There has been a lot of discussion on this site about Denver's prospects in 2012. Most of the commentary seems to expect that Denver will compete for the AFC West division and make a run in the playoffs. Some people are calling Denver an instant Super Bowl contender with the signing of Peyton Manning. This post isn't intended to re-ignite the discussion about whether the off-season moves were the right ones to make, but rather, to take a look at what the odds makers in Vegas are saying at this point. Let's take a look at the spreads that were recently put out by Covers.com.

Continue reading this post »

Dear Tim,

You don't know me. I'm a lawyer in Missoula, Montana. I'm 37 years old, and I have three young sons. I was one of the people in the crowd in Missoula when you did that fundraising event in early March, 2012. I've been a Bronco fan since 1983. I grew up with John Elway as my hero.

I hated you with a burning passion when I first saw you playing for Florida. It was nothing personal, I just hated the Gators. But as I watched your career, I came to appreciate your ability and your character. By the end of your college career, I was rooting for you. When we traded up to draft you, I was thrilled because I believed in your potential. I saw what you were able to do against the best competition in the SEC and I knew your game would translate to the NFL.

But more importantly, I admired you as a person, and I was proud to have you as the face of our franchise. I wanted my kids to grow up with a hero like you as the QB of our favorite team. I wanted to be able to point to you as a role model for them in sports and in life. And I wanted to be able to watch the movie "Braveheart" with them as your father did with you. I wanted to tell them, as your father told you, that if they approached anything in life with as much passion as the character in "Braveheart" did, they could never be stopped.

Not since 1998 have I been as happy (as a sports fan) as I was when you hit DT to beat the Steelers in overtime. That play, that game, that whole season, was just magical. I wish I had gone to Denver to see you play in person, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Now it looks like your time as a Denver Bronco is over. I can't tell you how disappointing this is for me as a fan of the Denver Broncos. I think it is the wrong move for the team, and think it will haunt our franchise. Part of me hopes that the Broncos keep you so that when Peyton Manning's career ends, you will be ready to resume your rise to greatness with the Broncos. But the bigger part of me wants you to be traded so that you won't lose the next two or three years of your career sitting on the bench. You deserve better than what you have been given here. I will continue to be a fan wherever you end up. Please know that you are loved and appreciated for what you do on and off the field.

I wish you the best in football and in life. I know that you don't need my support, but I still want to tell you to keep your chin up. You are destined for great things, and hopefully your new fan base will appreciate you. You gave me and my family more joy than you could ever know. God bless you.

GrizBronc

My approach going into this draft has been based on the idea that we can't have any more whiffs like Willie Middlebrooks, Ashley Lelie, George Foster and Jarvis Moss.  We don't need to end up with best player in the draft, we just need to end up with a very good consistent starter, and that means that the floor is more important than the ceiling.  In my mind, the "safe" positions seem like the linemen on both offense and defense, and this has led me to believe that we should be drafting a DT with our first pick. I am now questioning that approach.  Follow me after the jump to find out why.

Continue reading this post »

Hello Bronco Fans:

I have rarely felt as strongly about an issue involving professional sports as I feel about Tim Tebow.  And I heard something on Sirius NFL Radio this morning that makes me want to vomit.  Follow me if you have the stomach for it.

Continue reading this post »

According to unnamed sources, when John Elway owned car dealerships he was in the habit of not criticising the very vehicles he was trying to sell to the public.  In fact, he often went so far as to actually promote his vehicles in an attempt to convince people to buy them.  He even appeared on radio and television programs to tell his potential customers about how good his vehicles were, even though he actually wanted to sell those very same vehicles!  Those close to Elway say he subscribed to the theory that even if you intend to sell a product, you have to convince the public that your product is so good that you would want to keep it for yourself.

Other sources are reporting similar incidents regarding Elway's restaurant ownership.  Apparently, John Elway was in the habit of not talking publicly about how bad the food was, how poor the service was, or how inept the chef was, even if he was planning on replacing the chef, changing the menu, or trying out some new dishes.  In a transparent attempt to generate customer interest, Elway continues to promote his restaurants even as he changes items on the menu.  Some observers have noted that he wouldn't have had to change his menu options if the food was all that great to begin with.  Others counter that sometimes you have to add new items to the menu even if the old menu was popular with some of the customers.   

Sources close to Elway can neither confirm nor deny whether Elway intends to bring this same style of management to the front office of the Denver Broncos.  Some have noted that there certainly seems to be a pattern to Elway's management, almost as if he is trying to generate interest in the products he is trying to sell. 

In unrelated news, John Elway appeared on NFL Network's Total Access today and stated that there will be an open competition for the quarterback position between Orton and Tebow, and that it was not a foregone conclusion that Orton would be traded.  Further updates will follow as more is learned about this fast-moving situation. 

You should all be very happy!  You threw your little tantrum and got Josh McDaniels fired.  You logged onto DP in your parents' basement and bashed your team's head coach and it worked.  You brought your "Fire McDaniels" signs to the games and the message was sent.  But wait, I thought firing McDaniels was the solution?  I thought we were destined to play better now that "McHoodie" was gone?  After that performance by the Broncos on Sunday, are any of you bandwagon-jumpers second guessing your desire to jettison a promising young coach with a track record of success after giving him just 28 games to see what he could do?  Of course not, because introspection is not among your characteristics.  Instead, you are just waiting to see who we hire next so you'll know you to hate in 2011. 

So let's take a look back at the reasons that have been offered for McDaniels' firing, and then let's think about the real reasons he was let go so soon.

Continue reading this post »