You bet! Elway rolled the dice by getting Fangio and Flacco, and F&F will come through. How big? I expect the Broncos to win the AFC West.
Courtesy: Mark Leffingwell/Getty Images and USAToday)
By NFL standards, the Denver Broncos have had sustained success for a long time. In the 1980s, John Elway (now president of the Broncos), led the Orange Crush to three Super Bowl appearances–despite having limited talent surrounding him. In the late 1990s, Elway led Denver to two consecutive Super Bowls, winning both, and taking away MVP honors in his last game.
Later, as president of the team, Elway made a bold move of signing an aging and achy Peyton Manning in search of regaining SB glory. It worked. Peyton and a revamped Denver defense went to two Super Bowls in three seasons, winning in 2015 against the 15 -1 Carolina Panthers. And, just like his boss, Peyton rode into the sunset with a Super Bowl victory.
After Manning retired, Elway scrambled around like a quarterback without an offensive line in search of Manning’s successor. After failed experiments with Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, Trevor Siemian, and Case Keenum, Elway believes that he has found ‘the right guy’–Joe Flacco.
Unlike his four predecessors, Flacco brings experience, poise, and a Super Bowl MVP trophy from 2012. He’s a seasoned vet but is still relatively young at 34 years of age.
With an already talented defense, Fangio is expected to return the Broncos to defensive greatness. And that’s what Fangio has done everywhere he has coached. Consider what happened in San Francisco. The 49ers defense went from the bottom to the top … and almost instantly.
Last year, Fangio led the Chicago Bears’ defense to their best season in decades. They were a ball-hawking, turnover machine that prided themselves on not allowing opposing offense to cross the line of scrimmage. Quarterbacks got a taste of that first hand.
After 40+ years of coaching and proving his worth countless times, Fangio finally got a head coaching gig. Credit Elway for making that call. He knows you can’t win ‘the big one’ without a first-rate defense, and that’s what he wants out of Fangio.
Courtesy: Joe Robbins/Getty Images and CBS Denver
Of course, Fangio and Flacco will have to contend with AFC rivals. But I’m putting my money on the Broncos. Here’s why.
–Defending AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs look every bit as powerful on offense as they did last season (despite the loss of Kareem Hunt), but the Chiefs have trouble stopping other teams.
–LAC stormed the league last year, but as much as I love Phillip Rivers’ game, he can’t seem to get over the hump. I don’t think this team will score enough points to contend.
–Oakland is a mess! A big issue is whether Jon Gruden believes in Derek Carr. Yes, we’ve seen teams go from worst to first in the NFL plenty of times (Raiders were 4-12 last year), but you need talent to make that kind of leap and Oakland doesn’t have enough talent to hand with the big boys.
Denver, on the other hand, is a hungry team with a new lease on life and palpable home-field advantage. That’s why I’m putting my monopoly money on the state of Colorado. But to cash-in, Fangio, Flacco, and company need to do what I’m about to describe.
Courtesy: ClutchPoints
–Flacco must play nearly flawless, mistake-free football AND use that cannon-of-an-arm to get the ball down the field.
–Phillip Lindsay must be as good or better as he was last year as an undrafted rookie. The Broncos need to be a run-first team by giving Freeman and Booker carries to help Lindsay stay fresh.
–Denver must play lights-out defense. Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Derek Wolfe, Chris Harris Jr., and company have to buy into Fangio’s philosophy and practice it ASAP. All three levels of defense need to be on the same page, too. I liked the Broncos defense before Fangio arrived, and now I really like it!
So, with a deep breath, here I go: The Denver Broncos should win the AFC West.
