Today’s question about the Broncos comes from John in Houston.
Q: I’m happy that the Broncos are in playoff contention, but are they out of gas?
A: In the NFL, two of the most difficult things to manage are a losing streak and a winning streak. The Broncos have dealt with both this season. They had a three-game losing streak in a 1-4 start and a six-game winning streak that lifted them into the AFC West lead at 8-5. Now they’re 8-7 entering Sunday’s regular-season finale at home against Kyle Orton and Kansas City.
When a team is losing, it has to decide whether to stick with the plan. If a change in course is made, it has to be done without the team appearing to have panicked.
Broncos coach John Fox drew praise from his players during the 1-4 start because he kept them from losing confidence and he kept the team’s expectations at a high level.
When things went bad under Josh McDaniels, Fox’s predecessor, players said McDaniels and his staff were too negative and didn’t do much to change what wasn’t working.
When a team is winning, there is a tendency to play the “everything’s OK” card for any dilemma. There can be a loss of objectivity.
Look at the Broncos’ body of work. By season’s end, they may have played just three teams that will be in the playoffs — Green Bay, Detroit and New England. The Broncos are 0-3 against those teams, having lost 49-23, 45-10 and 41-23.
Denver has been pounded the last two weeks, first by the Patriots in Denver and then 40-14 by the struggling Bills at Buffalo. That may be a sign of where the Broncos are on the road back from where they have been. They gave up at least 400 points in three of the previous four seasons. That’s not a sign of robust team health. And they haven’t had a winning record in their last four games of any season since 2005, their last playoff year.
Coming off a 4-12 season, the Broncos had a big hill to climb when this season started. A lot of that hill remains.
Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com
