At this point, it would be a surprise, if not a shock, if it didn’t happen.
Barring a Christmas miracle at San Diego, the Broncos will miss the playoffs for a third straight season. Nothing out of the ordinary there except that they haven’t done it since 1980-82.
Two words: What then?
Yes, what once was being called an inconsistent season now is looking like an ugly one. But the worse things get for the Broncos, the more their situation cries out for perspective.
No one at Dove Valley has admitted it, most notably Mike Shanahan, but the Broncos have been rebuilding since their blowout loss to the Steelers in the 2005 AFC Championship Game.
At that point, they were a team headed nowhere. Their previous two seasons had ended with 49-24 and 41-10 playoff losses at Indianapolis. If anything, making it to the conference championship game a year later was an aberration, not a sign of things to come.
Now, finally and at long last, the Broncos have accumulated a core of quality young players. Granted, virtually all are on the offensive side of the ball, which has made for some ugly and embarrassing losses. But if you look at that young talent, and you make the assumption that some of those holes on defense can be patched through free agency and the draft, you realize this team is in a better position to make a Super Bowl run than any other since the back-to-back Super Bowls of the late ’90s.
The Broncos getting in position to go deep in the playoffs? Yes, it seems absurd at the moment, but it’s true. Now for the asterisk (*-Only if Shanahan makes the right calls in acquiring defensive talent).
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.
