Kind of sucks that it is SB win or bust.

[Broncosballer32]

That is basically what it is too. Unfortunately, Manning gets saddled with the 9-11 record in the play offs.

There is so much BS when it comes to prognosticators in sports (really anything). The fact is Peyton Manning has won a SB. He has been named SB MVP. What would Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Fran Tarkenton, Warren Moon, etc etc give for that fact.

The sad thing about it, is if any of those QBs did get one, it may not have effected their legacy. I guess. Although, I do find it interesting how Favre some how never gets lumped into the same type of thing as Manning. Is it me, or do they have somewhat similar play off records? Except, Favre made a real reputation of throwing real bone head passes in the play offs.

Anyway, the fact is not matter what Manning does, no matter what records he breaks, no matter how fun it is to watch this, it means nothing if there is not a SB win. At least that is the way I am seeing it.

That takes away from the excitement a little bit for me. Just a little.

 

[cdumler7]

Unfortunately this year it really is one of those all or nothing kind of things. I think 90% of the teams in the league would be happy just to be relevant and make the playoffs this year but for the Broncos and a handful of others teams obviously that is not enough. Only one team can win it all every year and it take a lot of luck and talent both to be able to do that. Look at last year against Baltimore...they ended up having to do something that had only happened once all year to the Broncos in completing a pass over 50 yards and they did it twice. Throwing up a hail mary to win it just doesn't happen everyday. Throw in some missed calls by the refs like the pass interference on the interception that was taken back for a touchdown and it really does take some things like that to happen in the playoffs to win it all.

Hopefully this year is the year for that to happen because if you actually look at Peyton in the playoffs he actually has been pretty darn good. He has played better than Tom Brady yet because Tom's teams have won 3 Superbowls to only 1 for Peyton he is considered the better quarterback of the two. Peyton has also had some major bad luck in the playoffs playing a higher ranked defense on average than Tom Brady has had to face in his career. Peyton has also lost I think all 3 coin tosses in overtime games that he has played in which gives the winner of the coin toss a huge advantage in the game. So again hopefully this is the year that all the stars align for Peyton as he deserves another one to secure his legacy as one of the 3 greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.

 

[Broncos6482]

I don't think it should take away from the excitement. Look, I think we all realize this season it's about getting to the Super Bowl. I know some of you probably think it's win the Super Bowl, but to me there are so many factors that go into winning a Super Bowl that with two evenly matched teams it often comes down to a little bit of luck. So the way I see it, when we say it's Super Bowl or bust, to me that means getting there.

Now back to my point. Since we all know it's Super Bowl or bust, I think that means we shouldn't sweat the small stuff during the regular season? Montee Ball has a fumbling problem? Ok, let's get that fixed before the playoffs. Receivers are dropping passes, or aren't quite on the same page as Manning? Get those issues worked out now. Defense is giving up too many yards and points? There's time to work through it.

Because here's the thing; regardless of what Denver and Manning do this season, they will be judged exclusively by what they accomplish in the playoffs. Manning could finish the season with 6,000 yards passing, 64 touchdowns, and no picks, and all we'll here is how he can't finish in the playoffs.

So I say just enjoy the regular season ride. It's a 16 game preseason for us, so we might as well not stress out too much about it and just enjoy it.

 

[cdumler7]

I agree Broncos6482. Right now every week we get the joy of watching history unfold before our very eyes. Too often people forget to enjoy what they are seeing until it has passed them by. The pressure of winning a Superbowl comes with being a great team and I can guarantee fans like in Jacksonville, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and other places that are going nowhere this season would much rather be in the place we are as a team and dealing with the pressure of cheering for a possible Superbowl Champion this year.

It definitely is nice for the Broncos have some opportunities to fix some of the problems they have. Montee Ball gets the chance to carry the football when the game is out of reach to work on his fumbling issue. The receivers and Peyton I am sure are working every week to make sure they are perfectly on the same page. The defense with the addition of Champ and Von become automatically that much better so maybe they don't even need to adjust much but just get two key pieces back into the lineup.

Here is to a historical season in Broncos history!

 

[Broncosr0k]

I think part of the SB or bust mentality comes from the devastating playoff loss last year and the fact that Manning has a short window. It is not like we have a young QB that is making this offense really great. We are also hitting our cap limits and have some young stars looking for new contracts in the next year or two. I think we will lose some guys we don't want to next year.

 

[cdumler7]

I think part of the SB or bust mentality comes from the devastating playoff loss last year and the fact that Manning has a short window. It is not like we have a young QB that is making this offense really great. We are also hitting our cap limits and have some young stars looking for new contracts in the next year or two. I think we will lose some guys we don't want to next year.

Who do you think we will lose? Right now looking at the list of key players it is Holiday, Woodyard, Beadles, Decker, Tony Carter, Ihenacho, possibly Moreno, and DRC. A couple of those guys are exclusive rights contracts but teams could push that number up on us if they want.

 

[JDM]

Favre doesn't get lumped in with manning because manning is head and shoulders above him.

