Denver's loss at Kansas City last week ensured that both Super Bowl teams from the previous season would fail to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
The Broncos and Panthers organizations still boast the front office leadership, veteran coaching staffs and talented core of players to inspire faith in their potential for a return to 2015 heights with a few adjustments.
Let's examine three offseason priorities for the Broncos:
1. Take another stab at revamping the offensive line: As a virtual coach on the field, Peyton Manning's pre-snap machinations and quick release masked an overmatched offensive line in 2015. Once Manning called it a career, general manager John Elway made it a priority to upgrade the blocking, signing bookend tackles Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson in free agency.
To put it bluntly, the overhaul backfired in Elway's face. Stephenson and backup Ty Sambrailo have teamed to make Broncos right tackle the offensive-line equivalent of Cleveland Browns quarterback this season. Okung and the guard tandem of Michael Schofield and Max Garcia have been liabilities at times in their own right, leaving first-year starting signal-caller Trevor Siemian to swallow the poisonous concoction of shoddy pass protection and a derelict ground "attack."
Okung's four-year, $48 million contract is essentially a one-year commitment with an escape hatch if Elway balks at picking up the option for an additional four years. The Broncos can also choose to release Stephenson before his $4 million salary becomes guaranteed in mid-March. Cutting ties is the easy part. Finding capable replacements -- especially at left tackle -- is the challenge. The best course of action might be to renegotiate Okung's deal and lure a free-agent right tackle such as Detroit's Riley Reiff or Baltimore's Ricky Wagner.