Hey, John Elway: You had better have a Plan B now. Back when No. 7 was quarterback, the official slogan of apountry was: In Elway we trust.
So please forgive me for sports blasphemy, as I humbly ask: Does Elway really know how to put together a championship plan as architect of the Broncos?
For the past three years, Denver has looked like one of the NFL’s elite teams on paper. On the field, however, the Broncos have suffered embarrassing or disheartening playoff losses in three straight seasons.
Who put this team together on paper? Elway, who has been in charge of the team’s football operation since 2011.
He puts together Pro Bowl talent, often by boldly shoving chips to the middle of the table and betting big on veteran free agents such as quarterback Peyton Manning, cornerback Aqib Talib and defensive end DeMarcus Ware.
But money, as the Broncos have discovered, can’t buy team chemistry. And chemistry can’t be faked, especially when all the best-laid plans start going helter-skelter under win-or-go-home pressure. What was most disturbing about Denver’s 24-13 playoff loss to Indianapolis was how little passion the players displayed. To be blunt, the Broncos often looked as if their 17 impending free agents were businessmen already preoccupied with the next deal.
WATCH:
With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, there were little warning signs this Denver team was less than the sum of its talented parts, and nine Pro Bowlers weren’t quite enough.
This locker room never formed a cohesive personality, which struck home with me when running back C.J. Anderson explained the offensive side of the ball was as buttoned-down as Manning, while the defense was a far wilder bunch. Uptight screws and loose nuts don’t always mix. Maybe it should have been a cause for concern when cornerback Chris Harris confided that his teammates required months before finding the love for each other necessary to allow the Broncos to bring their “A” game with any consistency. And from the time that star place-kicker Matt Prater was unceremoniously cut, it seemed coach John Fox never entirely trusted his locker room to be focused on the championship prize.
Download:
Fox got fired Monday, less than 24 hours after taking the blame for Manning aging in dog years, Talib looking as lost as a tourist on the 16th Street Mall and everywhere else that went horribly wrong against the Colts.
I’m not here to defend Uncle Foxy, who, in typical fashion, hugged Elway after getting canned as Broncos coach. But parting ways with Fox was a no-brainer. This amicable divorce was the obvious choice. Anybody could have done it.
The choices Elway must make next won’t be nearly so easy.
Is he going to continue to let the Broncos be defined by a quarterback soon to be 39 years old? Is Elway willing to gamble Manning can play like a $19 million QB in 2015?
Although Manning is pure class and certain Hall of Fame material, it had to be obvious to football eyes as keen as Elway’s that long before suffering a thigh strain late in the season, Manning lost the faith in his arm to thread passes outside the numbers and had lost the taste for standing tall as the pocket collapsed. Please note: If Manning was seriously hurt, he would not have returned to the Broncos’ huddle with Denver leading Oakland 33-14 midway through the fourth quarter of the final regular-season game.
But does Elway have the nerve to take this even bigger gamble? Try to move forward without the services of Manning, and discover if untested Brock Osweiler can lead Denver to the playoffs?
After trying to win with a player’s coach who reminded me more than a little of Jack Elway, father and sage counsel to Denver’s favorite sports son, do the Broncos seek a coach more likely to scream, kick tail and demand toughness? Or does Elway instead try to coax old teammate and longtime confidant Gary Kubiak back in the red-hot glare of head coaching, which had an adverse affect on Koobs’ health when he was in charge of the Houston Texans sideline?
As Elway has discovered, leading a team to the Lombardi Trophy is infinitely more complex once you move from under center to behind a desk in the executive offices at Dove Valley.
What’s Job One for Elway?
Stop playing fantasy football. Championship teams are about more than stockpiling talent and praying it all comes together on Sunday.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
