Northman
10-25-2010, 09:03 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16425206
I apologize for comparing Raiders owner Al Davis to Grandpa Munster. After Sunday's slaughter at Invesco Field, it's clear the Raiders' owner has a lot more on the ball than Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.
Bowlen's coach, Josh McDaniels, talks a good game. In fact, his intelligence and command of the English language got him hired, wowing first Bowlen and then his right-hand man, Joe Ellis.
Unfortunately, nothing about the team he coaches bears any resemblance to the things he talks about.
Never was that more apparent than Sunday, an undressing so complete the paying (and booing) patrons began abandoning the stadium in the second quarter.
Just 23 games into McDaniels' tenure as Broncos coach, the question must be asked: Is he losing the team's prized customer base? Is he losing the team itself? Has he already?
I asked him afterward what he would say to the Broncos' famously loyal fan base.
"I can't say anything now," he replied. "I can just try to show them — and our football team can try to show them — with our performances as we go forward. I hope there are no words that can make any of us feel better.
"It's not good enough, and we have to do a lot of work, a lot of soul-searching and then come out and play football and coach football a lot better than we did today and see if we can't start stringing some good performances together, instead of going up, down and all around on a roller coaster every week."
The burden of proof is now on McDaniels' shoulders. He must prove he is not as bad a head coach as his team has made him look over its past 17 games.
"I have lived in Denver since 1995, and I can't remember a more embarrassing showing by the Broncos ever!" former Broncos offensive lineman Mark Schlereth posted on Twitter after Sunday's disgrace.
From the opening kickoff, as his team imploded before his eyes, McDaniels stood alone on the sideline with his headset and his play
sheet. He talked to nobody else on the sideline. He exhorted no one. He just kept studying that play sheet, as if the secret to inspiring a team that showed no fire, no heart and no leadership might be found in a skinny post or a bubble screen.
McDaniels has talked from the beginning about playing smart, but the Broncos self-destructed Sunday with a series of stupid mistakes.
He has talked from the beginning about playing tough, but the Broncos can neither run the ball nor stop the run. All they can do is throw it. They are the very definition of a finesse team.
He has talked from the beginning about mental toughness, but after last week's last-minute loss to the Jets, his team crumpled psychologically like a bug against a windshield.
His team, in fact, is pretty much the complete opposite of everything he has talked about since his arrival. So you have to wonder: Has it occurred yet to Bowlen or Ellis that they are victims of a bait-and-switch?
By multiple accounts, the beginning of the end for Mike Shanahan with Bowlen came not in San Diego, during the blowout loss that concluded the 2008 season, but five weeks earlier, when the hated Raiders came to town and spanked the Broncos 31-10 in the house the people of Colorado built at Bowlen's insistence.
The Broncos' owner was reportedly livid at this humiliation. It was bad enough that it came at the hands of the Raiders. It was worse that it came at the hands of a Raiders team
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/1024/20101024__20101025_B05_SP25KRIEGERJSP25%7Ep1_200.J PG (http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=3364130 )Broncos coach Josh McDaniels and defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson endure the agonizing final moments of Sunday's lopsided loss to the Raiders. ( Andy Cross, The Denver Post )
that would finish 5-11. Compared to Sunday's 59-14 abomination, the '08 loss was a nail-biter.
Imbued with the certainty of youth, McDaniels has made a series of unexplained and often inexplicable decisions that leave both players and fans scratching their heads. And I'm not just talking about the well-documented dismantling of the offense Shanahan left him.
Players are shuffled in and out of the lineup, on and off the roster. The offensive line is a revolving door. One week, Brady Quinn is the No. 2 quarterback. The next week he's back to No. 3. Ask him why. He has no idea. One week Ryan Harris is the right tackle. The next week he's not. Ask him why. He has no idea. Players shake their heads and shrug their shoulders.
It's not just that the Broncos are 2-5 on the season, not just that they are 4-13 since that 6-0 start last season that looks more and more like a mirage.
It's that McDaniels seems to have sold Bowlen a bill of goods. The question is whether Bowlen has enough left on the ball to notice.
