Excited? Sort of…

It’s all about the Broncos; here’s what one Yahoo columnist wrote: (Michael Silver’s Morning Rush, 12/1/2008)

“So you think you have the Broncos all figured out? Yeah, sure you do. Here’s what this playoff-bound team did in November: Lost at home to the Dolphins, pulled out a wild road victory at Cleveland, upset the Falcons in Atlanta, got blown out at home by the Raiders and, on Sunday, ended the Jets’ five-game winning streak at chilly, rainy Giants Stadium by a 34-17 score. Another stealth MVP candidate, Jay Cutler, had a monster game (27-of-43, 357 yards, two TDs, one interception) that set him apart from John Elway in one way: Elway, one of the greatest players in football history, absolutely hated throwing a wet ball. Conversely Cutler, coach Mike Shanahan told reporters, “embraced throwing in the rain. He likes it. There is nothing that seems to bother him. Some guys it bothers, others it doesn’t.” Like the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, Denver, despite its inferior divisional competition and choppy campaign, has an offense explosive enough to make it a potentially dangerous playoff team.”

It’s amazing how up and down the Bronco’s season has been. It feels like the ’93 season where they had an explosive offense, but played to their competition. The takeaway differential was much more favorable in 1993 at +3 than this year’s lowly -12 (horrendous), plus Elway was sacked 39 times that year to Cutler’s mere 7 this year (amazing).

I suppose what I’m trying to illustrate is, save subtle balance issues, the teams are eerily similar. That said, the Broncos lost in the 1st round in 1993 and I very much see a similar outcome this year. Given all of the Bronco’s injuries, well you have to hope they can get healthy in time for the playoffs. If not, I predict a 9-7 record (just as in ’93) and a 1st round playoff loss.