Who Shut Down the Mastermind?
Who Shut Down the Mastermind?
Much has been made about the lack of creativity in the Broncos offensive scheme. Much has been made about the struggles in the red zone, and rightly so. Mike Shanahan is the head coach. He was nicknamed the ‘mastermind’ for his ability to break down any defense thrown against his offenses. Yet in recent years, the Broncos offense has not exactly put fear into the hearts of opponents. The mastermind has been shut down. Who’s the culprit? Let’s take a closer look to figure it out.
Shanahan’s greatest day as an offensive coordinator came in Super Bowl XXIVX while calling plays for the San Francisco 49'ers. San Fran scored 49 points, and racked up 455 yards and 7 TD's. That 49’ers offense had 9 starters on the offensive side of the ball that were in the pro bowl at one time in their career.
He began his Denver Broncos head coaching career in 1995. Within 4 years he had compiled a record of 47-17 with 2 Super Bowl victories. Denver also had 9 starters on the offensive side of the ball that were in the pro bowl at one time in their career.
In the years following the Broncos two Super Bowl victories, Denver has placed just 4 offensive players in the Pro Bowl that were not part of their Super Bowl teams. 4 players in 9 years. Despite the severe drop off in talent on both sides of the ball, the Broncos have had only 2 losing seasons in those 9 years. Mike Shanahan can win with the proper talent. As a matter of fact, he’s proven that he can win it all with the proper talent. The problem is that Denver’s talent base has been so diminished over that last 9 years, that he has spent most of his offensive prowess covering up for the deficiencies of the players on the field. For instance, Jake Plummer was one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in the NFL. He could complete a pass on the run as well as anyone. Set him back in the pocket, however, and you were normally assured of quite a different outcome. The bootleg became the staple of Denver’s offense. Not out of creativity, but necessity. Along comes Jay Cutler, and Denver once again has a pocket quarterback. Cutler can scramble, but his skills are best utilized in the pocket. The problem? Denver doesn’t have an offensive line capable of holding a pocket against a good defense. Have these been the only problems with the offense? No. The list goes on and on. These are just 2 examples of why Mike Shanahan has not been able to utilize his creativity in play calling like he did with San Fransisco and Denver during the Super Bowl years.
Who’s to blame? Why, the man making personnel decisions of course. That would be Mike Shanahan, the man who has the final say in all draft choices and free agent signings. One may argue that he trusts the research of his underlings. If so, these underlings should have been looking for new employers long ago. Whose decision was it to keep them for so long? None other than Mike Shanahan himself.
There is truly only one person that could have shut down the mastermind. That would be the mastermind himself. For now, the Broncos have the right man in charge of the offense. When will Shanahan win another Super Bowl? When he has the proper tools to work with. So should we fire Shanahan the personnel guy? That, my friends, is a debate for another day.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Ziggy
