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titan
07-06-2011, 08:06 AM
On NBC's Pro Football Talk:

The “worst moments” tour continues on Wednesday, with the low points for the Denver Broncos since the last work stoppage under consideration.

Sure, they won back-to-back Super Bowls. But they had some rough spots, too.

Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments.

See:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/05/broncos-slide-under-worst-moments-microscope-on-wednesday

Mine was this (listed in the comments):

Losing the 2006 AFC Championship game at home to the Steelers. The Broncos were 8-0 at home that year, and had never lost an AFC Championship game at home in their history (3-0). Whoever won that game was going to beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. How different would Mike Shanahan’s resume be if he had 3 Super Bowl wins (and 1 without Elway)? Cutler probably would not have been drafted (Plummer as a SB winning qb is just fine, thank you). Win that game and Shanahan still is Broncos head coach today.

Other than that, McDaniels horrid player personnel decisions, such as trading a future #1 for Alphonso Smith, and then giving up on Smith 1 year later.

=========

I know alot of bronco fans think the Jacksonville playoff loss was worse, but I disagree. The Jaguars loss was painful but it was not the AFC Championship game and I really don't think the Broncos were going to win the Super Bowl that year regardless. Green Bay was just so strong that season (and had beaten the Broncos 41-6 in the regular season). Yes the Broncos beat Green Bay a year later in the SB, but both teams were different (and I think Green Bay came into SB 32 overconfident after winning easily the year before)

topscribe
07-06-2011, 11:19 AM
@Titan - I assume you are Tlarison there. That was a good comment, so I just
have to bring it forward to this board:


Losing the 2006 AFC Championship game at home to the Steelers. The Broncos were 8-0 at home that year, and had never lost an AFC Championship game at home in their history (3-0). Whoever won that game was going to beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. How different would Mike Shanahan’s resume be if he had 3 Super Bowl wins (and 1 without Elway)? Cutler probably would not have been drafted (Plummer as a SB winning qb is just fine, thank you). Win that game and Shanahan still is Broncos head coach today.

Other than that, McDaniels horrid player personnel decisions, such as trading a future #1 for Alphonso Smith, and then giving up on Smith 1 year later.

Tied with that game against the Steelers, IMO, is the home field loss to Jax
in the 1996 playoffs. In each of the years (1996 & 2006), the Broncos fielded
what may have been the best team in the league, only to lay an egg in their
own house.

Just as the elation of Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII remain with me, so does
the bitterness of those two home field losses with teams that, by all rights,
should have taken it all . . .

-----

vandammage13
07-06-2011, 02:33 PM
Trading Hillis for BQ would crack my shortlist...

BigDaddyBronco
07-06-2011, 03:11 PM
Watching TD get his knee blown up.
The Jax game, we could have won 3 straight.
The loss to the Steelers.
Those late loses in the 8-8 seasons (thinking Buffalo and San Fran).
Getting humilated by San Diego numerous times, losing (and getting blown out) to bad Raider teams.

The list could go on and on...

vandammage13
07-06-2011, 03:15 PM
Eddie Mac breaking his leg was a horrid thing to watch

Canmore
07-06-2011, 03:24 PM
Eddie Mac breaking his leg was a horrid thing to watch

And he held on to the football. Literally amazing.

MasterShake
07-06-2011, 03:33 PM
I know alot of bronco fans think the Jacksonville playoff loss was worse, but I disagree. The Jaguars loss was painful but it was not the AFC Championship game and I really don't think the Broncos were going to win the Super Bowl that year regardless. Green Bay was just so strong that season (and had beaten the Broncos 41-6 in the regular season). Yes the Broncos beat Green Bay a year later in the SB, but both teams were different (and I think Green Bay came into SB 32 overconfident after winning easily the year before)

I agree to a point, but IMO there is NOTHING as bad as that loss to Jacksonville in the playoffs. When we lost to the Steelers, I just chalked it up to us being an overachieving team (which we were) that season- and the refs:lol:. We would jump up on teams and nurse a lead with a pretty good running game.

