Denver Broncos: Despite Humbling 45-10 Loss to Patriots, Season Still a Success

It's been a few days since the Broncos lost in humiliating fashion to the New England Patriots in front of a national prime time television audience on Saturday night.

This game wasn't just a blowout; it was an absolute slaughter-fest.

After the Broncos cut the deficit to 14-7 on Willis McGahee's touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, it appeared as if there was a glimmer of hope that the Broncos would be able to contend in this game.

I mean, hell, what set up the touchdown in the first place was Tom Brady's interception to Quinton Carter which was returned all of the way to the New England 24 on the previous Patriots offensive drive. The Broncos weren't even able to force a turnover throughout the entire game vs. the Patriots in their Week 15 matchup.

On Denver's first two drives, they had moved the ball respectably.

The Broncos had marched 39 yards down the field to the NE 37 on their first drive, putting themselves in field-goal range, before Tebow was sacked from his blind side for a fumble that was recovered by the Patriots.

On their second drive, the Broncos had moved the ball 31 yards from the DEN 17 to the DEN 48 before punting the football.

After Denver's third drive, which saw them score a touchdown off a Brady turnover, it was all downhill from there.

The Broncos were dominated. They were outmatched. They were exposed as a team that's good enough to get into the playoffs, but not a team anywhere close to winning a Super Bowl.

Brady threw six touchdown passes, all in the first 34 minutes of the game. If he really wanted to, he could have thrown for 10 touchdowns.

That is not an exaggeration—that's the truth. That is how non-resistant Denver's defense was all game long.

Rob Gronkowski caught three touchdowns to tie the single-game postseason record, while the Broncos couldn't generate the least bit of a pass rush.

Tebow turned the ball over just one time. That was about the extent of positive things you could say about Tebow in this game.

After having a stellar game against the Steelers in what was possibly the finest single-game performance of his young NFL career, he reverted back to how Tebow looked in the last two games of the 2011 season.

He looked indecisive, unwilling to throw the football and take chances and constantly ran around like a headless horse hoping that there would be a play to develop somewhere.

Only problem was, there wasn't.

The offensive line was terrible when it came to pass-blocking. They had been bad all season long when it came to this department, giving up 34 sacks since Tebow became starter in Week 7, which led the NFL in that department.

The receivers dropped passes. What else is new?

The sad thing about this game was the fact that there wasn't a single person to blame. There wasn't a single unit to blame. It was an all-around collapse.

The defense offered no resistance. They were embarrassed on the playoff stage as they were by Peyton Manning in a similar fashion back in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs. They couldn't generate a lick of a pass rush after all of the hype Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil received throughout the season.

The offense was pathetic. In the fourth quarter, with four chances to punch it in from three yards out and down 45-10, the Broncos still couldn't score.

It was one of the most humiliating efforts in franchise history.

It got so bad that Belichick had no problem punting the football with Brady on a 3rd-and-3 with a little over two minutes remaining instead of trying to run the clock out with his offense. He basically said to the Broncos that they were of no threat to move the football.

And he was right.

Having said all of that, having ripped apart the Broncos for this game, it still doesn't take away from the season that was 2011.

In what was one of the most exciting seasons to be a Broncos fan, we witnessed a lot of ups and downs.

We witnessed our team go 1-4 under the direction of Kyle Orton, only to have our season revived by the insertion of Tebow into the starting lineup and the rising of a defense led by a rookie in Miller.

We became just the fifth team since 1970 to start a season 2-5 and still make the playoffs.

We managed to go 4-0 in overtime games in a single season, an NFL record.

Denver managed to have six fourth-quarter comebacks in a seven-game winning stretch. Remember the miracle in Miami? Remember the Marion Barber game vs. Chicago? Remember the Thursday night spectacle vs. the Jets?

For a team that was the second-worst team in 2010, for a team that had such low expectations coming into the season, for a team that had started off with a terrible record yet again in 2011, this season was more than we could have ever expected.

We made it to the playoffs. We won a division title. We hosted a playoff game. We won a playoff game.

If I had told you we would have made it to the divisional playoffs before the season started, you would have looked at me like I was insane. And that is what shouldn't be lost in this painful defeat.

Despite the debacle that was Saturday night, the Broncos had a great run in 2011.

The focus and attention now shifts to 2012. The Broncos will no longer be under the radar. They will no longer be the hunters.

They'll be the hunted.

It is up to this organization, from the front office to the coaches all of the way down to the players, to improve enough to prevent what happened against the Patriots from ever happening again.

2011 was a great season despite its ending.

The question is, how will 2012 end?