Cugel
08-29-2012, 11:41 AM
You can't over-emphasize the importance of Peyton Manning. This question for a former NFL Super Bowl winning coach tells the truth of today's NFL that all the talk of "parity" conceals. I had endless arguments over the last 2 seasons with the Tebowites over this very question.
But, Billick states it directly in an interview on 104.3The Fan this morning:
Q: "Can you really win a Super Bowl without an elite QB in today's NFL, the way you did back in 2001?"
Billick: "It's a different game now from when we won the Super Bowl in 2001 with a great defense, good running game and Trent Dilfer. . . . Today [because of the importance of passing] you need that guy (QB). There are 10 to 12 guys who can win it all with the right players around them, but if you don't have that guy, you can't win it."
This really emphasizes the incredible importance for the Broncos to seize every opportunity over the next 3 years or so WHILE Peyton Manning is still around.
Because, as Billick noted, it's not easy to find an elite QB (he lost his job essentially because he thought Kyle Boller was "that guy" and pinned his hopes to Boller becoming an elite QB).
With no surety that Osweiler can ever really become a top 10 or 12 QB in this league realistically the Broncos hopes for a SB Championship in this decade might well ride on getting enough talent around Peyton Manning to win it all NOW.
And when he's gone the statistics say the greater probability is that the team will struggle for a time. (No point in knocking Osweiler before we know how he will do in 3 years time -- if he's given that much).
But, the signing of Jim Leonhard and Keith Brooking aside, is this team doing enough to strengthen the depth, especially on defense to give them a real shot at a SB title this season?
Or will they have to wait another year and load up some more for another run next season? I think we'll have a lot better idea after the first four games whether the team really has what it takes.
But, Billick states it directly in an interview on 104.3The Fan this morning:
Q: "Can you really win a Super Bowl without an elite QB in today's NFL, the way you did back in 2001?"
Billick: "It's a different game now from when we won the Super Bowl in 2001 with a great defense, good running game and Trent Dilfer. . . . Today [because of the importance of passing] you need that guy (QB). There are 10 to 12 guys who can win it all with the right players around them, but if you don't have that guy, you can't win it."
This really emphasizes the incredible importance for the Broncos to seize every opportunity over the next 3 years or so WHILE Peyton Manning is still around.
Because, as Billick noted, it's not easy to find an elite QB (he lost his job essentially because he thought Kyle Boller was "that guy" and pinned his hopes to Boller becoming an elite QB).
With no surety that Osweiler can ever really become a top 10 or 12 QB in this league realistically the Broncos hopes for a SB Championship in this decade might well ride on getting enough talent around Peyton Manning to win it all NOW.
And when he's gone the statistics say the greater probability is that the team will struggle for a time. (No point in knocking Osweiler before we know how he will do in 3 years time -- if he's given that much).
But, the signing of Jim Leonhard and Keith Brooking aside, is this team doing enough to strengthen the depth, especially on defense to give them a real shot at a SB title this season?
Or will they have to wait another year and load up some more for another run next season? I think we'll have a lot better idea after the first four games whether the team really has what it takes.