Broncos learned their lessons from Super Bowl letdowns

[Denver Native (Carol)]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Before his whirlybird spin in the air forever etched him in NFL lore, two-time Super Bowl champion John Elway called his mother on the team flight from Pittsburgh after winning the AFC championship on Jan. 11, 1998.

"I said, 'Mom, guess what? We get to go back to the Super Bowl!" Elway recounted. "She said, 'Do we really have to go back?"

After so many Super Bowl letdowns — three losses by an average of 32 points — she wasn't sure watching her son face the two-touchdown favorite Green Bay Packers was such a good idea.

Many Denver fans are similarly pensive as these Broncos (14-4) prepare to face Cam Newton and the mighty Carolina Panthers (17-1) in Super Bowl 50 as five-point underdogs.

They swear they've learned their lessons, however, after getting shellacked by Seattle 43-8 in the Super Bowl two years ago.

They won't be beating each other up this time in full-pads practices in the lead-up to the Feb. 7 kickoff.

They're praising their opponents aplenty — a lot like the Broncos talked up the Packers 18 years ago.

rest - http://pro32.ap.org/abqjournal/article/broncos-learned-their-lessons-super-bowl-letdowns

[tomjonesrocks]

Interesting - was just listening to Amani Toomer talking to Clough and he stressed two different times how horrible the feeling of losing a Super Bowl was and what an enormous motivator that is. It was clear he still had a lot of resentment for how Fassel prepared that losing team even after more than a decade.

In a game that seems to have very few advantages skewed Denver's way this may be one of them.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

more from article:


Two years after taking the league's No. 1 offense to the Super Bowl, the Broncos bring the NFL's No. 1 defense, one that battered Tom Brady with an incredible 23 hits Sunday.

The Broncos also changed their offensive identity this season with the hiring of coach Gary Kubiak, who installed a better ground game and a plan for Manning to share snaps with Brock Osweiler in practice.

The plan came in handy when Manning missed six weeks with a foot injury and Osweiler kept the Broncos rolling right along. And the ground game finally came on behind a new O-line in Kubiak's zone blocking scheme.

Even though it's been inconsistent, "I like what we're doing offensively," Elway said. "I like the system, obviously, having played in it and knowing that you can win world championships with it."

Elway changed coaches a year ago, befuddled by Fox's teams losing their last game by a cumulative 150-66. He said he wanted a team that would "go down kicking and screaming."

http://pro32.ap.org/abqjournal/article/broncos-learned-their-lessons-super-bowl-letdowns

[Denver Native (Carol)]

more from article -


They won't be soaking in the nightlife quite so full throttle once they get to San Francisco on Sunday.

They'll certainly prepare for a loud crowd this time after former coach John Fox famously turned down the speakers at practices figuring it would be like a home game only to see that plan ripped apart in all of 12 seconds.

Players and coaches have already taken care of tickets and flights for family and friends and all the distractions that go with the Super Bowl so when they return to work Thursday their focus is on football.

"We got spanked last time. I felt bad for a month and a-half, two months," said wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, the lone bright spot that night in the Meadowlands when Seattle's sideline-to-sideline supremacy rendered his Super Bowl-record 13 receptions a footnote.

"He played great," Elway said in the aftermath of that blowout. "If we all played like he did, we'd have won."

http://pro32.ap.org/abqjournal/article/broncos-learned-their-lessons-super-bowl-letdowns

[DenBronx]

Anyone else nervous as hell about this game? I hated the loss last time we went that I almost don't enjoy us going now due to the fact that the Panthers look just as strong as Seattle did that year.

[tomjonesrocks]

Anyone else nervous as hell about this game? I hated the loss last time we went that I almost don't enjoy us going now due to the fact that the Panthers look just as strong as Seattle did that year.

Well Denver is a prohibitive underdog...

Advantage Denver at WR if DT can get his head out of his ass. And Denver's SB loss just 2 years ago could actually help focus.

I think we have to hope Carolina ****s this up and Denver is laser-focused and prepared. If Carolina and Denver bring their A games Denver goes home on a losing plane IMO. But that's why they play.

[Davii]

Well Denver is a prohibitive underdog...

Advantage Denver at WR if DT can get his head out of his ass. And Denver's SB loss just 2 years ago could actually help focus.

I think we have to hope Carolina ****s this up and Denver is laser-focused and prepared. If Carolina and Denver bring their A games Denver goes home on a losing plane IMO. But that's why they play.

If we bring our "A" game there's no way we go home the losers. Our "A" game means they don't have an "A" game offensively no matter how hard they try.

[tomjonesrocks]

If we bring our "A" game there's no way we go home the losers. Our "A" game means they don't have an "A" game offensively no matter how hard they try.

I like your version better.

[DenBronx]

Anyone else nervous as hell about this game? I hated the loss last time we went that I almost don't enjoy us going now due to the fact that the Panthers look just as strong as Seattle did that year.

Well Denver is a prohibitive underdog...

Advantage Denver at WR if DT can get his head out of his ass. And Denver's SB loss just 2 years ago could actually help focus.

