Denver Broncos Have Work to Do, but Maybe Not as Much as You Think

My first instinct is to gloat a little bit about my hometown New England Patriots beating the Denver Broncos.  Then I thought about it: If the Broncos had beaten the Patriots I wouldn't have much of anything to say, so I'll behave.  The Broncos lost but Denver fans should still be excited.  This season might be done, but there is hope on the horizon.

I bet, deep down, a lot of Bronco fans saw this loss coming—an 8-8 team is lucky to be in the playoffs, let alone the second round.  That shouldn't damper their excitement about their team too much.  No, it's no fun to watch your team lose, but take a closer look at the big picture.  It's all there, if you look hard enough.

Most of the pieces of a very good team are already in place.  Many teams would be lucky to have John Fox running the show.  The man did guide Carolina to a Super Bowl with a QB on the downside of his career.  They very well might have won that game if they had not been playing a Patriots team that was as good as any team has ever been.

As it is, Fox and his team only lost on a last-second field goal.  I hope the powers that be in Denver give him at least a couple more years to fill out the roster with players who fit his system.  The guy knows his craft; there is no denying that.

The Broncos also have a very good defense, if you hadn't noticed.  It was the defense that kept all those games close so that guy playing quarterback could perform his near-weekly heroics. W hat's his name again? 

If the games weren't close to begin with, would we even be talking about Tim Tebow and his comebacks?  Not to take anything away from what he did late in games this season, but it was the defense who provided him the opportunity.

On the offensive side is where it could get sticky.  We all know what Tebow did this year.  There is no need to repeat it hundreds of time; that cable sports channel did that for us—over, and over, and over until even people with no stake in the team or their games got sick of hearing about Tebow. 

The fact remains that no one really knows if Tebow can be a consistent NFL quarterback.  We all know about the talent and the intangibles and the drive, but he has yet to put it all together consistently.  Until the first-round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he hadn't even put it all together for a whole game. 

Even that win doesn't prove much.  A total of 316 yards is flashy, especially on 10 completions.  The problem is the other 11 passes that were not completed.  A completion percentage under 50 percent is not going to keep you in the lineup for long.  If not for the Steelers' arrogance defensively,Tebow wouldn't have been anywhere close to 316.

I'll be very surprised if the Broncos do not draft or sign another quarterback this offseason.  They need to, if for no other reason than to push Tebow even harder than he already pushes himself to improve.  This is a multimillion dollar business after all.  There is no room for sentiment when it comes to the starting quarterback. 

If Tebow can put it all together consistently, then he will be the starter.  If not, someone else will have the job.  Even if he doesn't end up the top dog, I'm sure he'll be on the field in some capacity; he's too talented a football player not to be out there. 

What would an opposing defense do if Tebow was lined up at tailback?  That's a scary thought for any defensive coordinator.

The rest of the offense is coming along nicely.  They did have a top rushing offense this season.  Willis McGahee may be getting a little long in the tooth for an NFL back, but he looks to have some left in the tank. 

As good as he was, you don't end up at the top of the league in rushing just because of one running back.  The whole offense has to be good at it, and they are.  Plugging in someone else at the position might cause a drop-off, but it probably won't be huge.  Another young receiver would be nice but what they have now will most likely continue to improve, if someone can get them the ball.

I know it's been a while since the Broncos have won anything, but there is reason to be optimistic.  They did win a division title in a horrible division, but they still won it.  They won it with a guy who is essentially a first-year starter who had very little training camp and a first-year coach who rebuilt the offense on the fly.  That right there should be a clue as to the potential the Broncos have.

It's probably hard to listen to an admitted lifelong Patriots fan give advice about patience.  I know it seems like the Patriots have been winning for a long time, but in reality, it's only been 11 years.  Before that, we Patriot fans were subjected to year after year after year of ineptness. 

There were whole seasons where the home games were blacked out because of poor attendance.  We had to wait through the 2-14 seasons and the bad coaches and horrible drafts and watch poor ownership make it all even worse.  We even had to wait while it was being decided if the team would stay in New England.  I know about waiting on a sports team.

Remember this Broncos fans: There is always next year.  Being a lifelong Red Sox and Patriots fan, I can get away saying that to anyone.  That's all we had for decades.  Broncos fans most likely will not have to wait that long.