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As we await news on the Broncos coaching search, how about some Broncos news/trivia to distract us?
The Broncos finished the 2016 season at 9-7 and an OT period between the Dolphins and Bills away from making the playoffs. For us, 9-7 is a disappointment. Outside of Broncos fans, the narrative around the Broncos put them at 7-9 to 9-7 on the back of an outstanding defense and hampered by what a few out there cited as the league's worst QB situation. That narrative turned out to be partially right: the defense carried the Broncos to a respectable finish but it was the offensive line more so than the quarterback that was the Broncos undoing. A few of us here on this forum (me for one, CD was another) predicted if the Broncos fell short this year it would be the O-line that did them in and unfortunately it looks like we were right.
So with that said, my curiosity was piqued. 9-7 is good enough to get into the playoffs some years, other years not so much. This year the Lions and Texans both reached the playoffs at 9-7, with the Texans actually winning their division at that mark for the second straight year. Around the league, three teams over the years have finished the regular season 9-7 and reached the Super Bowl (1979 Rams, 2008 Cardinals, 2011 Giants) with the Giants going on to defeat the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl.
But for the Broncos, the 9-7 record has not been so friendly. Sort of how some of us view the 13-3 finish as a bad omen, 9-7 is even worse (probably in part because at least in a 13-3 season you have the enjoyment of a dominant regular season that a 9-7 season lacks). This year marks the 5th time the Broncos have finished 9-7 (the same number of finishes for 13-3).
Here's a rundown of the previous 9-7 finishes:
1983: Elway's rookie season saw the Broncos finish in 3rd place but back then it was easier for a 3rd place team to reach the playoffs as a wild card. Not that it did any good. The Broncos got waxed 31-7 @ Seattle Seahawks that year.
1993: Another 3rd place finish as a result of an OT loss to the Raiders in the season finale. That set the Broncos up for a 42-24 beat down by the Raiders the following week in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
2002: Brian Griese got the Broncos off to a good start but a mid-season slump ensured the Broncos faded down the stretch. The last week of the season the Broncos under the leadership of Steve Beuerline destroyed the Arizona Cardinals 37-7 even though they were already out of the playoff picture. The home crowd shouted "WE WANT JAKE!" referring to the Cardinals' Jake Plummer. The next year they got Jake and he went on to put the Broncos back on the football map from 2003-2005.
2006: The Jake Plummer era came to an end with the Broncos sitting at 7-4 but stagnant on offense and Jay Cutler waiting in the wings. The Broncos went into the season finale 9-6 and needing just a win or a tie against a bad 49ers team to reach the playoffs. The 49ers were able to kick a game winning FG in OT to end the Broncos playoff hopes.
2016: This one is fresh in our memories and needs no recap at this point.
So what makes this 9-7 finish different from the ones before? In my mind one man: John Elway. Not John Elway the player (he was around for the first two) but John Elway the front office mastermind. The John Elway that fielded a record setting offense, only to see it destroyed in the Super Bowl and two years later field a record setting defense that destroyed 3 of the top 4 offenses from the 2015 season.
We have questions at O-line, need to shore up the D-line, have a developmental QB and the future QB just finished his rookie season and now we have questions on the coaching staff. But this isn't a team that is going to wallow around in mediocrity or sub-par performances for very long. This isn't the 2003-2015 Raiders. This isn't the Kansas City Chiefs with 1 playoff win in 22+ years, including 8 straight playoff losses. This isn't the Browns, who clean house every two years. This isn't the Chargers, who can't even keep local fans interested enough to keep them in town. This isn't the Bills, who every few years flirt with a season over .500 but for the most part are perennially 8-8 or worse.
This is the Denver Broncos, a team that will content "from now on." And 2015 proved that at the highest level. Despite some frustrations week to week, I highly enjoyed the 2016 season for this reason: No matter what happens, the Broncos are and always will be SB 50 Champs. It seemed the pressure was off and from a fan perspective I could sit back and enjoy the ride this year. It turned out to be a bit of a reset. Some prognosticators said "rebuild" and that's funny because when most teams rebuild it's a 3-13 season. When the Broncos "rebuild" it's a 9-7 season and narrow playoff miss. And I have no doubt the boss man at Dove Valley will make the changes that result in improved performance in 2017 and the Broncos will be back to running the AFC West and being constant Super Bowl contenders.
So enjoy the off season, Broncos fans! Unlike a lot of fans, we have a lot to look forward to in 2017. There's a lot here to build off of and we know our team is run by the right man to pull it off!
