Denver Native (Carol)
09-28-2009, 01:22 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13435192
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Broncos must be the worst 3-0 team in the NFL.
Before they went out and took a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll in the Black Hole, making a 23-3 victory against the Oakland Raiders look like a chore no more difficult than hauling garbage to the curb, linebacker Andra Davis let me in on a little secret about how he views all the doubters of this Denver team.
"I'm just hoping we can be the worst Super Bowl team they ever saw," Davis said.
Super Bowl? Whoa. Playoffs?
Now those are the last words anybody expected to be uttering in the same breath as these Broncos.
But it's time to start believing in the impossible.
Or are you still too busy crying over that Jay Cutler jersey crumpled in the back of your closet?
"When you're sitting here at 3-0, that gives a swagger about you," defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. "Everybody on the outside of this locker room doubted us. They're in shock. We're the shocker team. You hear it every time you turn on the TV and somebody's talking about Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos. They want to know, 'What's going on out there?' "
OK, get ready to be shocked and awed by the facts.
NFL teams that start the season 3-0 have made the playoffs 75 percent of the time since the league expanded its postseason tournament to 12 berths in 1990, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
And get a load of this: During the past two decades, 47 of the 56 NFL teams that opened with four consecutive victories advanced to the playoffs.
"We've been able to put away victories. That's what good teams do. You hold on to the lead, put teams away and don't give them any hope. If you give teams hope, then the next thing you know you're in a dogfight, you lose games you should've won and you're kicking yourself all week," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said.
Mike Shanahan, the mastermind behind both NFL championships in franchise history, was renowned for doing his homework.
Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to McDaniels was when Denver tight end Daniel Graham suggested the victory against Oakland was won on Wednesday.
"I've played a lot of football in this league with a lot of teams and a lot of coaches, and we go into games prepared for just about everything. It's very impressive to me that Josh McDaniels, at only 33 years old, has this intelligence, a depth of knowledge of the game and an ability to prepare his team for all situations," Holliday said.
For example?
"Going into this game against Oakland," Holliday replied, "we watched how teams let the Raiders back in during the second half."
So when the Broncos took an early 10-point lead, rather than celebrate, they got down to work.
A funny thing happened on the way to Denver becoming an NFL punch line.
The joke's on us.
It's only three games, but not too early to shred the dire predictions. John Clayton, ESPN's esteemed football professor, declared the Broncos would go 3-13 and be the worst team in the AFC. Nice call.
Believing that Mike Nolan could teach the Broncos a little about defense and projecting Knowshon Moreno as the first Broncos running back since Clinton Portis with legit Pro Bowl potential, I cautiously projected McDaniels to go 7-9 in his rookie season, yet was called irrational by gloom-and-doomers.
"We're competitors, tremendous competitors, all of us. So it does nothing more for me and my peers to go out and prove everybody wrong," Holliday said.
OK, so the schedule gets a whole lot tougher . . . for every team in the league that made the mistake of looking at Denver before this season and counting a certain victory.
"I don't even know who we play next week," Stokley insisted.
Know what felt best about the vibe in the visiting locker room? There's no real giddiness among the Broncos. Gloating is for players who sense the good times cannot last.
Denver understands it must stop stalling in the red zone and realizes every quarterback won't be as easy to crush as Oakland's JaMarcus Russell.
"There's no vindication," said McDaniels, working for more than a pat on the back.
Playoffs? The Broncos? This year?
Are you kidding me?
No.
This team is for real.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Broncos must be the worst 3-0 team in the NFL.
Before they went out and took a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll in the Black Hole, making a 23-3 victory against the Oakland Raiders look like a chore no more difficult than hauling garbage to the curb, linebacker Andra Davis let me in on a little secret about how he views all the doubters of this Denver team.
"I'm just hoping we can be the worst Super Bowl team they ever saw," Davis said.
Super Bowl? Whoa. Playoffs?
Now those are the last words anybody expected to be uttering in the same breath as these Broncos.
But it's time to start believing in the impossible.
Or are you still too busy crying over that Jay Cutler jersey crumpled in the back of your closet?
"When you're sitting here at 3-0, that gives a swagger about you," defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. "Everybody on the outside of this locker room doubted us. They're in shock. We're the shocker team. You hear it every time you turn on the TV and somebody's talking about Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos. They want to know, 'What's going on out there?' "
OK, get ready to be shocked and awed by the facts.
NFL teams that start the season 3-0 have made the playoffs 75 percent of the time since the league expanded its postseason tournament to 12 berths in 1990, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
And get a load of this: During the past two decades, 47 of the 56 NFL teams that opened with four consecutive victories advanced to the playoffs.
"We've been able to put away victories. That's what good teams do. You hold on to the lead, put teams away and don't give them any hope. If you give teams hope, then the next thing you know you're in a dogfight, you lose games you should've won and you're kicking yourself all week," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said.
Mike Shanahan, the mastermind behind both NFL championships in franchise history, was renowned for doing his homework.
Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to McDaniels was when Denver tight end Daniel Graham suggested the victory against Oakland was won on Wednesday.
"I've played a lot of football in this league with a lot of teams and a lot of coaches, and we go into games prepared for just about everything. It's very impressive to me that Josh McDaniels, at only 33 years old, has this intelligence, a depth of knowledge of the game and an ability to prepare his team for all situations," Holliday said.
For example?
"Going into this game against Oakland," Holliday replied, "we watched how teams let the Raiders back in during the second half."
So when the Broncos took an early 10-point lead, rather than celebrate, they got down to work.
A funny thing happened on the way to Denver becoming an NFL punch line.
The joke's on us.
It's only three games, but not too early to shred the dire predictions. John Clayton, ESPN's esteemed football professor, declared the Broncos would go 3-13 and be the worst team in the AFC. Nice call.
Believing that Mike Nolan could teach the Broncos a little about defense and projecting Knowshon Moreno as the first Broncos running back since Clinton Portis with legit Pro Bowl potential, I cautiously projected McDaniels to go 7-9 in his rookie season, yet was called irrational by gloom-and-doomers.
"We're competitors, tremendous competitors, all of us. So it does nothing more for me and my peers to go out and prove everybody wrong," Holliday said.
OK, so the schedule gets a whole lot tougher . . . for every team in the league that made the mistake of looking at Denver before this season and counting a certain victory.
"I don't even know who we play next week," Stokley insisted.
Know what felt best about the vibe in the visiting locker room? There's no real giddiness among the Broncos. Gloating is for players who sense the good times cannot last.
Denver understands it must stop stalling in the red zone and realizes every quarterback won't be as easy to crush as Oakland's JaMarcus Russell.
"There's no vindication," said McDaniels, working for more than a pat on the back.
Playoffs? The Broncos? This year?
Are you kidding me?
No.
This team is for real.