Denver fans are a stubborn bunch.  I should know. I was born and raised in the suburbs of the Mile High city, bleeding orange and blue with my father and all the other true Broncomaniacs for more than 20 years.  

While we are good at cursing the TV (or the field from the stands) when they make bad plays, we are just as passionate to cheer them on when they make good plays.

Fans of any professional sports team have every right to be stubborn, opinionated, and passionate.  Aside from home city pride, fans pay good money on professional sports franchises.  Just like paying taxes, that gives us a good reason to be extremely interested in the outcome of events.  

Not to mention, the expectations have been high in Denver ever since Elway started making the Broncos contenders, and they will probably never subside.

While I believe that we, the Broncos fans, should continue to exercise our criticism and passion in full throat, I must say this to my fellow Denverites out there when it comes to Josh McDaniels: Calm down!

Catchy new phrases have emerged since before Josh McDaniels donned the first hoody on the sidelines: McEgo, McPowerTrip, to name a couple.  

A lot of Broncos’ fans see Josh McDaniels as a Belichick wannabe, who wants nothing more than to prove himself to his mentor, and mimics him by cracking the whip of authority.

I see it much differently.  

When I look back on what turned out to be an extremely tarnished Broncos season, I see a coach who handled a lot of things very well and made some mistakes.  

I see a  rookie head coach trying hard to muster victories with a patchwork team that’s not quite “his” just yet.  I see a coach who was trying to make things work with the hand he was dealt.

Make no mistake about it—McDaniels was dealt a bad hand when he found out how much of a malcontent Jay Cutler really was.  

If all you read are the headlines, it would seem that Josh made a mistake when he tried to float a trade, and Jay was terribly offended.  

If you read between the lines, listen to comments, follow Adam Schefter, and know enough about Denver, it’s easy to make the conclusion that Jay was very unhappy after Shanahan and Bates were shown the door, and he had no intentions of staying.

In the midst of all of the chaos, McDaniels was still able to implement his system and get the offense rolling in one of the toughest NFL schedules in recent memory.  

Kyle Orton had his best season as a pro by far, and while it ended ugly, he proved he can be a factor in the Broncos successes.  Looking at stats alone, it’s highly doubtful that Jay Cutler would have done better for the Broncos, attitude issues aside.

In the midst of the chaos, McDaniels was also able to drastically improve the defense (compared to the last three seasons) by hand-picking potent free agents, insisting upon a 3-4 scheme, moving Dumervil to outside linebacker, and grabbing Mike Nolan as his top defensive coach.

McDaniels lit a fire under the team, and they played hotter than anyone imagined they would.  In retrospect, they overachieved and played up to the competition.  

But as NFL seasons sometimes go, the Broncos got too comfortable with their success, and they were simply outplayed in the fourth quarter of several games.  

The Broncos’ ugly final half of the season showed a lack of confidence.  Flashes of that once great competitive spirit were enough to keep them in their games against Indy and Philly, but not enough to win.  

The Broncos seemed to be ego-battered and bruised against the extremely weak Chiefs, and they lost big as a result.  Drama stemming from what the coach thought were poor attitudes didn’t help matters any.  

Josh McDaniels could have done more to build up the confidence and more to avoid four-game losing spirals two times in the season.  

But he’s learning on the job.  Coaches have to go through these experiences before they become great, and he is no exception regardless of his 6-0 start.  

Some Broncos fans are less forgiving, believing that McDaniels puts his ego ahead of the team, and wants to play the “power” card by benching former Shanahan players.

This belief severely lacks thought and is not backed up by reason.  Why would a rookie head coach, amidst a tough crowd and media in a sports town like Denver, want to bench some of his most talented players simply to show power?  Isn’t it more likely that he had a good reason?

Marshall has proved himself a “me first” player in numerous interviews and off-field activities.  He is clearly more worried about free agency dollars than Broncos wins.  

No one but the Broncos know for sure what Scheffler said or did, but it must have been enough to draw the attention of not only the coach, but the veteran leaders in the locker room.  

In several news sources, the veterans like Dawkins and Bailey have stuck up for their coach’s decision and have spoken out against the malcontent attitudes.

Denver fans should follow the lead of veteran players and all-around good guys like Dawkins and Bailey.  

They offer patience to the new coach and see a winning, fiery spirit on the sidelines.  

They understand that teams like New England don’t win three Super Bowls simply on talent alone, but on a great team chemistry with attitudes that promote gutsy, inspired play.

Perhaps McDaniels knows that better than any coach that Denver could have hired.  Perhaps he can instill these same values that worked so well in New England.

To all of the Josh-hating fans out there, give it a rest and give him the benefit of the doubt—for now.  It takes more than one year for a coach to cement his philosophy.  And he’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon, so is it worth the maddening screams?

Broncos fans, please keep bleeding orange and blue and cheering loudly. Cheer for the team, cheer for the coach, and hope that after next season Josh McDaniels has shown us why his system works—in the playoffs.

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