Thread: John Elway's design benefiting Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos appreciate everything they've gotten from Peyton Manning over the last three years.

That said, John Elway and Co. have done all they can in the 32 months since signing the icon to build a team capable of winning without him.

Confused? Don't be. It's exactly what Elway himself had at the end of his illustrious career, and the Broncos executive has two rings to show for that.

"We're getting to the point where I was at the end of my career, where we were a good football team -- a very good football team," Elway said from his office on Wednesday. "We're fortunate to have Peyton, but now we're starting to get everyone to take responsibility and say, 'I have to play well for us to win.' The defense is creating their own identity, realizing they can play great. Everyone's not relying on Peyton anymore. They're relying on themselves."

rest - http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...denver-broncos

Denver will ride into New England at 6-1 with a chance to use Brady-Manning XVI to get a major leg up in the race for home field, an advantage that came up aces last January with the Broncos vanquishing Bill Belichick's crew in pristine conditions.

...Rather than in that icy-misty slop that the Patriots play in every January.

The rest of it sounds great except I had more confidence in Brian Griese taking over for Elway than I do Osweiler taking over for Manning when the time comes. Griese had the best running back in pro football for a couple of weeks, anyway. Then the whole plan went to seed. Manning's offense always works because it's Peyton Manning. Put any other quarterback in it, even Brady, and it's not the same thing.

Remember when the Broncos were Mortaging their future by wasting all that money on Manning? That was funny.

Originally Posted by Jaded

Remember when the Broncos were Mortaging their future by wasting all that money on Manning? That was funny.

A fringe sentiment held by maybe Joel and Skip Bayless...and not many more.

"We're getting to the point where I was at the end of my career, where we were a good football team -- a very good football team," Elway said from his office on Wednesday. "We're fortunate to have Peyton, but now we're starting to get everyone to take responsibility and say, 'I have to play well for us to win.' The defense is creating their own identity, realizing they can play great. Everyone's not relying on Peyton anymore. They're relying on themselves."

That can't be overemphasized. Since Manning's arrival, it's too often felt like too many people—fans, players and maybe even the HC—thought they could just ride Manning to an automatic championship without having to show up before the trophy presentation. Manning's spent virtually his whole career on teams like that: Loaded with talent, but also loaded with so many players showing up late and leaving early that the team did the same in the playoffs. He knows even the best team needs many good plays to win a championship, and only needs ONE bad play at the wrong time to blow one.

That's why he pushes himself and everyone around him so hard and tirelessly, but some of his Broncos teammates, like some of his former Colts teammates, haven't stepped up to that challenge, so they got be chewed out by Manning on national TV. That's why we phoned in a 2012 playoff game and watched a much lesser team (whom we DESTROYED in their house a few weeks earlier) go to a SB victory over the #1 seeds stunned battered corpse. It's why we had to come back from 21-7 at Mile High against the pitiful 'Skins, blew a 24-0 halftime lead @NE and got spanked kickoff to gun in the SB.

It's also what so unnerving about nearly blowing ANOTHER 24-0 lead AT HOME in the season opener. It's gotten better; the D has certainly matured, in a way best symbolized by Moore making the goal line pick Thursday that he was way too far in front of in our sole 2012 playoff game. Demaryius Thomas doesn't fumble like he did at the start of 2012, and didn't set a SB reception record giving up or not showing up. Welkers a consummate pro, and Sanders is clearly playing with something to prove, as are Hillman and Thompson, like Moreno before them.

The blockers though seem typified by Zane Beadles: An anemic run blocker only capable of pulling to run downfield and pancake guys half his size, he nonetheless managed to parlay Mannings always-minuscule sack totals (and injuries to Mankins and Kuper) into a 2012 Pro Bowl start, then parlay THAT and a SB (where he got owned all night) into a $30 million FA contract; he should give Manning a hefty finders fee, because the QB earned most of the LGs money.

That's the Broncos line in a nutshell: Mannings quick reads and release produce few sacks and many yards, so everyone concludes the pass blocking's great, and the awful run blocking's dismissed because "we're a passing team in a passing league, so the line's main job is protecting PFM, which they do well; run blocking doesn't matter." Except that's simply not so, and would put too much (i.e. all) offensive pressure on Manning even if it were. He's really NOT a one-man offense—REALLY!

The bottom line is we and Manning need more Morenos and less Deckers; with Hillman taking a cue from the former and Sanders replacing the latter, we seem to be there everywhere EXCEPT the line. I concede they've done better the last two games, the more impressive because the second was just four days after the first, but it IS significant how many front seven starters both teams were missing (and, while SF has a good run D when healthy, SDs is strictly average, neither good nor bad, even when healthy.) If it's "so expletive easy," where's the Lombardi? Play60 EVERY week, line.

A good example I forgot to note: Elway said Cornick's starting at RT because he earned it in games, and it's not an indictment of Clark—but we all know that's BS: Were Clark getting it done, neither Elway nor anyone would be tinkering with the line midway through a title run; line chemistry's too fragile and interconnected, and you never want to mess with what's working. ELway messed with it because it WASN'T working; hopefully that serves notice to everyone else that anyone not doing their job will be replaced by someone who is.