Enough already with this talk of left-handed cigarettes and drug tests. Question is, can the Broncos pass the litmus test?
Can they beat the big, bad Chiefs on Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High?
Oops, wrong decade.
To this day, Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson believes the Broncos and Chiefs were the NFL’s two best teams in 1997. And I wouldn’t disagree, given how that ’97 season, the heyday of the Broncos-Chiefs hatefest, played out.
The Broncos finished 12-4 that year but didn’t win the AFC West. The Chiefs were 13-3 but couldn’t seal the deal, losing to Denver in the playoffs in what amounted to Marty Schottenheimer’s last hurrah in Kansas City.
You know what happened next. The Broncos went on to beat the Packers in the Super Bowl, then won it again the next year against Atlanta.
Oh, how things have since changed in the AFC West. The Broncos, sans John Elway, and the Chiefs, sans Schottenheimer, have combined for three division titles in the nine seasons since Denver’s last Super Bowl. And the way things are looking, both teams will finish with losing records this year.
The last time that happened? Never was my first inclination, but the answer, it turns out, is 1982. That was a strike-shortened season when all kinds of strange stuff was going on, including the 49ers finishing 3-6 one year after beating Cincinnati in the Super Bowl.
Peterson says the Chiefs and Broncos are teams in transition. Others would say they’re rebuilding. Whatever term you want to use, we can all agree on one thing: Both teams are desperate for a victory.
It’s strange, almost surreal, seeing these two proud franchises struggle like this. And in the same season, no less. Question is, which team will dig itself out first?
Sure, it would be nice to win Sunday, but let’s not overstate the case. One game isn’t going to turn things around for either of these two. And you wonder, given the state of the Chiefs’ offense and the Broncos’ defense, if one offseason will do the trick.
At any rate, to use one of Dan Reeves’ favorite terms, it is what it is.
As in painful.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily Broncos commentaries on The Jimmy Page at 7 a.m. and noon, and read his columns on Sundays and the day after Broncos games at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
