Tag Archives: John Elway

Is Case Keenum a One-Hit Wonder?

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A lot has been made of the Broncos’ acquisition of quarterback Case Keenum. Does it represent a sizable upgrade over the three different starters that Denver trotted out last year? Or was it the offensive skill players and top-ranked defense that made the Vikings so successful in 2017, and Keenum was just along for the ride? The Broncos’ ability to rebound from their disastrous 5-11 season likely hinges on the answer.

The good news is that I’m not too concerned whether or not the Broncos will be better off with Keenum this season, and you shouldn’t be either. My cat would probably be an upgrade over Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch. The real question is did Case Keenum actually emerge in 2017 as a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL, or was his performance just an aberration? Will the real Case Keenum please stand up?

Alright, that was more than just one question, but you get it. I’d normally say that if your first good season as a professional quarterback doesn’t come until you’ve been doing it for six years, there should rightfully be some skepticism over whether or not it was a fluke. Of course, it isn’t always a one-off performance. Sometimes you have a case like Steve Young…

  • Started in the USFL
  • Had a failed stint as Tampa Bay’s starter
  • Was traded to the 49ers as Joe Montana’s backup, where he didn’t become the starter and post a quality season until his eighth year as a pro

…or like Kurt Warner…

  • Undrafted by the NFL and got a job bagging groceries
  • Moved on to the Arena League and made a name for himself
  • Was then signed by the Rams, but the Greatest Show on Turf didn’t arrive until Warner’s sixth year as a pro quarterback

…but those are few and far between. Then there’s a guy like Nick Foles, who everyone thought was a one-year wonder until he was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy just five months ago, and he was in the same draft class as Keenum.

All of that is fairly inconsequential, of course, because we’re talking about Keenum’s career and his current situation. I’m sure many English majors have gone on to be successful writers after not doing anything with their degree for a few years, but I can’t sit here and say, “Well, it worked out for those guys, so I’m just going to eat Pringles on my couch and wait for someone to recognize my talent.” The point is that just because Keenum hasn’t been a good quarterback since he first stepped onto an NFL field, that doesn’t mean that his accomplishments are fleeting and that there aren’t more on the way. It also doesn’t guarantee that he’s following in the footsteps of Young and Warner.

Which is why I’ve decided to take an in-depth look at Keenum’s football career. Not just his stats or performance, mind you, but also the quality of his team and the presence of any factors that might have hindered his opportunity to win games. That will hopefully shed some light on what we can expect from Keenum’s first season with the Broncos. There may even be more self-deprecation, as I continuously remind myself that I have a useless degree and that I need to write a whole hell of a lot more than I currently do if I ever want to make it my profession. See, we’re off to a rousing start!

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Are the Broncos Stuck in the Pit of Misery? – Part 2

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Welcome to part 2 of our offseason series for our beloved Broncos, and whether they are totally screwed moving towards the 2018 season. Can they escape from the pit like Bruce Wayne did in The Dark Knight Rises? Or are they stuck in there with a bunch of old guys and access to cable television? The consensus so far? Too early to tell.

But it’s not too early to continue speculating about the moves John Elway and co. will make to place the Broncos back among the contenders in the AFC. And that’s what we’re going to do.

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Are the Broncos Stuck in the Pit of Misery? – Part 1

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Hello there, faithful readers. It’s been awhile since you’ve heard from us. It could be that there hasn’t been anything worth writing about over the past month in the world of sports or movies (partly true), or it’s possible that our real jobs keep us from writing on a more regular basis (mostly true). Regardless, we’ve missed you guys and we’re glad to be back. Not a moment too soon, either.

You see, things really start to heat up in the sporting world when the calendar turns to March, and I’m not just talking about the weather. Seeing as we are mostly a Broncos blog, it’s fitting that our favorite team is entering perhaps its most important offseason since John Elway took over the front office. With a glaring hole at quarterback, dire needs at multiple other positions and a coach that barely survived his first season on the job and will need to make huge strides if he wants to see the end of his second one, it’s safe to say that the moves the Broncos make over the next couple of months could make or break their 2018 campaign before it ever gets started.

