutler relationship soon disintegrated and the disgruntled quarterback was eventually traded to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Kyle Orton, as well as two first-round draft picks and a third-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

This trade spawned a myriad of negativity from the Broncos faithful as well as the entire football community. The Broncos were soon considered a mockery; their demise seemed imminent.

The Broncos offseason was not a complete disaster. Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan was brought in as the new defensive coordinator and the defense as a whole underwent an extreme makeover.

Additions to the defense included veterans such as safety Brian Dawkins, linebacker Andra Davis, defensive back Andre Goodman, defensive back Renaldo Hill and others.

The offense was also revamped. McDaniels brought in running backs Correll Buckhalter, Lamont Jordan and J.J. Arrington (who would eventually be cut). Wide receivers Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd were also acquired, not to mention the acquisitions of Orton via trade and rookie running back Knowshon Moreno as a first-round draft pick.

Possessing arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL the Broncos went into the 2009 season with less than attractive expectations. With their backs against the wall, the Broncos soon proved all the naysayers wrong as they began the season with six straight wins heading into their Week Seven bye.

Following the bye, they promptly lost their next four contests and were looking like the team everyone expected at the beginning of the season. They came back with back-to-back wins against the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs in Weeks 12 and 13. They proceeded to lose their next three games and are now in danger of missing out on the postseason.

However, even if the Broncos lose to the Chiefs on Sunday, and end up not making the playoffs, they will still finish at an even 8-8 on the season. Their defense, with one game left to play, has given up a respectable 280 points compared to the 448 points they rendered last season.

Kyle Orton has more than held his own this season and proven himself to be a very capable quarterback for the Broncos. Orton and wide receiver Brandon Marshall have established a potent Mile High connection as well.

Additionally, the Broncos are sending five players to Miami for the Pro Bowl in February, three of which are on defense. They had only three representatives in the Pro Bowl last year and they were all on offense.

Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game, the Broncos have overall been a pleasant surprise to their fans and it is hard to argue that they have not exceeded expectations this season.

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Broncos Bench Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler for Season Finale

It’s 2010, and already the Denver Broncos are in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Again.

The team announced today that wide receiver Brandon Marshall and tight end Tony Scheffler would be deactivated for Sunday’s finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.  Both players were benched with one common theme: accountability.

“There’s a number of factors that go into that, but there’s a lot of players that will play with things that are probably more difficult to play with than what he has.”

“Our word for the week has been accountability. We’re looking to put the 45 guys on the field on Sunday that want to play together. We talked about it as a squad on Wednesday that that’s what’s going to happen this week, and anyone that showed any indifference to that, we’ll play without them, and we’ll play well anyway.”

“Teams win late in the year,” McDaniels said. “If you have players that aren’t going to put that ahead of everything else, then that can certainly be detrimental to your club.”

“We’re all accountable to give our very best effort to Pat Bowlen, to this organization, to this city, to the people that support us, to each other—that’s what this is about.”

Seems a little late in the season to be benching big time receiving threats because of accountability, especially when the passing game is already enough of a liability as it currently stands.

Josh McDaniels is certainly making a statement, though nobody is quite sure if he is completely in the right here.  There obviously is something beyond accountability, because for the second year in a row, the Broncos have to win their last game to make the playoffs.

It would seem as though a team would want all hands on deck, especially two of your top receiving threats.  Marshall and Scheffler have allegedly put themselves above the team, and McDaniels feels the team is more important than winning, which is gutsy and borderline arrogant.

Brandon Marshall has been the team’s biggest offensive weapon this season, and has stayed out of the news for anything not positive.  He set the NFL record for receptions in a game, and is statistically having the greatest season of his young career, and he is doing it injured and knowing that no CBA agreement means he will not be able to test the free agent market.

On the surface, it seems Marshall has put the team before himself.  He has accepted his role, and he has taken advantage of opportunity.  Here is what Marshall had to say about the situation.

“He hadn’t really said anything to me. He just came in today and told me I was deactivated. I have to respect that. That’s the head coach. He makes the decisions around here, and he has to do what’s best for the team.”

“I don’t think coach ever played in the NFL, so for my hamstring to be feeling the way it felt, it’s tough for me to go out there and expect to play at a high level.”

“I played last year with a tear in my hip, so I don’t think my toughness is in question here.”

“When you have a muscle injury, that thing doesn’t heal overnight. I got to do my best to be there for the playoffs.”

“It has nothing to do with accountability.”

Clearly Marshall is unhappy with the situation, and he may have a point, but if what he is doing is enough that McDaniels has suspended him for the final game, there must be more to the story than what is being told.

No one can question Marshall’s toughness.  He misses offseason activities with regularity, but he constantly plays through injury.  Last season, he played with a bad hip and nerve damage in his arm. 

This season, he has battled various injuries to his hamstring, yet he hasn’t missed a single contest.

As for tight end Tony Scheffler, his situation is being characterized as an attitude issue, which comes as virtually no surprise.  Scheffler was vocal about the offseason situation happening in Denver in 2009.