Go Broncos!
The Broncos finished the 2016 season at 9-7 and an OT period between the Dolphins and Bills away from making the playoffs. For us, 9-7 is a disappointment. Outside of Broncos fans, the narrative around the Broncos put them at 7-9 to 9-7 on the back of an outstanding defense and hampered by what a few out there cited as the league's worst QB situation. That narrative turned out to be partially right: the defense carried the Broncos to a respectable finish but it was the offensive line more so than the quarterback that was the Broncos undoing. A few of us here on this forum (me for one, CD was another) predicted if the Broncos fell short this year it would be the O-line that did them in and unfortunately it looks like we were right.
So with that said, my curiosity was piqued. 9-7 is good enough to get into the playoffs some years, other years not so much. This year the Lions and Texans both reached the playoffs at 9-7, with the Texans actually winning their division at that mark for the second straight year. Around the league, three teams over the years have finished the regular season 9-7 and reached the Super Bowl (1979 Rams, 2008 Cardinals, 2011 Giants) with the Giants going on to defeat the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl.
But for the Broncos, the 9-7 record has not been so friendly. Sort of how some of us view the 13-3 finish as a bad omen, 9-7 is even worse (probably in part because at least in a 13-3 season you have the enjoyment of a dominant regular season that a 9-7 season lacks). This year marks the 5th time the Broncos have finished 9-7 (the same number of finishes for 13-3).
Here's a rundown of the previous 9-7 finishes:
1983: Elway's rookie season saw the Broncos finish in 3rd place but back then it was easier for a 3rd place team to reach the playoffs as a wild card. Not that it did any good. The Broncos got waxed 31-7 @ Seattle Seahawks that year.
1993: Another 3rd place finish as a result of an OT loss to the Raiders in the season finale. That set the Broncos up for a 42-24 beat down by the Raiders the following week in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
2002: Brian Griese got the Broncos off to a good start but a mid-season slump ensured the Broncos faded down the stretch. The last week of the season the Broncos under the leadership of Steve Beuerline destroyed the Arizona Cardinals 37-7 even though they were already out of the playoff picture. The home crowd shouted "WE WANT JAKE!" referring to the Cardinals' Jake Plummer. The next year they got Jake and he went on to put the Broncos back on the football map from 2003-2005.
2006: The Jake Plummer era came to an end with the Broncos sitting at 7-4 but stagnant on offense and Jay Cutler waiting in the wings. The Broncos went into the season finale 9-6 and needing just a win or a tie against a bad 49ers team to reach the playoffs. The 49ers were able to kick a game winning FG in OT to end the Broncos playoff hopes.
2016: This one is fresh in our memories and needs no recap at this point.
So what makes this 9-7 finish different from the ones before? In my mind one man: John Elway. Not John Elway the player (he was around for the first two) but John Elway the front office mastermind. The John Elway that fielded a record setting offense, only to see it destroyed in the Super Bowl and two years later field a record setting defense that destroyed 3 of the top 4 offenses from the 2015 season.
We have questions at O-line, need to shore up the D-line, have a developmental QB and the future QB just finished his rookie season and now we have questions on the coaching staff. But this isn't a team that is going to wallow around in mediocrity or sub-par performances for very long. This isn't the 2003-2015 Raiders. This isn't the Kansas City Chiefs with 1 playoff win in 22+ years, including 8 straight playoff losses. This isn't the Browns, who clean house every two years. This isn't the Chargers, who can't even keep local fans interested enough to keep them in town. This isn't the Bills, who every few years flirt with a season over .500 but for the most part are perennially 8-8 or worse.
This is the Denver Broncos, a team that will content "from now on." And 2015 proved that at the highest level. Despite some frustrations week to week, I highly enjoyed the 2016 season for this reason: No matter what happens, the Broncos are and always will be SB 50 Champs. It seemed the pressure was off and from a fan perspective I could sit back and enjoy the ride this year. It turned out to be a bit of a reset. Some prognosticators said "rebuild" and that's funny because when most teams rebuild it's a 3-13 season. When the Broncos "rebuild" it's a 9-7 season and narrow playoff miss. And I have no doubt the boss man at Dove Valley will make the changes that result in improved performance in 2017 and the Broncos will be back to running the AFC West and being constant Super Bowl contenders.
So enjoy the off season, Broncos fans! Unlike a lot of fans, we have a lot to look forward to in 2017. There's a lot here to build off of and we know our team is run by the right man to pull it off!
Go Broncos!
