Thread: Kubiak Retiring?

Originally Posted by Northman

While technically you are correct (see John Fox) there is something to be said about giving a guy a chance to right the ship after losing a HOF QB. Shanahan was a very successful HC for Denver and while he didnt get us back to the promise land at least he was given a fair lease to try and achieve that. I do think that Kubiaks health played a role here even if some of the other part of it was his loyalty to his staff. Most coaches who win a SB are not fired after a couple of years and that isnt something that shouldnt be overlooked. If Kubiak was healthier im not entirely sure how this would of played out honestly.

Originally Posted by dogfish

"fire 'em every year!" is the al davis, cleveland browns way. . .

I didn't mean to come off sounding like I wanted Kubiak fired after this past season, but something had to be done in terms of the offense. Whether it was the play calling, or Rick Dennison. I don't think you could go into the off-season with no changes, and expect next year that things will *just* get better on their own. I never quite understood the role of Rick Dennison as I was under the assumption that Kubiak called the pays, which led me to wonder what exactly was Dennison's role?

I'll give the team some slack as we are playing in a very tough division, and we did finish 9-7. However, I think that's more of a testament to how well the defense was, moreso than anything else. Some creativity needs to be brought back to this offense, and I just never felt Kubiak had any, felt extremely predictable.

Originally Posted by tripp

I didn't mean to come off sounding like I wanted Kubiak fired after this past season, but something had to be done in terms of the offense. Whether it was the play calling, or Rick Dennison. I don't think you could go into the off-season with no changes, and expect next year that things will *just* get better on their own. I never quite understood the role of Rick Dennison as I was under the assumption that Kubiak called the pays, which led me to wonder what exactly was Dennison's role?

I'll give the team some slack as we are playing in a very tough division, and we did finish 9-7. However, I think that's more of a testament to how well the defense was, moreso than anything else. Some creativity needs to be brought back to this offense, and I just never felt Kubiak had any, felt extremely predictable.

Honestly, we were really lucky to even go 9-7. Take out the late-game special teams miracles against Carolina and New Orleans, we go 7-9, which is probably more indicative of how good this team really was this year.

I was saying early in the season how the record kinda felt like a mirage (and was slammed for it), but it really looked like we just feasted on weak teams early on then fell back to earth once we hit the meat of our schedule.

Originally Posted by tripp

I didn't mean to come off sounding like I wanted Kubiak fired after this past season, but something had to be done in terms of the offense. Whether it was the play calling, or Rick Dennison. I don't think you could go into the off-season with no changes, and expect next year that things will *just* get better on their own. I never quite understood the role of Rick Dennison as I was under the assumption that Kubiak called the pays, which led me to wonder what exactly was Dennison's role?

I'll give the team some slack as we are playing in a very tough division, and we did finish 9-7. However, I think that's more of a testament to how well the defense was, moreso than anything else. Some creativity needs to be brought back to this offense, and I just never felt Kubiak had any, felt extremely predictable.

in fairness, i don't think dennison really knows what his role is either, beyond fetching coffee. . . and i do agree that some fresh blood was needed on the staff. . .

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

Honestly, we were really lucky to even go 9-7. Take out the late-game special teams miracles against Carolina and New Orleans, we go 7-9, which is probably more indicative of how good this team really was this year.

I was saying early in the season how the record kinda felt like a mirage (and was slammed for it), but it really looked like we just feasted on weak teams early on then fell back to earth once we hit the meat of our schedule.

We won a lot of miracle games in 2015, though. That's kind of how the NFL is at this point - most games are within striking distance in the fourth quarter. You're right that we very easily could have lost both of those games you mentioned ... but on the other hand, if Roby makes a tackle in the first Chiefs game and if Fowler doesn't drop a TD pass in the Tennessee game, we could be 11-5.

Originally Posted by dogfish

in fairness, i don't think dennison really knows what his role is either, beyond fetching coffee. . . and i do agree that some fresh blood was needed on the staff. . .

I think that's what a lot of us felt. I really think that we weren't getting rid of Kubiak, I think it was his choice. Now if it really was his health or that he didn't want to fire people, we can't know that, but it wouldn't be surprised if it came down to "Dennison stays or I go" and we decided to just let him walk away.