Read more: Krieger: Josh losing fans; is he losing team too? - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16425206#ixzz13QULA4NM) http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16425206#ixzz13QULA4NM
I apologize for comparing Raiders owner Al Davis to Grandpa Munster. After Sunday's slaughter at Invesco Field, it's clear the Raiders' owner has a lot more on the ball than Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.
Bowlen's coach, Josh McDaniels, talks a good game. In fact, his intelligence and command of the English language got him hired, wowing first Bowlen and then his right-hand man, Joe Ellis.
Unfortunately, nothing about the team he coaches bears any resemblance to the things he talks about.
Never was that more apparent than Sunday, an undressing so complete the paying (and booing) patrons began abandoning the stadium in the second quarter.
Just 23 games into McDaniels' tenure as Broncos coach, the question must be asked: Is he losing the team's prized customer base? Is he losing the team itself? Has he already?
I asked him afterward what he would say to the Broncos' famously loyal fan base.
"I can't say anything now," he replied. "I can just try to show them — and our football team can try to show them — with our performances as we go forward. I hope there are no words that can make any of us feel better.
"It's not good enough, and we have to do a lot of work, a lot of soul-searching and then come out and play football and coach football a lot better than we did today and see if we can't start stringing some good performances together, instead of going up, down and all around on a roller coaster every week."
The burden of proof is now on McDaniels' shoulders. He must prove he is not as bad a head coach as his team has made him look over its past 17 games.
"I have lived in Denver since 1995, and I can't remember a more embarrassing showing by the Broncos ever!" former Broncos offensive lineman Mark Schlereth posted on Twitter after Sunday's disgrace.
From the opening kickoff, as his team imploded before his eyes, McDaniels stood alone on the sideline with his headset and his play
sheet. He talked to nobody else on the sideline. He exhorted no one. He just kept studying that play sheet, as if the secret to inspiring a team that showed no fire, no heart and no leadership might be found in a skinny post or a bubble screen.
McDaniels has talked from the beginning about playing smart, but the Broncos self-destructed Sunday with a series of stupid mistakes.
He has talked from the beginning about playing tough, but the Broncos can neither run the ball nor stop the run. All they can do is throw it. They are the very definition of a finesse team.
He has talked from the beginning about mental toughness, but after last week's last-minute loss to the Jets, his team crumpled psychologically like a bug against a windshield.
His team, in fact, is pretty much the complete opposite of everything he has talked about since his arrival. So you have to wonder: Has it occurred yet to Bowlen or Ellis that they are victims of a bait-and-switch?
By multiple accounts, the beginning of the end for Mike Shanahan with Bowlen came not in San Diego, during the blowout loss that concluded the 2008 season, but five weeks earlier, when the hated Raiders came to town and spanked the Broncos 31-10 in the house the people of Colorado built at Bowlen's insistence.
The Broncos' owner was reportedly livid at this humiliation. It was bad enough that it came at the hands of the Raiders. It was worse that it came at the hands of a Raiders team
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/1024/20101024__20101025_B05_SP25KRIEGERJSP25%7Ep1_200.J PG (http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=3364130 )Broncos coach Josh McDaniels and defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson endure the agonizing final moments of Sunday's lopsided loss to the Raiders. ( Andy Cross, The Denver Post )
that would finish 5-11. Compared to Sunday's 59-14 abomination, the '08 loss was a nail-biter.
Imbued with the certainty of youth, McDaniels has made a series of unexplained and often inexplicable decisions that leave both players and fans scratching their heads. And I'm not just talking about the well-documented dismantling of the offense Shanahan left him.
Players are shuffled in and out of the lineup, on and off the roster. The offensive line is a revolving door. One week, Brady Quinn is the No. 2 quarterback. The next week he's back to No. 3. Ask him why. He has no idea. One week Ryan Harris is the right tackle. The next week he's not. Ask him why. He has no idea. Players shake their heads and shrug their shoulders.
It's not just that the Broncos are 2-5 on the season, not just that they are 4-13 since that 6-0 start last season that looks more and more like a mirage.
It's that McDaniels seems to have sold Bowlen a bill of goods. The question is whether Bowlen has enough left on the ball to notice.
Read more: Krieger: Josh losing fans; is he losing team too? - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16425206#ixzz13QULA4NM) http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16425206#ixzz13QULA4NM