With the deactivations, the Broncos will have to rely on Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, Brandon Stokley, Brandon Lloyd, Daniel Graham, and rookie Richard Quinn.

The Broncos are going to certainly need top tier efforts from all of these players on Sunday if they are going to take down Kansas City and prepare for postseason play.

It certainly would go a long way to erasing this awful start to 2010.

Read more Denver Broncos news on BleacherReport.com

Last Straw? Brandon Marshall Benched With Playoffs On The Line

As the second decade of the 21st century begins, the Denver Broncos have done a complete 360 degree turn and are right back where they started this past summer.

As training camp commenced last summer, Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall was demanding a trade and head coach Josh McDaniels was forced to suspend Marshall for the most of the preseason due to his antics during practices.

His idiocy started when Marshall “tweaked his hamstring” in a practice. He was then caught on tape punting balls away instead of just handing them off to ball boys like more mature players do.

Now it’s the first day of 2010 and here we go again.  The Broncos playoff hopes are on life support and Marshall once again has been benched by McDaniels.  It was reported earlier in the week that Marshall “tweaked his hamstring” during practice, but it seemed that he would good to go for the season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Instead McDaniels benched his Pro Bowl receiver and made it publicly known that some players playing Sunday have injuries that are worse than Marshall’s. In the situation earlier in the year, most fans stood on McDaniels’ side in how he handled Marshall’s childish behavior.

To quote the great Vince Lombardi, Broncos fans have to be asking “What the hell is going on out there?”

McDaniels and Marshall have once again engaged in a “he said, she said” public debate.  Marshall claims that since McDaniels never played in the NFL, he has no idea what it’s like to play hurt.  The player is watching out for his own health.  Marshall has been on his best behavior all year and should be given the benefit of the doubt here.

McDaniels, meanwhile, has said that this is all about accountability and that the team wants “45 guys on the field on Sun that want to play together,” and that “…anyone that showed indifference to that, we’ll play without them and play well anyway.”

Way to throw some of your players under the bus, coach.  It’s the most arrogant Belichickian statement McDaniels has made all season. In fact, benching his number one receiver for this season finale in which the Broncos still have a chance of making the playoffs is the dumbest move McDaniels has made all year. Herm Edwards needs to remind McDaniels that “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”

Now before anyone piles on McDaniels, there is a possibility there is more to this story that the media and fans do not know. McDaniels never shows his hand on these things and we saw a great example of this during the Jay Cutler fiasco last spring. 

It’s possible Marshall did something as stupid as what he did last summer and we just don’t know it. That said, in this age of YouTube, if something did happen we’ll know sooner rather than later.

Until then, Marshall is innocent until proven guilty.  McDaniels needs to produce some better evidence and fast or fans will be calling for his head. What started with whispers after the latest Broncos collapse will turn into screaming is McDaniels made this move without just cause.

Happy New Year Broncos fans.  It looks like 2010 will be a sequel to the soap opera that was 2009.

Oh, joy.

 

 

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Report: Denver Broncos’ Brandon Marshall Benched For Season Finale Vs Chiefs

The Denver Broncos‘ playoff hopes took a huge blow today after head coach Josh McDaniels said receiver Brandon Marshall will not play in the final game of the season.

The Denver Broncos, currently with an 8-7 record, are one of the many teams still alive for an AFC playoff birth.

Starting the season 6-0, the team has lost seven out of the last nine, and needs a win along with help from other teams to enter the postseason.

But McDaniels revealed Marshall—who is believed to have injured his hamstring during practice this week—will not line up against Kansas City, saying “several other players will play Sunday with injuries worse than Marshall’s.”

Marshall and McDaniels had their issues earlier in the season, but improved the relationship when the Broncos got off to the hot start.

With the Broncos now fighting for their playoff lives, they are now in a much tougher position, with Marshall being the most targeted player on the Broncos offense.

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Brandon Marshall Benched: Now Is the Wrong Time to Make a Statement

On New Year’s Day, the ugly immaturity that brought Josh McDaniels to national attention in the Jay Cutler saga showed up again.

This time, it might cost the Broncos a shot at the playoffs.

McDaniels announced Friday morning that he was benching the Broncos’ best offensive player, Brandon Marshall, for the team’s final regular season game because of insubordination.

Marshall reportedly tweaked a hamstring during practice on Wednesday and did not want to continue with practice.

These two have been at odds before; McDaniels suspended Marshall for most of the team’s training camp because of some inappropriate actions taken by the receiver during practice. Marshall is in the final year of his contract.

The two had allegedly patched up their relationship, and there were rumors that Marshall and the Broncos were talking about an extension, but that appears to be over now.

Marshall spoke to Denver media about the benching, reminding reporters that McDaniels never played professional football, and then claiming that he would handle this situation like a professional.

McDaniels needs to grow up. Quickly.

The Broncos are on the edge of making the playoffs this year, and Marshall is one of the biggest reasons why. He’s currently ranked second in the NFL with 101 catches, including his recent single-game record performance against the Colts.

