Denver Broncos Retrospective: The 2009 Roller Coaster Season

Last year was a wild ride for the Bronco faithful. It swung the fans up and down the football emotions spectrum. There was hope, disappointment, disdain, confusion, and excitement.

And that was just the offseason.

It all began with the ousting of incumbent head coach and football guru Mike Shanahan.

After successive seasons of mediocre play, the time had come to part ways with the man who had built the legend of John Elway. Shanahan departed with two Super Bowl rings and innumerable playoff appearances.

The issue was that those Super Bowls were now a decade past and the playoff appearances had stopped happening.

Then there was the controversial January hiring of new head coach Josh McDaniels.

Having spent his past years molding the New England Patriots offense, it seemed like a logical hire for a team that was looking to bring together its young offensive talent.

Then Mile High waved goodbye to part of that talent when quarterback Jay Cutler was sent to Chicago in a blockbuster deal.

It was followed by a draft in which the only exciting move was the first-round selection of running back Knowshon Moreno. There was some Bill Belichick-like movement up and down the board.

Finally, it was time for OTAs and minicamps.

The excitement of a new season was building.

Fans were still confused about how the team had once had the promising Jay Cutler at the helm of the offense and was now stuck with the seemingly banal Kyle Orton.

Everyone was worried.

There was tension everywhere amongst Denver fans.

Then game one happened—and it brought with it the play of the year.

A tipped pass wobbles seemingly forever in the air until it lands in the hands of wideout Brandon Stokley. He charges down the field for the winning touchdown, and what seemed destined to be a loss was now a win.

There was nervous applause and cautious enthusiasm.

The wins kept coming.

There were six in a row! The fans, who had been taking the success game by game, shakily waiting for the outcome, were now truly able to hope. The team's defense was smothering the opposition. The offense was marching down the field with confidence.

There was plenty of jubilation to go around. Murmurs of playoff potential abounded.

Then the bye week happened.

What happened in that week off is beyond the understanding of the fans. All that is known is that the consequences were deadly for the last 10 weeks of the season.

Maybe it was stunting the momentum of a team on fire; maybe it was just a matter of coaching staffs catching up with the new strategies.

Whatever it was, it slowly crushed the confidence of the once hopeful squad.

The fans had to watch on as their team pulled out only two more victories down the stretch—and it was a terribly long stretch.

After all the hype and after all the hope, the season unraveled while fans clambered to hold on to the six-win streak in which they had once basked.

Then there was added tension between the head coach and a variety of players, including receiver Brandon Marshall and tight end Tony Scheffler. It was the breaking point for a team that had once luxuriated in the new genius of McDaniels and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. There was even reported stress in that relationship.

The season ended in a grotesque loss to their divisional rival, the Kansas City Chiefs.

After starting 6-0, the team had finished 8-8. The heartbreak amongst fans nationwide was palpable.

It hurt.

There were no playoffs, no consolation.

It was over.

The fans had known every potential feeling. They went from cautious to hopeful to confident to shaken to depressed to annoyed to frustrated to miserable.

Since then, plenty has happened. But that's 2010. With it comes a whole new chapter in the Denver Broncos history.

Here's to hope and hoping.

Good luck, Denver Broncos.

Please don't put me through another heart-wrenching season. It's actually bad for my health.