In constrast, the Broncos team that lost to the Jaguars was a force of nature during that time period. They were not overachievers, they were dominators. We would jump to big leads and pile on the pain with a mix of great running and good defense. Couple that with the fact that Elway was getting up there in years and that was the most devastated that I've ever been after a game. It was nice to get back to back Superbowls after that, but we SHOULD have had the trifecta.

After that, I'd say the last Raiders blowout has moved to my #2 position, then the other Super Bowl losses.

The Glue Factory
07-06-2011, 05:20 PM
Not the biggest low point, but up there...

It was an early to mid 1990's game against the Bills. We were up by 17 or so with the game well in hand. In less than 70 seconds we were down by 4 with over 15 minutes left in the game. We never regained the lead.

Ravage!!!
07-06-2011, 05:47 PM
The Super Bowl losses were about as low as I can remember. Man that San Fran game was horrid.

The loss to Jacksonville. We were the best team in the NFL. We were resting people with a couple weeks left in regular season (since we already had home field wrapped up) and then the bye. By the time the Jacksonville game came around, we hadn't REALLY played a full game with the starters for about a month. It was being too cautious while trying to go into the playoffs with the strongest team all healthy and rested, but I think that back-fired.

BigDaddyBronco
07-06-2011, 05:52 PM
Eddie Mac breaking his leg was a horrid thing to watch
And the next day was 9-11. Yea that sucked.

NightTerror218
07-06-2011, 06:02 PM
I will be the first to say it.......the day Elway retired.....wish he would have came back for another attempt

MOtorboat
07-06-2011, 06:22 PM
By far the Steve Sewell fumble in Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game. He was beside himself. I'm nearly 100 percent sure that Sewell believed he had cost Elway possibly his last shot at a Super Bowl. That moment was way worse than anything that happened in that Jacksonville game five years later. I'm surprised its not remembered almost as much as Byner's fumble.

Dzone
07-06-2011, 06:23 PM
The loss to Jacksonville in 96 was utterly brutal. The devastation lingered all the way up to the Green Bay Super Bowl and until Dave Logan was saying "The Broncos are gonna win this thing! Are you kiddin me?"
The 4 Super Bowl losses were all truly horrific... You get your hopes up during two weeks leading up to the big game and then to lose is just crushing.

Canmore
07-06-2011, 06:31 PM
By far the Steve Sewell fumble in Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game. He was beside himself. I'm nearly 100 percent sure that Sewell believed he had cost Elway possibly his last shot at a Super Bowl. That moment was way worse than anything that happened in that Jacksonville game five years later. I'm surprised its not remembered almost as much as Byner's fumble.

I was at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan and got up at something like 2:30 in the morning to watch it with a big Bills fan. Thought we were going to win that game and Sewell got drilled, game over. My buddy was sure happy lol.

Dreadnought
07-06-2011, 06:37 PM
By far the Steve Sewell fumble in Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game. He was beside himself. I'm nearly 100 percent sure that Sewell believed he had cost Elway possibly his last shot at a Super Bowl. That moment was way worse than anything that happened in that Jacksonville game five years later. I'm surprised its not remembered almost as much as Byner's fumble.

I really liked Sewell, too, He never quite lived up to being a #1 pick, but he was a solid contributor throughout his career.

For me its the SB XXII loss. The SF loss was to a far superior team; the loss to the Redskins was like losing to a guy who drew into an inside straight. That Skin's team may be the weakest ever to win a SB, and Doug Williams is easily the worst QB ever to do so, but on that given Sunday...it was a living Nightmare. Credit too for Williams for playing the best game of his career when it mattered, because a couple of years previous to that he was playing alongside my cousin for the Oklahoma Outlaws of the USFL, pretty much a bust. Career completion % an awful 49.5, Lifetime awful QB rating of 69.4, but that day he ate us the Hell up.

