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Metro holds off Mountaineers
By David Pollan
dpollan@mscd.edu

Atrocious.

That is the word to describe the Broncos’ season.

The Broncos finished the season on an extremely low note, with an inexcusable 26-23 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers, after blowing a 13-0 lead. This loss not only left the Broncos one win short of a 10-win season, but also prevented them from returning to the playoffs. They controlled their own destiny – one win and they were in – but fell short.

How did this happen? How did a team that was expected to win their division and go to the playoffs come up short? How did a 7-2 start become a 2-5 finish?

Injuries, the loss of Gary Kubiak, poor coaching and poor decision-making all contributed to the Broncos’ disappointing season. All these were factors, but the man responsible for the downfall was head coach Mike Shanahan and his blatant arrogance.

The Broncos’ trek downhill began on draft day when the Broncos traded up to draft hotshot Jay Cutler with the 11th pick.

The choice to draft him was brilliant for the future of the franchise, but it was a decision that doomed the Broncos for the season. It caused a constant quarterback controversy that hurt the team more than it helped. Locker-room morale was destroyed and took the focus of the season from the field and put it squarely on the quarterback controversy.

Plummer remained the starter for more than half the season, but his poor play and a st caused Shanahan to go with his gunslinger rookie, who, Shanahan said, gave the Broncos the best chance to win. Well, he finished 2-3 as a starter and threw a costly interception that was returned for a touchdown in a game that had to be won to get to the playoffs. The kid has skills, but he failed to get his team to the playoffs, something Plummer was able to do three years in a row. So how did the kid give the Broncos the best chance to win? He didn’t, and Shanahan was wrong.

The change in leadership in the midst of a playoff race was a huge mistake by Shanahan, and it cost the Broncos the season. In fact, I am willing to say that after Plummer’s last game as a starter, a 19-10 loss to Kansas City, Shanahan gave up on the season and started looking to next year. He let the losing streak and injuries get to him, and it gave him an excuse to give his rookie quarterback the opportunity to get some experience heading into next year. It was valuable experience, no doubt, but Cutler didn’t give the Broncos the best chance to win this season.

Plummer would have won the games against Seattle and San Francisco and led the Broncos to the playoffs if he had remained the starter.

No coach in his right mind would start a rookie quarterback in the heat of a playoff race and expect to win out and win in the playoffs. It’s absurd to think so. This is the NFL. Cutler is good, but he didn’t have any experience compared to a veteran who took the Broncos to the playoffs every year he played for them.

But we are talking about the “The Mastermind” Mike Shanahan. He knows football and knows what it takes to win. Let’s not forget that he has two Super Bowl victories and is smarter than anyone in the league, or so he thinks. He is hardly “The Mastermind” of the past, as it becomes more and more evident that maybe Shanahan needs Kubiak to succeed.

It has been eight years since Shanahan won a Super Bowl, and since then he has been 1-4 in the playoffs. Wake up, Mike! You are not the smartest coach in the league. You are not “The Mastermind.” If you were, you would have more playoff victories.

The fault of the season lies with Shanahan, who proved to be gutless and a quitter when things got tough. He quit on the season, and he quit on his players. If he were coaching for his job, I guarantee he wouldn’t make a change at quarterback. But he figured he can start rebuilding and has many more years to get the Broncos back to the Super Bowl.

Well, I say make Shanahan coach for his job, demand playoff victories and a return to the Super Bowl in the immediate future. In this league, all that matters is Super Bowl wins, and eight years is too long. Broncos fans, it’s time to stop blaming Plummer for the inability to win in the playoffs. He will be gone, and it was clearly not his fault that the Broncos failed to make the playoffs this season. Plummer can no longer be your scapegoat. It’s time to start looking at the real root of the problem – Shanahan.

If Shanahan fails to coach the Broncos to the Super Bowl next season, then maybe they need to find a new “Mastermind” to coach this team.