And we’re back to see all those moves through with you. While we’re optimistic that everything that happens will put our team back on the path towards winning, we’ve been humbled way too much since Super Bowl 50 to feel that confident. Still, you should know up front that Pegboards still very much trusts John Elway to make things right, and we hope you do to.

So without further adieu, let’s get to it. Are the Broncos stuck in the Pit of Misery? And if not, how do they get out?

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An Open Letter to Broncos Country

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Hello everyone,

How are you all holding up this season? I know it’s been tough. We aren’t used to seeing our team wallow among the dregs of the NFL, or being eliminated from the playoffs less than halfway through December. That’s on top of the eight-game losing streak the Broncos endured, the one time they were shutout by the Chargers and the fact that they are still winless on the road so far this year. Misery, misery, misery, everywhere we look this season.

Everyone has their own way of coping with this level of losing. Some take to Facebook to openly complain about how much they hate Vance Joseph and how John Elway is long overdue to be fired. Others simply tune the games out and find something better to do on Sunday afternoons, like go for a walk or tend to some household chores (or literally almost anything else). And there are evens “fans” who have stopped supporting the Broncos altogether and have jumped on another team’s bandwagon, such as the Eagles or Rams. To those people, I say good riddance. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out and don’t bother coming back when the Broncos turn things around.

But in case you didn’t notice, the Broncos actually won a game on Sunday, in dominant fashion I might add. This may have felt like sweet relief to you, if you’re tired of watching your team fall flat on their faces every week and want them to end the season on a high note. Or maybe you were completely frustrated because you have embraced the tank and the Broncos are so bad that they can’t even figure out how to get that right. Either line of thinking is alright by me, because it’s your team and your free to support them however you wish.

That being said, it got me thinking about how that was the kind of performance we’re used to seeing from the Broncos, and that one bad season doesn’t change the fact that we are lucky to be fans of a team that has enjoyed so much success over the years.

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An Open Letter to John Elway

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Dear John Elway,

As we march toward the end of what has been a most trying season, I hope you are in good health these days c, especially considering you are probably not in good spirits. I know it must be hard to watch your team lose week after week, often in embarrassing fashion. It sure has been for me and the rest of Broncos Country. And while I’m confident that you are already thinking of all the ways that you can clean up this mess in the offseason, I thought I’d take the time this morning to offer you some advice.

This is not so much about specific moves or changes. I already covered things that I’d like to see happen last week, and I’m not going to spend time regurgitating those here. No, this is more about an important component that lies at the heart of leading any successful team or organization, particularly one that experiences any sort of regression.

Self-reflection.

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How to Fix the Denver Broncos

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It’s been a long season for Broncos fans. Less than two years removed from watching our team win its third Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, it’s become a chore to even sit through an entire game. Vance Joseph was adamant in his belief before the season that these Broncos weren’t broken and just needed a reboot, not an entire rebuild. As loss after loss has piled up, it’s abundantly clear that he couldn’t have been more wrong in his assertion.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Outside of a few early wins, the Broncos are in the midst of their longest stretch of futility since Josh McDaniels was fist-pumping and screaming at players on the sideline. They’ve already matched their worst losing streak in 50 years and are almost assured to finish the season near the bottom of the league. There is a silver lining that comes with that (you know, embrace the tank!), but while having a good draft pick will be nice, writing these recaps every week has become rather depressing. Watching the Broncos most recent display of vomit-inducing football is bad enough without having to relive it again.

Then this morning, Scotty Payne of Mile High Report posted an article about how the Broncos can reset their organization and get back to their winning ways, which inspired me to more or less do the same thing for my weekly recap. It sounded like a lot more fun than revisiting the rampant ugliness that is Broncos football.

I’ll offer some of my own thoughts on a few of Scotty’s ideas (hopefully he doesn’t unfollow me on Twitter) and present some that I’ve seen from a couple other guys in the Denver media (or “local bloggers,” as Mike Klis would call them). They are good ideas and they need to be shared as much as possible.