Dzone
07-06-2011, 06:51 PM
Watching TD get his knee blown up.
The Jax game, we could have won 3 straight.
The loss to the Steelers.
Those late loses in the 8-8 seasons (thinking Buffalo and San Fran).
Getting humilated by San Diego numerous times, losing (and getting blown out) to bad Raider teams.

The list could go on and on...
Oh, I forgot about TDs knee injury. Oh man, that one hurt. On an interception against the Jets IIRC. TD deserves the HOF and if Ladanian Thomlinson gets in before TD then everyone should be bitchin.:salute:

Slick
07-06-2011, 06:56 PM
Agreed dread. Williams and timmy smith overachieved to say the least.

Shazam!
07-08-2011, 12:46 PM
Nothing has ever hit me so hard as the Jacksonville loss. Nothing.

No Super Bowl blowout came close to how I felt for months after that game.

I've never been stung so hard by a loss from the Broncos. None of the disappointments even came close.

sneakers
07-09-2011, 12:40 AM
Definately the 1996 divisional game against the Jaguars....I was sooo dissapointed.

BORDERLINE
07-09-2011, 02:19 AM
Can't speak on the SB loses since i was merely a guppy coming into my own. But the first taste of utter defeat that stung like a african killer bee had to be the Jacksonville game. I watched knowing in my head they where gonna comeback, they had to comeback. And that moment never came. Next would have to be the Giants of all teams to snap are perfect season with the ever dangerous Kent Graham at QB for the g-men.


also when we lost to GB in the 96 season Bill FU**** Musgrave was at QB so let's not be to quick to assume Denver would have lost to GB in the SB that year.

sneakers
07-09-2011, 02:23 AM
Can't speak on the SB loses since i was merely a guppy coming into my own. But the first taste of utter defeat that stung like a african killer bee had to be the Jacksonville game. I watched knowing in my head they where gonna comeback, they had to comeback. And that moment never came. Next would have to be the Giants of all teams to snap are perfect season with the ever dangerous Kent Graham at QB for the g-men.


also when we lost to GB in the 96 season Bill FU**** Musgrave was at QB so let's not be to quick to assume Denver would have lost to GB in the SB that year.

I was at that game in Green Bay in 96....I am pretty sure it was Jeff Lewis at quarterback that day (resting Elway because we were 12-1 and already wrapped up homefield advantage)....I am about 75% sure though.

atwater27
07-09-2011, 09:39 AM
In no particular order.....

1. The Super Bowl loss to the Giants. I lived in Alaska at the time; I got made fun of horribly after that game for my Broncos fandom.

2. Super Bowl loss to Washington... Lost 50 bucks AND became the laughingstock yet again.

3. Super Bowl loss to San Fran.... Where I lived, to be a Broncos fan at his time was more embarassing than actually being Bill Buckner in Boston.

4. Jax loss.... I will never forget that shattered look in Johnie's eyes that night. I hated Mark Brunell so much then.

5. Cutting Steve Atwater... like a dagger to my heart.

6. Firing Shanny... I know our D sucked, but we were gaining momentum and were on the right path.

7. Pretty much the whole McDaniels era... Losing Cutler, Scheffler, Hillis, the Goodmans, not keeping Mike Nolan, getting raped by the Raiders with no lube, pissing away our draft choices and making laughable trades... Barf.

8. TD's injury, and his attempts to come back. A nightmare slowly unfolds..

9. Al Wilson's injury, and his attempts to overcome them.... So sad to see my fave players go out like that.

10. Brian Griese's shoulder injury.... 10 games started, 19 TD's 4 Picks, over 100 rating. All the sudden he is playing like he could be an awesome QB. Then SSHHHRRREEEEDDD!!! Never the same again.

