The Denver Broncos- Losing Like it's 1999

In the spirit of the Christmas season, I want to try to refrain from being too negative about the state of the Broncos. So here it goes..... If we lose on Sunday, we will end up with a first round pick in the #8-10 range. That's a pretty good pick! By letting LaDainian Tomlinson run all over our defense, the Broncos helped me win my fantasy title! ....... That's all I got to say about that. About the Chargers game, I only have a couple of things to say: - Philip Rivers; you should never talk shit to anyone... ever. You suck dude. Thank God everyday that you play on a team with LaDainian, Antonio Gates, and your defense. They hide your significant shortcomings. Your own fans have spent the majority of the season booing you, they all wish they still had Drew Brees. - How soft is our team? Can you imagine if someone had taunted John Elway like that back in the day? Keith Bishop would have snapped some femurs. - Jay Cutler is starting to get some heat because of his record (8-12 in his first 20 starts) and his interceptions (14 through 15 games this season). But let's not get carried away. Peyton Manning went 3-13 in his first season as a starter and threw 28 interceptions that year. In Troy Aikman's first season starting in Dallas they went 1-15 (0-11 in games Aikman started) and he threw 9 TDs with 18 INTs. I'm not saying that Cutler will end up as good as either of these guys, but let's give him another year or two before we hit the panic button. I'm more concerned with what appears to be a "I don't give a fuck" attitude about losing all of these games. I always picture him standing on the sideline, holding onto his shoulder pads with both hands, hat on tilted a little to the side, and a seemingly stoned look on his face. How about just a little emotion Jay? Just something to show us that you realize that you aren't just wasted playing Madden against your buddies, and that you actually care. So now that we are guaranteed our first losing season in 8 years, I thought I'd dig up some facts about what was going on in the world the last time the Broncos had a losing season: - Dr. Dre had just released his Chronic 2001 album, and introduced the world to Marshal Mathers aka Eminem. - The Matrix and American Pie were in movie theaters. - Britney Spears had just turned 18, and was not yet considered a drunken slut. - The Backstreet Boys were the biggest music group in the world. - George W. Bush decided to run for President. - Y2K fear was gripping the nation. - The Sega Dreamcast was introduced. - People were still able to party like it was 1999. Those were good times.... So how long does Mike Shanahan get a pass? Since Elway retired we have won a grand total of ONE playoff game in 9 seasons. We've been to the playoffs only 4 of 9 years, and haven't been to the Super Bowl once. Remember, we went to the Super Bowl in 5 of Elway's last 12 seasons. At what point to we start pointing the finger at Shanahan? I understand that we were hit pretty hard by injuries this year, but so were the Indianapolis Colts.... and they are 13-2. We have had the same problems on offense for years, namely production in the red-zone. I don't know if it's play calling, the overall offensive scheme, undersized lineman, or a combination of all three.... but the problem has not been fixed. And that has to fall on the old Mastermind himself. Now here's the problem with looking for a new coach; you have to upgrade over your old coach or what's the point in making a change? And what coach is available out there that would be an upgrade over Mike Shanahan? See. This is the problem I run into everytime I'm arguing with Brainz that we should axe Shanahan.... who else is better? I guess an argument could be made for Bill Cowher, but he has said that he isn't going to look into coaching again until 2009. So what's the answer? I don't know. I think we should fire Jim Bates though. Our defense was an absolute joke this season. We are currently 30th in the league in rush defense and it could have been worse if we weren't blown out of so many games. I think we need to draft an LB in the first round. If we are somewhere between #8-10 we should have a shot at James Laurinaitis, or we could pick a DT or Safety in the top 10 and get Jordan Dizon in the 2nd or 3rd round. Our offense was still pretty potent despite the injuries, so I think this draft should be completely focused on the defensive side of the ball. So here's to the Broncos tanking this Sunday to get us as high a draft pick as possible... then we can be done with this God awful season and start giving our full attention to a couple of winning teams, the Nuggets and Avalanche.