Originally Posted by tripp

I can only assume it's something to do with a generational thing.

Just because you won a SB a year previous, and then failed to make the playoffs the following year, doesn't give you a "get out of jail free" card. Someone needs to be accountable for not making the playoffs and for this offense.

Good grief, do you expect us to win the Superbowl every year?

He won a SB and went 9-7 the following year. It's not like he traded Von miller and Chris Harris and went 4-12.

Originally Posted by VonDoom

We won a lot of miracle games in 2015, though. That's kind of how the NFL is at this point - most games are within striking distance in the fourth quarter. You're right that we very easily could have lost both of those games you mentioned ... but on the other hand, if Roby makes a tackle in the first Chiefs game and if Fowler doesn't drop a TD pass in the Tennessee game, we could be 11-5.

Exactly....we were a couple of plays from getting into the playoffs.

Another thing is to look at the games before CJ got hurt and after CJ got hurt. It doesn't seem like 1 person should make that big of difference but it did. At the Raider game I was thinking WTH how did they find a running game now???? Well I heard on the radio that once Sanders went out Cody L came in and he was a much better blocker than Sanders.

When the I saw the ball bounce in for KC what looked like a bank shot I remembered thinking....this year the ball is just not bouncing our way.

Gary was looking really tired and just not himself at the end of the season. His health was suffering, so he made the best choice for himself and his family.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

Honestly, we were really lucky to even go 9-7. Take out the late-game special teams miracles against Carolina and New Orleans, we go 7-9, which is probably more indicative of how good this team really was this year.

I was saying early in the season how the record kinda felt like a mirage (and was slammed for it), but it really looked like we just feasted on weak teams early on then fell back to earth once we hit the meat of our schedule.

No team with this good a defense is a 7-9 team. They still had Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, TJ Ward, Aquib Talib, Chris Harris. The problem was that they had 2 starting QBs who had never started a game in the NFL before, and one of the worst OLs in football.

Strengthen the OL, give Lynch & Siemian some more coaching and experience, get CJ Anderson back, maybe pick up another RB (they're always a dime a dozen), and the offense could be much better than last year. It could hardly be worse.

It's the defense we have to worry about. Fans expect that whatever was a strength of the team last year will be just as good this year, while whatever was wrong will get fixed. But, that's not how it works. There's really no where to go but down when you had one of the greatest defenses of all time. Any change is not going to be for the better.

This is simple logic. If you replace a player (or coach) who is purely mediocre, there's a 50% chance the guy who replaces him is better, 50% chance he's worse. If you replace a guy who's in the bottom 25% of players or coaches, there's a 75% random chance his replacement will be better.

But, when you replace one of the TOP guys in the league, there's a 99% chance the replacement is worse, and only a 1% chance he's as good or better. Joe Woods would have to be phenomenal just to do as good a job as Wade.

Originally Posted by VonDoom View Post
We won a lot of miracle games in 2015, though. That's kind of how the NFL is at this point - most games are within striking distance in the fourth quarter. You're right that we very easily could have lost both of those games you mentioned ... but on the other hand, if Roby makes a tackle in the first Chiefs game and if Fowler doesn't drop a TD pass in the Tennessee game, we could be 11-5.

The defense wasn't as great as it was in 2015, but it was still pretty great. It just got worn down because the Offense didn't help at all to carry the load. And they lost some players, particularly Malik Jackson. They were counting on Vance Walker to take his place and Vance went on IR. Teams started running right up the middle on them for big yards.

It's almost certainly a good thing Kubiak retired, because he was losing control over the locker room. The defensive players were starting to lash out at the offense, particularly the Offensive line. That scene when Russell Okung rose to speak after a loss and take some responsibility and Aquib Talib and other defenders shouted him down. I can understand the frustration, but that's not a team pulling together.

Okung made light of it afterwards, but the feeling in the locker room seemed to be "a bunch of these offensive players and coaches are going to be gone next year, so shut up!" That's not the spirit that won a championship in 2015.