Welcome to my official Denver Broncos blog! I actually have two teams that I like, the NY Jets being the other, but I'm a die-hard Broncos fan. I've been a fan of the team since the 1991-92 season. During a playoff game in '92 against the then-Houston Oilers, I watched as John Elway-- on a fourth and long, with the game and season on the line-- escape pressure from a pass rush, and find Vance Johnson for a huge gain that kept their playoff hopes alive, as well as secure them a victory. The rest as they say, is history.
I've been a Broncos fan since. Actually, I watched football sparingly prior to that game, but even during that time, I took notice of John Elway. Back then, being a kid, and not knowing who was who, I referred to him as "No.7 with the orange shirt." John Elway is the reason I became a Broncos and football fan. More on that in another blog.
As we enter the 2017 NFL Draft set to take place next week, I decided to recap and give my take on their 2016-17 season, and where I see this team going moving forward. Entering the season as the reigning Super Bowl champs, they finished the season 9-7. Despite the winning record on paper, they fell short of playoff contention.
Obviously, I was disappointed. Even if they fell short of returning to the Super Bowl, I thought they were good enough to contend in the playoffs. You can imagine my frustration to see them be as inconsistent as they were last season.
Granted, they entered the season with a quarterback (Trevor Siemian) who was practically a rookie out there. Although he was technically in his second year, he didn't play at all during his actual rookie season. I mean, he took a knee to end a game, I can go out there and do that much.
Considering the situation he was in, receiving the torch from future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who went out as a Super Bowl champ, he went into the season under enormous expectations and pressure to guide the team-- with a historic defense-- back to the postseason, I thought he played well for the most part, but I'll save the rest for an upcoming blog where I'll give my full analysis on Trevor Siemian.
With Peyton Manning retiring, and Brock Osweiler-- who at one time was expected to be the heir apparent-- leaving for the Houston Texans in free agency, Siemian was the only QB on their roster before they traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for Mark Sanchez, by far the worst move by Elway so far in his time as a GM/VP, and they drafted quarterback Paxton Lynch in the first round later that April, which led to an open competition for the starting job between the three, which was won by Siemian.
Fast forward, the offense looked good for the most part at the beginning, but then reverted back to old habits that hindered them during their championship run. Trevor unfairly received a lot of blame for the offense's struggles. There were receivers dropping passes, the blocking was piss-poor most of time, and the run game struggled as well, especially after C J Anderson went down for the season.
Although the defense was still one of the best in the league overall, they didn't quite have the same tenacity that they had the year before, and it started up front, particularly-- in my opinion-- the game against the Cincinnati Bengals when Jeremy Hill ran roughshod on them in the first half. The run defense suffered miserably, finishing 28th last season, after finishing 3rd the season before.
Jared Crick gave a good effort, providing pressure and deflecting passes at the line of scrimmage at times, but the presence of Malik Jackson, who left for the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency, was sorely missed. Malik was quicker, more athletic and disruptive at the point of attack, and was a better pass rusher. Sylvester Williams, who went to the Tennessee Titans this off-season, wasn't consistent in holding up as an anchor on the front line.
They beat themselves in critical games (i.e. the first meeting against the Kansas City Chiefs, and against Tennessee), something they wouldn't have done the season before. Gary Kubiak, the head coach at the time, announced his retirement-- it's said that it was due to health reasons-- at the end of the season; they finished strong for him in the final game, defeating the Oakland Raiders 24-6.
They hired Vance Joseph as the new head coach in January. He has brought in an impressive staff, particularly bringing back Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator, and Bill Musgrave, who orchestrated the league's 6th ranked offense in Oakland, as the quarterbacks coach. Honestly, I was hoping for one of the two to run the offense, but he managed to hire them both. How the heck he did that, I don't know, but it was impressive.
This blog went a little longer than I anticipated, so again, more on Vance, the staff, and my take on the free agent acquisitions thus far, on another blog. Overall, I like where this team is headed as we embark upon the upcoming season. There are definitely improvements-- mainly the offensive line and the run defense-- that need to be made, but it's not in abundance. I would also like to see a solid WR3 in the mix. From what I've seen, I don't have confidence in the guys after Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas.
What that, I believe the Broncos will claim their fourth Super Bowl championship by this season's end. It's all about the four!
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