Dogs urinate to mark their territory. When McDaniels ran Cutler out of town and then suspended Marshall in August, he was establishing his authority in the locker room. Not much difference.

There are times to make statements with players. When the playoffs are on the line, it’s not that time.

McDaniels will say that he learned this tough-guy act from Bill Belichick, who was recently in the news for similarly sending players home from a practice for which they arrived late.

Yet Belichick played Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas, two of the players in question, that weekend. And the Patriots are comfortably in the playoffs.

Denver has lost their last three games and will need a lot of help this weekend to make the playoffs, but this isn’t the NBA, where a draft lottery gives teams two levels of motivation at this time of year.

Benching your best player because of a personality issue and then watching games the second weekend in January is ridiculous.

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2009 Denver Broncos Team Awards

It has been a roller coaster ride of a season for the Denver Broncos, as cliche’ as it may sound. After starting 6-0, the Broncos were sky-high heading into their bye week. They had just gone on the road and beaten the San Diego Chargers, and were ahead in the division by 3.5 games.

Little did they know that history has a nasty habit of repeating itself.

Coming back from their bye week, the Broncos were absolutely crushed by the Baltimore Ravens, and a team that won six straight games to start the season has suddenly lost seven of its last nine.

The Broncos are on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture, and they need a win this weekend plus a little bit of help to get themselves to a place they have not been since the 2005 AFC Championship game.

Despite the inconsistency from the Denver Broncos as a unit, this team has achieved more than most anyone this past offseason could have ever anticipated. Many thought the Broncos would vie for the top pick in the 2010 NFL Draft after trading away former quarterback Jay Cutler, firing Mike Shanahan, and having a disgruntled superstar wide receiver.

The Broncos have served crow on a platter all season long, though lately they seem like the team many of those critics thought they would be.

Denver is one win and a little help away from a postseason birth, and here are some of the great players who have helped get them there.

Begin Slideshow

One Last Chance: Denver Needs Win against Chiefs To Sneak Into Postseason

After a 6-0 start, Denver Broncos fans certainly did not envision this scenario for their beloved team—win against the Chiefs in week 17 and maybe, just maybe you will sneak into the postseason.

For the second consecutive season, the Broncos have blown a three game lead over division rival San Diego for the AFC West title, and for the second straight year, the Broncos are arguably the most inconsistent team in the NFL.

One week, they will beat a team like San Diego on the road, and another week, they will lose at home to the lowly Oakland Raiders.

The Broncos have had their chances this season, no doubt about it.  It is foolish in the NFL to play the “what if?” game, but Denver could easily have locked up a playoff spot already.

If only they had not been the first team to lose to a threeinterception game by Peyton Manning and the Colts. 

If only they had been able to score from two yards out at home late in the fourth quarter against the Raiders. 

If only they had capitalized on golden offensive opportunities against the Philadelphia Eagles.

If only.

The Broncos have missed ample opportunities to clinch a postseason spot, and they have not taken advantage.  A team that once played like the best in the NFL now looks like the team that every analyst and critic thought they would be before the season started.

But they still have one more shot.

The Broncos can erase the bad taste of these last nine games (of which they have lost seven) if they can beat the Kansas City Chiefs at Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday afternoon.  They will not know whether or not they are destined for the postseason until late Sunday night following the conclusion of the Cincinnati/New York Jets game, one that is critical for the Bengals to win if Denver is to have any shot at the playoffs.

The Broncos have quite a few scenarios in which to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday, as both wild-card spots are up for grabs. 

In the early contests, the Broncos are big fans of both the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.  New England will travel to Houston to take on the Texans, and Miami plays host to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

If New England is able to win, they will all but eliminate Houston.  If Miami Wins, they will all but eliminate the Steelers.  Pittsburgh owns the tiebreaker against Denver from their head-to-head win earlier this season.

In the later games, the Broncos need to take care of their own business first and foremost and get rid of the Kansas City Chiefs, who are having an absolutely dreadful season.

Ironically enough, the Broncos also have to be huge Oakland Raiders fans, as the hated division rivals need to upset Baltimore in order for one of Denver’s potential scenarios to come true.  Here are the Broncos’ clinching scenarios:

Broncos clinch playoff berth with

DEN win +

1) NYJ loss + losses by BAL or PIT, OR

2) NYJ loss + HOU win, OR

3) BAL loss + PIT loss or HOU win.

Broncos can clinch berth with DEN loss and any combination of losses by

1) PIT + BAL + HOU + JAC, OR

2) PIT + BAL + HOU + NYJ, OR

3) PIT + BAL + JAC + NYJ, OR

4) PIT + HOU + JAC + NYJ, OR

5) MIA + NYJ + BAL + HOU + JAC.

It is not going to be easy for the Broncos, but the postseason is something they have seemingly been jinxed from for five years, ever since Darrent Williams died.  Denver can erase a lot of bad memories and make plenty of great ones with a victory on Sunday.

And of course, a little bit of help.

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