Also, it's not just about losing. It's how he's lost. Few games can entirely be placed on one player, but if you go loss by loss, too many had a significant mistake from manning down the stretch (or a multi-pick game) as one of the key factors.

 

[Broncos6482]

Who do you think we will lose? Right now looking at the list of key players it is Holiday, Woodyard, Beadles, Decker, Tony Carter, Ihenacho, possibly Moreno, and DRC. A couple of those guys are exclusive rights contracts but teams could push that number up on us if they want.

Honestly I'd be surprised if the Broncos bring back Decker. Holliday shouldn't be too expensive to keep. However, I think the priorities should be Woodyard, DRC, and Ihenacho in that order.

 

[cdumler7]

Honestly I'd be surprised if the Broncos bring back Decker. Holliday shouldn't be too expensive to keep. However, I think the priorities should be Woodyard, DRC, and Ihenacho in that order.

I would agree that that order. Next in line for me would be Beadles over Decker. I do like Decker but I honestly think the Broncos could draft a new player or pick somebody up in FA for cheaper that could replace at least 90% of his production. Only reason I like bringing him back at this point is the timing with Peyton is probably best between the two over any of the other players at this time. I wouldn't mind bringing Moreno back either as the guy has been impressive this season. We are only 4 games in so I guess let's see if he can make it through a full season. I saw him showing he had some kind of stinger in the game on Sunday and got nervous that he was already done but he did come back in.

 

[Broncosr0k]

Honestly I'd be surprised if the Broncos bring back Decker. Holliday shouldn't be too expensive to keep. However, I think the priorities should be Woodyard, DRC, and Ihenacho in that order.

Those are my thoughts as well. Woodyard needs to be paid for all the effort he has put in for us. On top of that Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas will need contracts after next season. We need to make sure we have the room to pick them up.

Maybe Champ and Manning take a pay cut depending on where their priorities lie. I think they are our two biggest hit excluding Clady.

 

[cdumler7]

I know Manning is willing to take a Pay Cut or at least push things back on the contract to the point that he retires before we would have to pay him a ridiculous deal. Champ I think would be willing to as well if it meant another chance at a Championship. Both guys are class acts who seem pretty intelligent and my guess is they have saved up enough money to last a few lifetimes so now they are just playing for ending their legacies right with a Championship. We shall see I guess. John Elway has shown to be a master at the Cap so far bringing in talent for pretty cheap.

I also think Von Miller has helped us out with his stupidity in he has lowered his price at least a little. Every little bit helps.

 

[JDM]

I don't think Peyton will. He never has in the past.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Totally agree with the initial post. Alas, that is the price that we pay for the good fortune of having PMFM as our QB. Viewed in that light, it doesn't seem too unfair, does it? If the team does in fact come up short, which is obviously far easier and more likely than winning it all, I will simply console myself by knowing that all who seek to undermine PMFM really don't understand the extent to which football is perhaps the ultimate team sport and just how difficult it is to win a championship. Had to listen for years to how Elway couldn't win a SB, right up until he did -- twice consecutively! Hopefully PMFM ends his career on at least that high of a note.

 

[cdumler7]

I don't think Peyton will. He never has in the past.

He has been willing to move money around to help with the Cap. It is not a true Pay Cut but usually a reorganizing of the contract. He did the same thing this year with the Broncos giving them an extra few million in cap space.

 

[JDM]

He may do that. That just means you have to suffer when he is done, though.

At that point, it really is Super Bowl or bust.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Looking at the preliminary numbers, it looks like Denver will be about $9-10MM under it's cap for 2014. Keep in mind, this is very preliminary, and includes a rollover from 2013, since we currently have a little more than $9MM in space left over. So far Denver projects to have only $1.1 MM in dead money for 2014 too.

 

[WalkerBoh]

He may do that. That just means you have to suffer when he is done, though.

At that point, it really is Super Bowl or bust.

Why? Who's to say Osweiler won't rise to the occasion? After all, the Patriots didn't do a whole lot of suffering once Bledsoe was done in NE.....

 

[JDM]

I'm referring to pushing back cap hits until he leaves as has been referred to a few posts before mine.

 

[Broncosr0k]

If we push it back and he retires before that year do we still take a hit? I would expect a team to not have any pay obligation upon a player's retirement but I know very little about how this all works or the particulars of Manning's contract.

I just hope we do not see a roster purge like the ravens if/when we win the SB.

 

[cdumler7]

I'm referring to pushing back cap hits until he leaves as has been referred to a few posts before mine.

If it gets pushed back then he decides to retire before the big number actually hits the Cap then the Broncos are fine. It would mean that $20-30 million on the Cap opens up so in reality when he retires the Broncos should be able to go spend some decent money to bring in some players to surround whoever takes over at Quarterback.

Teams do this kind of crap all the time where they back load contracts to keep cap numbers low then redo the deal before the big cap numbers actually hit. Now yes sometimes teams like the Raiders got in trouble doing this by pushing too many players back then having to cut them because they couldn't all fit under the cap then got themselves into dead money Hell. If Peyton retires though the big number never hits the Broncos. It voids the rest of the contract.