Never Fear

Sometimes it’s hard to talk about a Broncos loss so soon after the fact. It can take a while to deal with the hurt feelings, the frustration, the sadness. You see, it would have been simple if the Giants had dominated from the start. If Eli Manning had come out looking like a superstar, if Tiki had run wild on the Broncos D, if Shockey had caught 10 passes for 130 yards and two TD’s, if any of this had happened it would have been easy to say why the Broncos lost. But none of this happened. Manning looked mortal. Tiki looked tawdry. And Shockey looked shaky. The Broncos defense was dominant for most of the game. The offense was efficient but not spectacular. And for about 55 minutes the Broncos were easily the best team on the field. How quickly it can all turn around.

But should we be surprised? Not exactly. Going into the game, the Giants offense was the best in the league. They are explosive. They score in bunches, racking up an average of 34 points a contest. The Broncos defense is pretty good too. They’re not the best in the league, but they’re close. The Broncos defense plays hard, blitzes hard, and avoids the big play. In a battle of titanic forces, one usually falls and falls hard. This time it was the Broncos defense that fell to a desperation pass by Manning. The fall had to come sometime. The Broncos have been tempting fate too often in the last few games. Beating the Redskins was luck, and the Patriots just ran out of time. Sooner or later the Broncos defense was going to stumble under the tremendous load of carrying a team with a mediocre offense. And they fell to the Giants – rather fitting in a mythological sort of way.

Before a dark cloud descends on the hearts of Bronco fans, let’s find that silver lining, shall we? Between October 9 and October 30, the Broncos face four formidable NFC foes. They managed to beat the Redskins and New England at Mile-Hi. Sure, they lost to the Giants but it was in the Meadowlands against the NFL’s best offense. Up next is a home game against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Broncos can take three out of four before going into the bye week, then Bronco fans should rejoice. Winning three out of four against tough, playoff caliber teams would be an impressive feat. So there’s the silver lining. A record of 6-2 halfway through is excellent. It shows that the Broncos are committed to winning in the postseason by getting homefield advantage. 6-2 would be awesome.

But we’ve also heard all the historical analysis – how the Broncos started 5-1 for most of the millennia and managed to blow it all in the last 10 games. Sure they made the playoffs in some of those years but only to get obliterated. So next Sunday’s game against Philly is officially a big deal. A win and the Broncos have broken their mini-curse. But a second consecutive loss would be devastating. A loss gives the Chiefs a chance to tie for the AFC West lead. A loss and the door stays open for the San Diego Chargers. A loss makes the five road games in the second half of the season a bit more daunting than normal. A loss gives life to all those demons and bitter memories of failed past seasons. It’s safe to say that Bronco-nation has a lot riding on next week’s game.

Next week’s game is winnable. The Eagles struggled against the Chargers, barely pulling out a win on a last-second blocked field goal. Eagles’ kicker David Akers is out. The team hasn’t called a run play since the 80’s. And Donovan McNabb is playing with a major sports hernia. If the linebackers can keep Brian Westbrook in check, the Broncos will win. If someone from the secondary can keep up with TO, the Broncos will win. If the defensive front-four continue to get to the quarterback, the Broncos will win. If the offense can start playing less like Bob Ross and more like Santana Moss, the Broncos will win. Basically the Broncos should win, and if they don’t they deserve all the grief they get.