Yeah, for this to be a rebuilding season ... there would have to be some rebuilding actually going on.

It will be a rebuilding year, next year after Shanahan is fired.

im very dissapointed in the season ole shanty needs to kick it up a notch if he wants to keep his job as head coach i still love the broncos and very proud to be a fan

It was a bad day throughout the AFC West today. The only ones that came out of it with anything approaching a good feeling were the Chiefs, who got outplayed in the final minutes by the Bionic Farve.

Well, them and Cromartie. That was one hell of a runback, and he just had to feel good after that one.

Welcome back Z.  Beware, it’s hard to shake the island malaise that I’m sure is gripping your soul.  A tragic Broncos loss is probably just what you needed to get the blood flowing again.  I was prepared to write the season obit today in your absence, so I’m glad you’re back and that you’re sparing me the pain of recapping yesterday’s game. 

I too feel that it’s time for a coaching change here in Denver. Not only is Shanahan responsible for the coaching, but he’s also been making all of the personnel decisions for years. Elway was in place when he took over the team, so what has he done since those glorious years (other than Terrell Davis)?  He was walking the sidelines yesterday like a lost alzheimers patient.  Even he doesn’t seem to know what to do with the players that he’s assembled for himself.

What’s up with the defense?  I think Jim Brown could make a comeback against the Broncos run-D and pick up and easy 100 yards and a couple of TDs to pad his hall of fame stats. Yesterday was just plain embarrassing.  I wish the Broncos would just admit that they are rebuilding instead of pretending that they are “SuperBowl of Bust” every year.  As evidenced by the Patriots-Colts game yesterday, this is a great time to reload in the AFC because nobody’s going to break that monopoly anytime soon.

Back to you Z…

The malaise still has me firmly in its grip. I’m having a hell of a time being back here at the office.

I remember having that conversation about Shanahan when we were both still with WN. It’s amazing that not much has changed in the last few years I’m definitely inching closer to the lose Shanahan bus, although I still wonder who you hire to replace him.

I’m also not quit as down on his personnel decisions as some people. Champ Bailey/Clinton Portis trade turned out far better than I expected. Jay Cutler, with time and patience, really could be one of the better quarterbacks in the league. And, of course, there was a string of overperforming running backs that helped him look good. Now, that balances out with sticking with Brian Griese for far too long and breaking Jake Plummer, too. The housecleaning on the defense this year might be the bit that breaks my love affair with the mastermind. The results have been disastrous.

I watched the Monday night game v/ Green Bay, too, and was actually a little more upset about that game. There were two points where the Broncos should have won the game--it shouldn’t have gone into overtime. The missed pass two plays before the tying field goal was painful--a decent pass would have been an easy touchdown. And the fumble from, essentially, the goal line earlier in the game took away at very least 3 points and much more likely 7 points. They could have and should have beat Green Bay. The Detroit game was out of reach from early on.

Some of the lack of focus and execution falls to the players, of course, but there is always that part of me that wonders why this team is showing up and doesn’t seem ready to play. Some of that has to be a function of coaching.

Shanahan had a good ride in Denver and brought us two national championships (when he had a Hall of Fame quarterback and a running back who would have been an easy pick for the Hall if he’d just played one or two more good seasons). Maybe it’s time for a change. I have no doubt that he would end up coaching another team (although, somehow, I doubt it would be for Al Davis).

Now, after the rambling, who should it be? Coax Gary Kubiak into coming back? Or is that both too incestuous and giving Kubiak too much credit?

An outsider’s view of the Broncos:
Shanahan (previously) did a good job of hiring good coaches for his units and building a balanced team through some non-traditional means.
He didn’t value RBs, but still had decent ones every year from low in the draft.
He was an offensive mastermind who had strong defenses.

He did an excellent job (see 2004 and 2005) of doing just enough to win games ugly early in the season with young or marginal/controversial players so that the team could gel for the homestretch and win better to make the playoffs.

7 playoff appearances, 2 Super Bowls, and only one losing season in 13 years is impressive.

And even in off years, you’d challenge for the playoffs.

The only thing is that 4 of the playoff appearances yielded “1 and done” results with 3 of those losses being very embarrassing.

And while he was able to stockpile draft picks by trading away every RB he established, his risky personnel acquisition methods haven’t paid off as much over the last 2 years (letting Al Wilson go, signing the Cleveland Browns defense line en masse, replacing old/injured lineman with low picks, replacing RBs with low picks/undrafted players).  Nothing has blown up in his face, necessarily--he did do well with his “3 CBs with the first 3 picks” technique just 2 years back--but he just hasn’t gotten the homeruns he hit before with TD in the 6th round, Mike Anderson undrafted, signing Smith and Traynor away from KC (just enough for the 2 Super Bowl win push), trading Portis for Bailey, etc.

You can’t hit on the non-traditional moves all the time, and it’s just caught up with him this year.  You guys will still probably recover by next season and challenge for the playoffs again.

But until then, as a Chiefs’ fan, I think I’m entitled to feel some shadenfraed...schadenfraud...shadingfreud...uh, smugness.