On the cusp of becoming a .500 football team, the Denver Broncos are in the midst of achieving the impossible, overcoming the copious problems that inept monarch Josh McDaniels left the team with when he was fired less than 12 months ago and challenging for a spot in the playoffs this season.
With an enforcing 17-10 road victory over the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos improved to 4-5 on the season, putting themselves one game behind the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders with seven games to play and erasing a pitiful 1-4 start.
While “one game at a time” must be the mantra in the clubhouse, it’s feasible to say that no matchup is as important as Thursday night’s showdown against the New York Jets at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
A win on Thursday isn’t about redemption from last season’s 24-20 home loss to New York; rather, it’s about establishing the franchise’s return to legitimacy and wiping clean the memories of last season’s dreadful 4-12 record.
Many football critics are already attacking the Broncos ultra-conservative offensive play calling against Kansas City, but the fact of the matter remains – bad football teams don’t win three games a row on the road; bad football teams don’t rush for over 200 yards in back-to-back weeks on divisional rivals; and bad teams certainly don’t recover from 4-12 this quickly.
Denver may have a quarterback problem – it’s still too early to cast an absolute opinion on Tim Tebow – but for the first time since McDaniels took over in 2009, the Broncos don’t have a team problem.
The team is one of the best in the league at running the football and rushing the opposing team’s quarterback, which are two fundamental elements to success in the NFL.
While the Jets will certainly attack the Broncos’ weaknesses – pass offense and pass defense – Denver must return the favor and exploit the weaknesses of a 5-4 Jets team that is falling short of Super Bowl expectations. If the Broncos can continually put pressure on erratic Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, while establishing the run game early, then they have a chance to be 5-5.
That would mean an Oakland loss to the Vikings on Sunday would return the AFC West crown to Denver for the first time since November 2009. It may not be pretty, but the Broncos are winning games, and a fifth win would signify the franchise’s triumph past the McDaniels era that seemed destined to tarnish it for a decade.
The road to recovery was shorter than we all expected, and much of that credit goes to the Broncos new front office, consisting of new head coach John Fox and President of Football Operation John Elway (Yes, that guy is orchestrating another Denver comeback).
Redemption hasn’t come full circle yet in Denver, but it’s knocking at the door. If the Broncos can answer the call, then they will have made the quickest turnaround in the NFL this season.
It didn’t seem likely four weeks ago, but now, breaking bad has become a reality.