I think we have to hope Carolina ****s this up and Denver is laser-focused and prepared. If Carolina and Denver bring their A games Denver goes home on a losing plane IMO. But that's why they play.


I believe Cam will get rattled in this game. If Cam is Superman then Von is his kryptonite.

DT played his butt off last SB, we will need him again.

[Joel]

DT played his butt off last SB, we will need him again.
DT silencing his critics with a performance like his last SB could be the difference maker, because it's clear we're no longer suck with "Can't-throw-passes-past-10-yds" Manning anymore. I'd still feel a LOT better with 3rd and long protection, or blocking good enough to AVOID 3rd long entirely by springing our RBs for 4 yds/att. Or rather, riding CJ, since he's getting that and Hillman's getting HALF that: C'mon, Kubes, I know the guy's hurt a lot, but it's the SB; there's NOTHING LEFT TO "SAVE" HIM FOR! I've been fighting the urge to "feel" it ever since the first NE* win, because I don't want to get tricked by emotions and choking again.

It really does feel different this time though; hopefully that's more than a feeling (first person to make a Boston reference gets punched in the mouth. :tongue:)

[Northman]

Anyone else nervous as hell about this game? I hated the loss last time we went that I almost don't enjoy us going now due to the fact that the Panthers look just as strong as Seattle did that year.

Ive been nervous all year, nothing will change for the SB. Its just a matter of how bad Denver wants it and can they continue to not have costly mistakes and allow the Panthers to capitalize. Cardinals coughed it up 6-7 times and you cant do that when playing a good team.

[Joel]

Ive been nervous all year, nothing will change for the SB. Its just a matter of how bad Denver wants it and can they continue to not have costly mistakes and allow the Panthers to capitalize. Cardinals coughed it up 6-7 times and you cant do that when playing a good team.
Part of the problem is that turnovers often aren't "mistakes," at least not wholly. It's not like that game was a fluke; Carolina FORCED more turnovers than anyone else this year, and that was a big part of why they got to host all their playoff games in the first place. I'm really glad we've been working so much on ball security recently, and, except for a CERTAIN hustle-challenged incident last week, that kept us "mistake" free in both playoff games.

[7DnBrnc53]

I believe Cam will get rattled in this game. If Cam is Superman then Von is his kryptonite.

DT played his butt off last SB, we will need him again.

Von has a good chance to end up SB MVP. His motivation (being taken second behind Cam) might be the difference (I hope so).

[Joel]

Unlikely as it may sound, I really hope CJ is SB MVP; failing that, DT. I know that's not how our team's built now, but if CJ keeps averaging >4.5/att, as he has throughout the playoffs, and we're smart enough to KEEP FEEDING HIM instead of going to the guy who's averaged 2.0/att throughout the playoffs, it'll make Mannings life way easier, if only because we'll face far fewer 3rd and longs. And hopefully not let Carolina force many turnovers; they're REALLY good at that, after all.

[Northman]

Part of the problem is that turnovers often aren't "mistakes," at least not wholly. It's not like that game was a fluke; Carolina FORCED more turnovers than anyone else this year, and that was a big part of why they got to host all their playoff games in the first place. I'm really glad we've been working so much on ball security recently, and, except for a CERTAIN hustle-challenged incident last week, that kept us "mistake" free in both playoff games.

Yes and no. You would be a fool to actually believe that the Panthers just simply "read their minds" when getting the turnovers. I would say out of the 6 turnovers the Cards had maybe 3 of them were straight up great plays. But the deeper issue is that they got into Carson's head and after the first couple he simply imploded and made bad decisions/mistakes.

[Davii]

Unlikely as it may sound, I really hope CJ is SB MVP; failing that, DT. I know that's not how our team's built now, but if CJ keeps averaging >4.5/att, as he has throughout the playoffs, and we're smart enough to KEEP FEEDING HIM instead of going to the guy who's averaged 2.0/att throughout the playoffs, it'll make Mannings life way easier, if only because we'll face far fewer 3rd and longs. And hopefully not let Carolina force many turnovers; they're REALLY good at that, after all.

I hope the SB MVP is a Bronco. I don't care which one.

[Joel]

Yes and no. You would be a fool to actually believe that the Panthers just simply "read their minds" when getting the turnovers. I would say out of the 6 turnovers the Cards had maybe 3 of them were straight up great plays. But the deeper issue is that they got into Carson's head and after the first couple he simply imploded and made bad decisions/mistakes.
There's plenty of both, yes, but some teams try extra hard to force turnovers, and the ones who succeed win a lot of games: Carolina's a classic example, at least this year, and if we're not prepared for that, we've already lost. Again, Carolina got (relatively) few points off Arizonas many turnovers. But what they did do was prevent ARIZONA scoring many either, by prematurely ending over half a dozen drives. Otherwise, the final's much closer.

Plus, as you say, if a team infamous for that does it a few times the other may start expecting it, or respond the wrong and only make it worse, or overcompensate so they just lose the ball some other way. And yeah, there's a real risk we fall (have fallen?) into a variation of that trap by simply turtling up too badly to even get a first down; what's the difference between a three-and-out and Sanders fumbling to Pitt after his 50 yd reception? Either way, the chance to score is gone.