Lonestar
07-09-2011, 09:48 AM
Eddie Mac breaking his leg was a horrid thing to watch

This one is near the top of my list also. Easy to remember the date. Sep 10th 2001.
I often wondered what went through his mind waking up after surgery and knowing the world changed. Also have to wonder if the surgery team was told of the attack while in surgery.

Lonestar
07-09-2011, 10:06 AM
Watching TD get his knee blown up.
The Jax game, we could have won 3 straight.
The loss to the Steelers.
Those late loses in the 8-8 seasons (thinking Buffalo and San Fran).
Getting humilated by San Diego numerous times, losing (and getting blown out) to bad Raider teams.

The list could go on and on... the ass kicking in the JAX game was the wake up call and motivation they had for the following two years IMO.

Not so sure that if they had went to the superbowl that year that getting beat by the packers would have been the same motivation ecause they were a damned fine team. JAX not so much.

If we gut beat in the super bowl that year does anyone think John sticks around for another chance to lose in yet another super
Bowl.

Canmore
07-09-2011, 10:25 AM
the ass kicking in the JAX game was the wake up call and motivation they had for the following two years IMO.

Not so sure that if they had went to the superbowl that year that getting beat by the packers would have been the same motivation ecause they were a damned fine team. JAX not so much.

If we gut beat in the super bowl that year does anyone think John sticks around for another chance to lose in yet another super
Bowl.

Four losses ties Jim Kelley and that probably would have been enough. I too question if John would have stuck around given your scenario. Maybe it would have been determined by how badly they lost. Close he stays ,blowout he retires. Luckily, this is just pure speculation.

Ravage!!!
07-09-2011, 11:22 AM
I don't think we would have lost to the Packers that season. We were the BEST team in football. They guessed we would have lost by double digits when we did beat the Packers. But we'll never know. I feel we would have beaten the Packers, and Favre would have ended a career with No Super Bowl victories.

horsepig
07-09-2011, 12:05 PM
I've always held that if M. Perry had got his lard ass off the field in time we would have won that Jax game. Jags were punting and everybody in the world knew---Oh, boy, here come John Elway. Unfortunately, lard butt couldn't motivate himself enough to make it to the sideline before the snap.

Jags go on to score and move to a 2 possesion lead in the 4'th quarter. It was too much to overcome at that point.

horsepig
07-09-2011, 12:07 PM
As to the Super Bowl, I really think we had, pretty convincingly at that, the best team in the league those 3 years and would probably have won that Bowl.

Lonestar
07-09-2011, 03:04 PM
As to the Super Bowl, I really think we had, pretty convincingly at that, the best team in the league those 3 years and would probably have won that Bowl.

Yet again. Would John have stayed fir that thrid year. I think he had a tough time even coming back for the last one and Zimmerman would he have stuck around. Those two were uber key players during that run.

After two wins I think a lot more players would have bailed in FA making the bucks when they could.

I think some of those older vets would have retired after two anyway. Just like they did.

Softskull
07-09-2011, 06:06 PM
I agree to a point, but IMO there is NOTHING as bad as that loss to Jacksonville in the playoffs. When we lost to the Steelers, I just chalked it up to us being an overachieving team (which we were) that season- and the refs:lol:. We would jump up on teams and nurse a lead with a pretty good running game.

In constrast, the Broncos team that lost to the Jaguars was a force of nature during that time period. They were not overachievers, they were dominators. We would jump to big leads and pile on the pain with a mix of great running and good defense. Couple that with the fact that Elway was getting up there in years and that was the most devastated that I've ever been after a game. It was nice to get back to back Superbowls after that, but we SHOULD have had the trifecta.

After that, I'd say the last Raiders blowout has moved to my #2 position, then the other Super Bowl losses.

"Get your fat butt off the field"

tomjonesrocks
07-10-2011, 09:57 AM
Agree with the Jax loss for sure--TD blowing his knee on an INT--and anything McDaniels after that.

