The Broncos are a heartbreak waiting to happen.
Their championship dreams could be shattered in Indianapolis, on a cold, gray afternoon in January. Or it might happen on home turf, same as the playoffs of last season. Or maybe coach Mike Shanahan, long on guile and trickeration, can hide the fatal flaws all the way to the Super Bowl.
But it’s hard to envision how this NFL season ends in a victory parade for Denver.
This team does not have it.
And I think Shanahan knows it.
Of course, that only means Shanahan will try harder, watch more videotape, bench a starter the way he unceremoniously demoted offensive tackle George Foster, risk a fumble in the red zone by unproven running back Damien Nash and believe he can somehow fool the entire league with a team held together by Champ Bailey, smoke and mirrors.
A confounding sports trivia item is the fact Shanahan has never been named NFL coach of the year, while both Marty Schottenheimer, who cannot say playoffs without choking, and Wayne Fontes, who built a career in Detroit on surviving more rumors of his firing than a Donald Trump apprentice, have taken home the award given annually for nearly 50 years by The Associated Press.
Unbelievable.
I thought Shanahan did the best work of his Denver tenure last season.
I was wrong. What Shanahan has achieved this year is even more impressive.
Shanahan, a master at the top of his craft, has never operated under so little margin of error.
Does it seem to you that every Denver victory spikes your blood pressure? There’s solid, clinical evidence why.
The next time the Broncos win by 10 points or fewer will be the seventh time of the 2006 regular season, the most nail-biters Shanahan has been forced to endure through a 16-game schedule in any of his previous 11 years in Denver. How can this be possible for a coach with a long track record of winning more than half his games in blowouts?
Shanahan has no truly reliable running back. He trusts his quarterback about as far as Jake Plummer can throw an interception. This team’s pass rush scares nobody, least of all Indy’s Peyton Manning. The Denver safeties can rock your world, but their feet are too slow to dance in pass coverage.
From the day he risked team harmony during the NFL draft, when Shanahan undermined the authority of Plummer by selecting a hotshot rookie quarterback, the coach has been walking a tightrope stretched taunt between a past defined by the heart of 35-year-old John Lynch and 36-year-old Rod Smith and a future filled with the swagger of 24-year-old Darrent Williams and the promise of 23-year-old Jay Cutler.
Despite their obvious flaws, the Broncos will make the playoffs.
But one false step in the postseason, and Shanahan falls down and goes boom.
There are three things every team with legitimate championship aspirations must do in the playoffs. Be able to run for the tough yardage in the red zone. Crush a fourth-quarter scoring drive by the opposition with a sack. Trust its quarterback not to wilt under pressure.
So, tell me, what has Shanahan got? His brain.
Coaching smarts can be a huge advantage, to be sure. If there were just one personnel change made between San Diego and Denver, and the teams swapped coaches, the Chargers would win it all, no questions asked.
As linebacker Al Wilson packed his helmet in a bag after a win against the Oakland Raiders that was much closer than it had any right to be, he was asked about the competitive edge Shanahan brings to the Broncos. A smile creased Wilson’s face.
“What I love about Mike is he always does what’s in his heart. He never coaches with any fear,” Wilson said. “As a head coach, you can’t second-guess yourself on the field. It’s like any tough decision in life. Ninety percent of the time, our first instinct is the right choice, but we often find a way to talk ourselves out of it. As a head coach, you have to find a way to believe in your decisions and stick to your guns. That’s what Mike Shanahan does.”
These Broncos as champs of the Super Bowl? Are you crazy? This season?
Don’t bet on it, unless you’re willing to bet everything on Shanahan.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