Either way, the key point is that few turnovers are truly "pure luck:" In football as most of life, "good luck" is usually a matter of being prepared and alert enough to exploit genuinely good luck and mitigate genuinely bad luck, and "bad luck" is the failure to do so. As previously noted elsewhere, the guy who usually falls on the ball is the guy who's ALWAYS "on the ball" in the first place. Good coaches instill disciplined fundamentals to ensure that guy is EVERYONE.

That brings us back to why I'm a lot less worried with Kubiak than I ever was with Fox. He's not perfect, but he'll get us ready; in a way, he already has.

[Joel]

I hope the SB MVP is a Bronco. I don't care which one.
Good enough. There's a very short list of losing SB MVPs (in fact, it's just one guy.)

[Ravage!!!]

ONe could make a very strong argument that the reason CJ is averaging 4.5 is because he's splitting the carries with someone else. I doubt we change it up, now, considering it doesn't really make sense to not continue what you've been doing to get you here.

[Joel]

Hillman's splitting carries with someone else, too: And averaging 2.0 yds on them, with a long of 9 (but a very IMPORTANT 9.) Plus, the lateral, our SOLE playoff turnover, and the ONLY thing that kept NE* in the next 3½ qtrs of a game we dominated. I just can't what we'd lose with him off the field. In the playoffs,

CJ's averaged well over TWICE as much on the ground,
CJ's gained well over TWICE as much total (144 yds vs. 54,)
CJ has longer runs AND more of them (34, 30, 11, 9 vs. 9,)
CJ reached in for our ONLY rushing TD,
CJ's been thrown to more times (6 vs. 3) yet,
CJ has less drops (just ONE; Hillman only has one CATCH) and
CJ has more receiving yards (29 vs. 7)

He's been blown up a few times in protection but also made a few good blocks picking up blitzers, both of which are true of Hillman, so nothing in Hillmans favor there. The only other plausible arguments I can see for Hillman are that CJ's either getting tired or gimpy, but his PERFORMANCE has outpaced Hillmans by a wide margin ever since the bye to get healthy before GB. I'm hoping Kubiak's just been saving him because of his injuries, in which case it's time to collect those savings.

In terms of what "got us here" though, Hillmans playoff contributions consist of:

1) His longest run (9 yds) to set up CJ powering in from the 1 for a TD and
2) Gains of ±2 yds so CJ can rest and avoid aggravating/incurring injury.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Yes and no. You would be a fool to actually believe that the Panthers just simply "read their minds" when getting the turnovers. I would say out of the 6 turnovers the Cards had maybe 3 of them were straight up great plays. But the deeper issue is that they got into Carson's head and after the first couple he simply imploded and made bad decisions/mistakes.

Late last night I had on NFL Network, and I am sure I was watching a rerun from earlier in the day. Four people there - Brandon Marshall, Phil Simms, Eddie George, and some other man. They were talking about Carolina's defense, and they showed plays from the AZ Carolina game. One of them stated that on some of the negative plays by Palmer, it had nothing to do with Carolina's defense, but rather bad reads, bad decisions by Palmer, not seeing or not connecting with open receivers, etc.

[NightTerror218]

Late last night I had on NFL Network, and I am sure I was watching a rerun from earlier in the day. Four people there - Brandon Marshall, Phil Simms, Eddie George, and some other man. They were talking about Carolina's defense, and they showed plays from the AZ Carolina game. One of them stated that on some of the negative plays by Palmer, it had nothing to do with Carolina's defense, but rather bad reads, bad decisions by Palmer, not seeing or not connecting with open receivers, etc.

I was talking about this earlier. This was the turn over happy Carson of old. He played bad and Carolina capitalized on it. Had nothing g to do with Carolina playing lights out.

7 turnover, 4 interceptions.

[arapaho2]

my view...is its all up to the broncos, yes cliché but none the less true

if the defense plays balls to the wall, hits anything with a ball, doesn't over commit, plays the read option well, its not like we haven't seen it, we played it every day with tebow...im not to worried about the defense, wade is excellent at adjusting

if the bronco offensive line can get it together for one game, in pass blocking the lg must not over commit to doubleing up on the LT or centers man. we have seen this way too often, the center gets his guy, the DT or DE is blocked by the LT, and the linebacker sits back and as soon as the lG commits to one side or the other the linebacker shoots the gap, same issue with stunts... maintain your space
then we must give the RT help if he is getting beat.
then Manning must get on the same page...he must hit those open wrs for big yards a few times , granted the Wrs must also focus on catching the ball, doesn't matter if your gonna get drilled...catch the ball they have the chance to be sore superbowl winners as opposed to sore losers

[Joel]

in pass blocking the rg must not over commit to doubleing up on the LT or centers man. we have seen this way too often, the center gets his guy, the DT or DE is blocked by the LT, and the linebacker sits back and as soon as the RG commits to one side or the other the linebacker shoots the gap, same issue with stunts... maintain your space
There must be something really subtle and nuanced about that that you and I aren't seeing, because it looks so GLARINGLY OBVIOUS from my living room, and yet....