The first day of training camp is like wearing a pair of new shoes. Everything sparkles.
In a few months, though, scuffs appear. Depending on the maintenance, the quality, they will last. Or you chuck ’em.
Which brings us to the Broncos.
Oh, they know plenty about sparkling. At the start. For the last few seasons, they have kicked their way through the NFL, at the start, in imposing fashion. They have won their season opener the past four seasons. In the past two seasons, they began 5-1.
Then funky things started to happen in the season’s second half. At the end of the past few seasons, the Broncos’ kick has turned into a limp.
Nothing against the opening day of camp – fun time, a ritual to celebrate, and the Broncos do it today along with New England, San Diego, Kansas City, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, the Jets and the Giants.
But my mind is on Games 9 through 16. I am talking mid-November, when the second half of the season starts at Oakland.
Sure, the Broncos play the recent Super Bowl participants early. They have two divisional games in the first half.
But the Broncos know how to start a season.
They must prove they can finish one. That they have staying power. And somehow they need to make that a focus of this first practice and ensure it lingers.
In the take-one-game-at-a- time NFL, this is thinking that requires vision.
I bet Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has twirled the thought in his mind. In the past three seasons when the Broncos made the playoffs, his team was 5-3 twice and 7-1 once in the final eight regular-season games. In the two most recent seasons it did not reach the playoffs, they went 3-5 and 4-4.
Teams that finish strong in the final eight games usually do something noteworthy in the playoffs. Philadelphia and New England in the past five years have 31 and 30 victories, respectively, in their final eight games. Detroit and Arizona (both with only 11 victories) are the worst over that span, and Dallas (14-26) ranks fifth among the worst. You know Dallas coach Bill Parcells is looking at this and asking some tough questions.
Is it conditioning?
Is it confidence?
Is it injuries?
Is it depth?
Are they really just not good enough?
No NFL team wants to consider the last possibility, and if it starts the season with that in mind, it is guaranteed a lousy finish.
The Broncos say they believe they are good enough. Good enough to win their division. Good enough to compete deep into the playoffs.
It is not going to happen without a strong finish.
The Broncos’ final eight games include two against Oakland. The Broncos host the Jets and then four days later play at Dallas on Thanksgiving. After Dallas, they play at Kansas City. Then Baltimore comes to town. The Broncos have a Dec. 17 game at Buffalo, quite lovely. They finish the regular season at San Diego. They have five road games in the final eight games.
If a team does not gear up for that, it could start 8-0 and find itself 8-8. And there is a definitive split in the Broncos’ season. They play eight games, have a bye and then play eight more.
The Broncos had better take a look at everything dealing with their staying power. Is the conditioning at top level in this training camp and beyond? Are they staying as fresh as possible through the camp, the preseason games and the first eight games of the regular season?
Some of it could be mind games. The Broncos start fast, pull away from the pack, start believing they are special and soon the pack catches up.
It is a fine line to dance, gaining the right amount of confidence. It is confidence that can help the Broncos win a couple of those late road games this season when the odds against them will be high. Confidence can be a great catalyst (i.e., New England won on a fluke here two seasons ago on an early November Monday night that proved to be the impetus for two more Patriots Lombardi trophies).
Enough fast starts and slow finishes force the Broncos to look beyond the glitz of simply getting back to work, to not just being happy about the first day of training camp but to seek more.
I have little doubt the Broncos will be in fine shape by the time they arrive in Oakland for the Nov. 13 game.
The issue is coalescing and parlaying achievement in their early sprint into the last laps. No NFL team has ever had a special season without staying power.
Staff writer Thomas George can be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
