Do the Broncos still stand for greatness or are those days gone?
Jun 19, 2019, 6:28 AM
As Broncos Country remembered Pat Bowlen, it was interesting to hear current and former players talk about their former owner. To a man, they saluted Mr. B for being all about winning.
Whatever they needed to win on Sunday, Bowlen provided. From massages to good food, Bowlen stayed true to the idea the Broncos were all about winning Super Bowls.
Talk about a legacy. But has that legacy been diminished?
Sure, the Broncos continue to preach the party line. The standards remain the same. All that matters around Dove Valley is winning the Super Bowl.
In my opinion, however, that mission statement sounds hollow, and totally unrealistic.
No one who’s watched this team go 16-28 in their last 44 games believes they are on the cusp of doing something special. So why not admit that? Why not admit that, for now, what passes for success has changed?
I believe John Elway would be very happy with a 9-7 season in 2019. So would I.
Nine wins against a schedule that includes two games with the Chiefs, two with the Chargers, plus road games at Green Bay, Minnesota, Indianapolis and Houston would be pretty impressive. It would point to the trajectory of this franchise going up.
It would validate the sweeping changes made to the coaching staff. It would indicate Elway and his staff seem to have turned around a string of bad personnel moves and have drastically improved the talent level. It would show maybe, just maybe the Broncos finally have “the guy” at quarterback in Joe Flacco.
Yet, somehow making the case for being slightly above average seems to be an insult to fans and players alike.
A friend of mine responded to my question about what would pass for a successful season. He says the bar is always raised to winning a Super Bowl and that going 9-7 “of course would be unacceptable.”
Huh?
At some point, you have to acknowledge the truth. The Broncos just haven’t been good enough to deserve setting the bar at Super Bowls. Instead of talking about “Super Bowl or Bust” how about admitting the mistakes and under-achieving that has gone on around here?
I get the sense that Elway, former players and friends like the one I just referenced feel that by “accepting” 9-7 or even – GASP! – 8-8 is tarnishing the memory of Bowlen and what he stood for. That’s ridiculous.
I have spent the last 21 years covering the Broncos. During that time, I got a pretty good sense of who and what Bowlen was. He was someone who was brutally honest and real about what was going on with his football team.
I never got the sense Mr. B walked around in some cloud thinking everything was “Always Sunny in Denver.” He knew not every one of his Broncos teams could win a Super Bowl. That’s not the point. The point is he never stopped striving to make his team a Super Bowl winner.
That is where the Broncos should be at now.
C’mon, be honest. After what you have been forced to watch for most of the last three years, nine wins would feel pretty damn good.
I’m not asking everyone out there in Bronco Land to sit back and be content with that. It shouldn’t be the new norm. What it is, is a step along the way. A step towards getting back to where it is all about winning Super Bowls.
