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View Full Version : Gary Kubiak navigates Broncos QB controversy with steady hand in first season



Denver Native (Carol)
01-06-2016, 08:19 PM
Quarterback controversies can swallow teams. They turn locker rooms into partisan politics. After the Broncos' victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday that clinched the AFC's top playoff seed, a reporter began conducting a straw poll on who should start at quarterback for the Broncos, which irritated players.

The NFL offers the sympathy of a parking ticket. It is a cold, calculating business, where playoff berths are celebrated with T-shirts and caps and losses can result in unemployment.

After the Broncos' disappointing postseason exit a year ago, general manager John Elway wanted a leader who could foster a kicking and screaming mentality among the players. Coach Gary Kubiak guided the Broncos to 12 wins, tying Red Miller's 1977 franchise record for a first-year coach, including three victories after trailing by 14 points.

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_29347397/gary-kubiak-navigates-broncos-qb-controversy-steady-hand

Joel
01-06-2016, 09:16 PM
Three victories after trailing PLAYOFF TEAMS by 14 points. Sometimes teams stumble into homefield because of a soft schedule or lack of competition. For example, NE* clinched homefield before their final 2014 game because they beat us, and both we and Cincy fell apart down the stretch. In 2013 they also beat us, but we got to play over half our schedule against each conferences worst division plus the collapsing SB champs, so we got homefield anyway.

This year NE* played each conferences worst division, but we STILL got homefield because WE won the head-to-head, plus another against a team just a game behind both of us, then closed it out in our final game after NE* was the one to fall apart down the stretch. In other words, we EARNED it by beating all other AFC contenders (even counting KC, because we split with them but had a better record against better competition, and I love the Texans, but they DON'T count as contenders.)