Enough already with this talk about the Broncos making the playoffs, by default or otherwise.
The task for this team as it embarks on the first day of the rest of its season is simple: get better. Improve. Make all those mini-camps and organized team activities and endless weight-lifting sessions matter.
In other words, don’t do what all those other Broncos teams in recent seasons did. Don’t regress. Don’t turn a promising start into a season that leads nowhere.
It is beyond a troubling trend, the Broncos’ run of fast starts and slow fades. Last season, they were 5-5 with an outside shot at a wild card, only to finish 2-4 down the stretch. Two years ago, they were 7-2 and talking about winning the division, only to lose five of their final seven games.
Wait, there’s more. They won five of their first six in 2004, only to split their final 10 games. And in 2002, they were 7-3 before losing four of their last six.
At some point, it isn’t one big coincidence. There are reasons, tangible and intangible, that the trend has developed. The Broncos don’t have enough quality depth to sustain injuries, and other teams adjust to what they’re doing on the field.
The key to success in today’s NFL, where so many teams have similar talent, is to improve over the course of the season. They’re seeing it in Cleveland and Houston and Miami, where teams that got off to rocky starts have gotten their acts together.
Denver, meanwhile, won its first three before losing three out of four. If the trend continues, not even the Chargers’ bumbling ways can land the Broncos in the playoffs.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s sports updates on The Jimmy Page morning and afternoon Monday-Friday. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
