So … what if the Broncos lose on Sunday?
“Tim Tebow left us with the memory of a big win over the Steelers. His Denver legacy would tower over Manning’s if the Broncos were to be one-and-done for a second straight year.”
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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The Broncos might lose on Sunday.
As confident as we all are here in Broncos Country that Peyton Manning and company will advance beyond the divisional round we all know that they can be sent home. We saw it happen last January twelfth when the underdog Ravens came into Mile High and knocked them off. So … what if it happens again? What if Mike McCoy can formulate a game plan that keeps the ball out of Manning’s hands and the Chargers are able to win in the same smothering fashion they did against the Bengals – and against Denver back in December?
What then?
It goes without saying that our souls would be crushed. The greatest offensive season in the history of pro football (and the thirteen regular season wins that came along with it) will have been for nothing. The “sixteen game pre-season” would have been a meaningless exercise. Peyton Manning would still have his Star Wars numbers and the records that accompany them but Broncos fans will be left with only heartache. The immense promise of the Manning signing will have produced precisely zero playoff victories.
Tim Tebow left us with the memory of a big win over the Steelers. His Denver legacy would tower over Manning’s if the Broncos were to be one-and-done for a second straight year.
Peyton Manning would be back. His is currently in his second year of a four-year deal and while the fourth year of that contract is no sure thing he would certainly give it one more shot in Denver. 2014 will probably be his last chance to enhance his legacy in the NFL. He might give 2015 a whirl, too – but it’s doubtful. He will be 39 years old. Despite all Manning’s Pro Bowls and accolades he has still only been to the mountaintop once. If he is to be mentioned in the same breath as Elway, Montana and even Tom Brady he has to win another ring and he knows it.
Manning’s window grows ever narrower with each passing season. And it is nearly closed. If the Broncos don’t win the Super Bowl this year it will remain open by just a narrow crack. The urgency to win next year will so great that the pressure could be overwhelming – not only on Manning but on the entire Broncos organization. Make no mistakes; the team has all its eggs in Peyton Manning’s basket. He is the franchise.
If Denver makes it at least as far as the AFC Championship game this season then there will be optimism that they can take the next step next year. They can defer discussions about the post-Manning era. But if the Chargers win on Sunday the Broncos will have to begin to confront the issue of what they will do once Manning is gone. Quarterbacks don’t grow on trees and the NFL is a passer’s league. Mediocre quarterbacks don’t cut the mustard. Whether the Broncos find success this post-season or not they have to have a succession plan. Maybe they have one in Osweiler. We all want to believe that they do. But pundits don’t seem to think that Brock has what it takes to lead a modern NFL franchise.
Look at the playoff field this season: the remaining QBs are Manning, Rivers, Kaepernick, Newton, Luck, Wilson, Brady and Brees. A few of those are younger players but all of them are elite. Without a quarterback of that quality it’s likely that the Broncos will go years without sniffing the playoffs again. All the Denver franchise has is right now. The future is a hazy shade of grey.
Sixteen free agencies loom for Denver in 2014. Knowshon Moreno and Eric Decker are the two most obvious of these on the offensive side of the ball. Moreno may be back since running backs don’t command silly money anymore. Decker is probably history, though. As well as he has played this season he is going to attract suitors and he’s the third receiver in a system that can replace him. The Broncos are not going to pony up big money for Eric Decker. They will need secure a new deal with Zane Beadles who has been as reliable as any Bronco at offensive guard.
On the defense the Broncos are likely to lose Wesley Woodyard. He isn’t happy about how he has been utilized and he will be looking for a new home as a free agent. The Broncos are also likely to lose some other defensive starters since Dominick Rodgers-Cromartie, Shawn Phillips, Mike Adams and Robert Ayers are all going to hit the market.
It’s likely that most of Denver’s free agent acquisitions will be on the defensive side of the ball. Their pass rush was dismal in 2013 and if they lose to the Chargers in the divisional round it will be because the defense wasn’t able to get off the field on third down. That means fewer new toys for Peyton as he gears up for one last run at a title.
Hopefully come Monday we won’t be thinking about what comes next for the Broncos beyond the AFC Championship game. Hopefully we will be preparing to host another playoff game right here in Denver and discussing what the weather may be like for it.
We will know by the time the Broncos kick of on Sunday whether it will be Brady on Luck next weekend. What we won’t know is whether it will be Manning or Rivers.
Confidence is high in Broncos Country – and it should be. The Broncos are a better team than the Chargers are. But we have seen the Broncos lose to a lesser team before. Top seeds are not locks to go to Super Bowls. Over the past eight years the top seeds in the two conferences have met in the big game only once. The odds are against both the Broncos and the Seahawks playing into February.
Hopefully we will all wake up on Monday filled with the same excitement that we feel today – the excitement that a football fan can only feel in the midst of a Super Bowl run. But it might not be a bad idea to start preparing ourselves now for the possibility that the Broncos lose on Sunday … and that it will all be over.
