The stench from the Miami opener has been replaced by normal breathing and optimism among the Broncos. Beating the Chargers prevented open wounds from infecting.
It gives the Broncos a pleasant reprieve.
It gives them a chance to look forward to butting heads with Kansas City here Monday night with the nation watching. A chance to match the Chiefs and give both 2-1 records. A chance to fix the offense, boost the special teams and continue to push the defense to center stage.
Based on their second-half showing against the Chargers, one of the most dominant you will see by a defense in the NFL this season, the Broncos’ defensive players know they have the ingredients to become everything they imagined.
Now comes the tricky part of coalescing on and of the field and making this defense, this team, these coaches and players, one impenetrable unit.
Coach Mike Shanahan already believes his team is on that road. I have no doubt, however, that he has already begun to investigate what exactly has been happening in the relationships between defensive coordinator Larry Coyer and his defensive assistants and players.
Shanahan has a hard time buying that several players were finding Coyer too gruff and inflexible and out of sync in his play-calling, thoughts they revealed last week. Shanahan understands, though, that sometimes in these situations perceptions become realities. Coyer and his defense jump-started their relationship in a new and positive way during halftime of the Chargers game, several players said.
What we should see happen is the veteran leadership on this defense take control of this situation and lead the group to achievement. No team that produced a special season did so without strong, accountable veteran leadership.
I asked Shanahan on Monday about linebacker Al Wilson reportedly changing the defensive calls in the huddle. Shanahan said this is not unusual, no different than a quarterback calling an audible.
Cornerback Champ Bailey said: “Al makes a lot of calls. You are always changing your defense every time there is movement on the offense before the snap. And if you have a team that has played together for awhile, you can do it more.”
Shanahan offered this about the inner workings of the Broncos offense: The fourth-down pitch play and run by Ron Dayne was called by Gary Kubiak, not Shanahan. Kubiak calls nearly all of the plays, Shanahan said. He said he might confer with Kubiak on some calls, but Kubiak makes the bulk of them and Shanahan simply sends them in over the headset from the sideline.
Shanahan gets frustrated, he said, when he hears everyone say that he makes all decisions all the time regarding everything Broncos. He said final authority is his, but he lets his coaches coach and his scouts scout and listens to thoughts throughout the building.
He portrays himself as a man not consumed with power but as a team player who knows ultimate responsibility is his.
It does not fit his image.
He said people are not paying close enough attention.
“This team has a chance be as good a team in character and beyond than any team I have ever been with,” Shanahan said. “I have told them that. They have to continue to give it up to each other, give it up in practice.”
Sundays, he said, will tell whether he is right or wrong.
Or Monday night, in the next instance.
I have always believed that mini- camps and training camp and preseason games only give coaches indications of what they have, that it is only until the game’s count and the spotlight glares that coaches learn the true mettle of their teams.
Shanahan believes he already knows that. He has watched these players an entire offseason, he said, and into camp and into the season. Their habits, their character, he said, he can already gauge. Couple that with the talent level and solid work habits, Shan- ahan said, and there is no reason why this team cannot compete in the last NFL game of the season.
That is a song not every NFL coach is willing to sing.
The Broncos should keep talking, keep sharing information, keep learning more about each other and respecting the value each player and coach brings to the season.
It sets the table for stellar play.
It is, in part, the difference between the gloom after Miami and the glow after San Diego.
Staff writer Thomas Georgecan be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
