Denver Native (Carol)
02-07-2009, 10:42 AM
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/06/lincicome-no-whining-plus-broncos/
Encouragement is where you find it, and in the case of the top-lopped Broncos, it is that no one wants out.
No one wants to play for a contender, as in Kansas City, an insult from inside by both Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzalez. No one wants a different defense, as Julius Peppers in Carolina; is just generally unhappy, as Anquan Boldin in Arizona; or is still thinking it over, as LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego.
Coaching changes inevitably cause this sort of thing, and old sores seem always to need fresh picking.
It would appear that the Broncos are willing to buy into whatever it is that fresh coach Josh McDaniels will have on offer, most importantly, the quarterback.
Clearly, at this point, McDaniels needs a happy Jay Cutler, more so than Cutler needs a new coach. And the Broncos generally must accept the notion that all this upheaval was necessary.
Cutler has come around to that conclusion, no longer as bitter a view as that of Jake Plummer, who is now in the duck blind and able to shoot without being shot at.
This attitude change must be taken as wisdom from Cutler, and a sign of maturity as well. It is not wise to stick your tongue out at the new boss.
When last Mike Shanahan spoke to his team, there could not have been much satisfaction with a season so ragged at the end. The Broncos had to assume that many changes would be coming, just not the one that did.
Rather than the usual goodbyes by this time — Shanahan would have shown half the defense the door by now and started replacing them with others, not necessarily betters — the Broncos remain, and much can be said for it, employed. To still have a job is to still have hope.
Not that it will last long. Except for Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil and D.J. Williams, the defense could be put in a sack and dropped off a bridge.
No, that’s cruel. Cut a hole in the sack.
Who replaces them? An ideal list of free agents would start with any or all the Baltimore linebackers, including Ray Lewis; linebacker Mike Peterson of Jacksonville or James Farrior of the Steelers; the aforementioned Peppers; Albert Haynesworth; safety Brian Dawkins of the Eagles; not to overlook running back Darren Sproles of the Chargers or the once-upon-a-Bronco, Bertrand Berry.
All are just names now, and if one of them is more worthwhile to the Broncos than the rest, it is Haynesworth, the Tennessee defensive tackle. It must be assumed that some of these will end up in Denver.
Another assumption is that by rushing to the head of the line first, the Broncos got the best of the bunch of new coaches. Of the 11 changes in the NFL, two were pre-chosen — in Indianapolis and Seattle — and Tom Cable in Oakland and Mike Singletary in San Francisco were merely kept on.
Eric Mangini shifted shirts from the Jets to the Browns; the Chiefs just picked Todd Haley, leaving McDaniels among a half-dozen who have not head-coached before, no reason to be pessimistic there.
It is discouraging to assume that McDaniels’ chief credential is that he will mind his owner and not, for a while at least, act like he is the franchise.
One might wonder if a late casualty like Jon Gruden would not be a more useful choice all around, but that assumes that McDaniels is not the next Gruden.
Ideally, what will happen is that Cutler, still too young to have grown stale, will respond to the new challenge and the new crew, when it would be natural for him to resent the changes. Cutler is where Ben Roethlisberger was when Bill Cowher left the Steelers. And it isn’t as if McDaniels is not thoroughly schooled in offense, as was the case with Cowher’s replacement, Mike Tomlin. Cutler is replacing one expert offensive mind with another, except the new one is more likely to seem a partner than a critic.
More enthusiastic is Brandon Marshall, less vital but nonetheless essential. The Super Bowl is evidence of what a Larry Fitzgerald or a Santonio Holmes can mean, and those moments yet await Marshall.
Just as Cutler can imagine himself to be Tom Brady, so can Marshall see the success that came to a settled Randy Moss in New England with McDaniels’ offense.
With the two most notable Broncos on board, McDaniels is free to sort out the rest, and much sorting is needed.
Linebackers. Defensive linemen. Safeties. Running back. Not necessarily in that order. But in some order.
Encouragement is where you find it, and in the case of the top-lopped Broncos, it is that no one wants out.
No one wants to play for a contender, as in Kansas City, an insult from inside by both Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzalez. No one wants a different defense, as Julius Peppers in Carolina; is just generally unhappy, as Anquan Boldin in Arizona; or is still thinking it over, as LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego.
Coaching changes inevitably cause this sort of thing, and old sores seem always to need fresh picking.
It would appear that the Broncos are willing to buy into whatever it is that fresh coach Josh McDaniels will have on offer, most importantly, the quarterback.
Clearly, at this point, McDaniels needs a happy Jay Cutler, more so than Cutler needs a new coach. And the Broncos generally must accept the notion that all this upheaval was necessary.
Cutler has come around to that conclusion, no longer as bitter a view as that of Jake Plummer, who is now in the duck blind and able to shoot without being shot at.
This attitude change must be taken as wisdom from Cutler, and a sign of maturity as well. It is not wise to stick your tongue out at the new boss.
When last Mike Shanahan spoke to his team, there could not have been much satisfaction with a season so ragged at the end. The Broncos had to assume that many changes would be coming, just not the one that did.
Rather than the usual goodbyes by this time — Shanahan would have shown half the defense the door by now and started replacing them with others, not necessarily betters — the Broncos remain, and much can be said for it, employed. To still have a job is to still have hope.
Not that it will last long. Except for Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil and D.J. Williams, the defense could be put in a sack and dropped off a bridge.
No, that’s cruel. Cut a hole in the sack.
Who replaces them? An ideal list of free agents would start with any or all the Baltimore linebackers, including Ray Lewis; linebacker Mike Peterson of Jacksonville or James Farrior of the Steelers; the aforementioned Peppers; Albert Haynesworth; safety Brian Dawkins of the Eagles; not to overlook running back Darren Sproles of the Chargers or the once-upon-a-Bronco, Bertrand Berry.
All are just names now, and if one of them is more worthwhile to the Broncos than the rest, it is Haynesworth, the Tennessee defensive tackle. It must be assumed that some of these will end up in Denver.
Another assumption is that by rushing to the head of the line first, the Broncos got the best of the bunch of new coaches. Of the 11 changes in the NFL, two were pre-chosen — in Indianapolis and Seattle — and Tom Cable in Oakland and Mike Singletary in San Francisco were merely kept on.
Eric Mangini shifted shirts from the Jets to the Browns; the Chiefs just picked Todd Haley, leaving McDaniels among a half-dozen who have not head-coached before, no reason to be pessimistic there.
It is discouraging to assume that McDaniels’ chief credential is that he will mind his owner and not, for a while at least, act like he is the franchise.
One might wonder if a late casualty like Jon Gruden would not be a more useful choice all around, but that assumes that McDaniels is not the next Gruden.
Ideally, what will happen is that Cutler, still too young to have grown stale, will respond to the new challenge and the new crew, when it would be natural for him to resent the changes. Cutler is where Ben Roethlisberger was when Bill Cowher left the Steelers. And it isn’t as if McDaniels is not thoroughly schooled in offense, as was the case with Cowher’s replacement, Mike Tomlin. Cutler is replacing one expert offensive mind with another, except the new one is more likely to seem a partner than a critic.
More enthusiastic is Brandon Marshall, less vital but nonetheless essential. The Super Bowl is evidence of what a Larry Fitzgerald or a Santonio Holmes can mean, and those moments yet await Marshall.
Just as Cutler can imagine himself to be Tom Brady, so can Marshall see the success that came to a settled Randy Moss in New England with McDaniels’ offense.
With the two most notable Broncos on board, McDaniels is free to sort out the rest, and much sorting is needed.
Linebackers. Defensive linemen. Safeties. Running back. Not necessarily in that order. But in some order.