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Broncos Outbungle Bengals in Sixth Straight Loss

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It’s official. Pick up your Bud Light and cheers. The 2017 Broncos are getting an extended tour of the Pit of Misery. Dilly dilly!

Was it not that long ago when Peyton Manning told the world that, “I’m going to drink a lot of Bud Light tonight,” to celebrate his team’s victory in Super Bowl 50? Now we’re reduced to making jokes involving Bud’s most recent advertising campaign because it helps distract us from how miserable this season has been. What else can you do to mask the pain of your team losing to the lowly Bengals? I guess you could join me in embracing the tank, but if you’re not down for that then I don’t know what else to tell you.

This week’s poor excuse for a game was preceded by John Elway, the architect of this disaster, calling his team “soft” in public. Some players took that comment as constructive criticism while others took it personally, but regardless of whether or not such a comment was warranted, Elway isn’t wrong.

When you drop six games in a row, that’s the reputation that you earn as a team and everyone is to blame. The coaches, the players, John Elway, everyone.

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Patriots Bury the Broncos and Their Playoff Aspirations

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It seems like every week, I come on here and highlight some significant issues that the Broncos need to correct if they want to avoid another loss. And yet every week, without fail, the Broncos go out and commit all the same blunders and miscues en route to another pathetic loss. I’ve got to hand it to them. They are consistent at making their fans miserable.

Last night was no different. The Patriots came in and devastated the Broncos like we all thought they would, and with any hope at the playoffs all but gone, now there are some very serious questions to be answered over the last seven games. Does this coaching staff even survive to see 2018? Should the team fight for what little dignity it can muster or should it fully embrace the tank and play for next year? And how many punts does Isaiah McKenzie have to muff before he gets benched? I guess time will tell.

In the meantime, while I hate watching my team lose as much as the rest of you, I’m fully in support of embracing the tank. Anyone with a pair of eyeballs can tell that the Broncos have several glaring issues on their roster and if they want this dumpster fire of a season to be a one-time occurrence, then they’re going to need some quality draft capital. If that’s too hard for you to stomach, then my advice would be to spend a little more time at the Pepsi Center and Magness Arena until April.

That’s where the competitive teams in Denver are playing.

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Broncos Exposed, Battered by Eagles

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Last week, I spoke at length about the Sunk Cost Fallacy, and that moving on from Trevor Siemian at quarterback was in the best interest of the team. No matter how long the Broncos believed he was the answer at that position, it was better to wash their hands of the problem now rather than continuing to try and salvage it.

After watching the Broncos get annihilated in Philly on Sunday, it’s become rather clear to me that these sunk costs exist all across the roster, and the Broncos’ brass are going to have to decide just how long they’re willing to put up with them before they blow the whole thing up and rebuild it from scratch. Brock Osweiler is not saving the season. Vance Joseph appears to be in way over his head. The defense, while still very good, is worn out from carrying this team for the last three seasons and has some of the same crucial weaknesses that have been around for what feels like forever.

John Elway’s motto was always that he didn’t only want to win now, but from now on. The Broncos aren’t winning much right now and things may very well get a lot worse before they start winning again in the future. Maybe the motto should be, “Everything is terrible, who wants a shot of Jack?”

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Mile High Meltdown: The 2017 Edition

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There’s not much to say after a loss like this. When you get your ass kicked by a bad team at home despite having plenty of time to rest and prepare, there aren’t really any excuses either. You just have to hope that the stink of your pathetic performance will wash off and not carry over to the following week. And that’s the reality that the Broncos woke up to yesterday after they laid an egg and were embarrassed by the lowly New York Giants.

I’m sure that adjustments will be made. You’ll hear a lot of soundbites this week about how the Broncos just came up short against a desperate team and didn’t play their best game. A lot of players will be pissed off and will vow that it won’t happen again this season, and I hope that proves to be true. I really do.

But, as Kevin said in a group text with me and our buddy Ryan yesterday morning, “I thought we lost because we secretly suck.”

To which I respond, unless last night was just an aberration, then the secret is out.

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