I did not expect the Broncos to beat the Steelers in 2006 -- I do not recall that team being as good as some of the threads here are claiming. Was still a disappointing loss but was not nearly the shocking disappointment the Jax loss was.

BroncoTech
07-11-2011, 02:59 AM
Jax.
TD.
AL Wilson.

Then the entire last season. The Monday night game against Pitt when there was more terrible towels in the stands than bronco fans, and the Raider blowouts, had me wondering why I've been a fan since '64.

I'm seriously considering doing something else with my Sundays this year after devoting almost 5 decades to this. I don't have much faith there's even going to be a season to ignore, I guess time will tell.

BORDERLINE
07-13-2011, 01:28 PM
I was at that game in Green Bay in 96....I am pretty sure it was Jeff Lewis at quarterback that day (resting Elway because we were 12-1 and already wrapped up homefield advantage)....I am about 75% sure though.

well 75% isn't a hundred. We where led to battle that day by Bill Musgrave:salute:

HORSEPOWER 56
07-13-2011, 02:14 PM
59-14 drubbing at the hands of Oakland at home. Combine that with the fact that I couldn't stand the head coach at the time and yeah, it pretty much tops the list as a worst moment in Bronco history for me. I can deal with injuries and "normal" losses, but that type of embarassment should've been followed by a resignation from the HC - or his firing the next morning.

Dzone
07-13-2011, 02:31 PM
Travis Henry, Darryl Gardner, Dale Carter and Maurice Clarrett.

Dzone
07-13-2011, 02:35 PM
January 1, 2007. I woke up that morning and turned on the radio and the very first thing I heard was Darrent Williams was dead. That was a horrible low.

BroncoJoe
07-13-2011, 03:40 PM
I was pretty pissed about the 1999 season. Two time champion going 6-10.

2000 was also a bummer - start 4-4, then rip of 7 of eight wins only to lose to the F'ing Ravens in the playoffs, who I hate nearly as much as the Raiders.

Canmore
07-13-2011, 04:01 PM
For me, the lowest point was like many the Jacksonville loss. To think we were the best team in the league that year and we're going to the Super Bowl where we are going to get a chance for Elway and company to avenge those horrible Super Bowl losses. It was all gone in a blink of an eye. Left wondering if Elway was ever going to get a ring or was he just going to retire.

BroncoStud
07-13-2011, 04:19 PM
The Jaugars beating us at home was brutal. Big Ben lighting us up was brutal. The 49ers stomping us in the Super Bowl was brutal. The Ravens returing the missed FG 100 yards on us on MNF was really brutal, the Randy Moss lateral sucked, and the Raiders coming back on us that year when Elway had dropped 27 on them in the 1st half alone stunk it up.

But for some reason, the one single moment that resonates in my mind as the WORST in Broncos history was seeing Josh McDaniels hold up the brown Cutler jersey with a big grin on his face, and some of us knowing full well that we were SCREWED. Weird but that's what stands out.

zbeg
07-14-2011, 02:05 AM
As to the Super Bowl, I really think we had, pretty convincingly at that, the best team in the league those 3 years and would probably have won that Bowl.

The Packers were really, really good that year. Did you know they were #1 in the league in both offense and defense? That's only been done one other time in the Super Bowl era (one of the Unitas Colts teams did it, IIRC).

The 1997 Broncos were much better than the 1996 version, and the 1997 Packers were worse than the 1996 team, and that game was a nailbiter.

Denver would have lost that year to GB and we'd be the only team in the NFL to have 5 SB losses. The Jaguars exposed Denver's flaws, and Shanahan thankfully addressed those flaws in the offseason, because he realized that the Broncos weren't good enough to win it all.

claymore
07-14-2011, 03:01 AM
There were some bad times, but the McDaniels era takes the cake for me. Before the McD era, it was probably the Jacksonville playoff loss. I took the SB losses pretty hard when I was a kid too.