This season has been the most unpredictable season in Broncos Country since Tebowmania, and in some aspects, it may have been even crazier.
With Tim Tebow, at least everyone could throw their hands up in unison and say, “I have no idea what is happening!” And that was exciting. With this team, though, while we may not have been able to explain why things changed so dramatically from week to week or half to half, we sure did try.
Denver may have the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but this has not been a stress-free campaign; for much of the season, Broncos Country has been embroiled within a civil war, with all sides claiming they knew the solution to whatever was ailing the Broncos.
For an inside perspective on the situation, Sports Illustrated’s Jenny Vrentas sat down with Broncos tight end Owen Daniels to discus the Broncos up-and-down season.
Here are some of the highlights:
How has the offense succeed while going between two quarterbacks?
“Obviously we all know about Peyton and how good a player he is and has been for a very long time. He did a great job of leading us to victories early in the season and then we dropped two after being 7-0, and then we won some games with Brock and then had another little skid. We’ve been able to bounce back no matter who is in there. This offense is friendly to a backup who has a good feel for the game like Brock has, to be able to step in and match things. And having a great defense on the other side doesn’t hurt, either.”
How has Gary Kubiak been able to navigate the quarterback situation?
“It could have been a very delicate situation. But he comes to us first and foremost every week and lets us know what the deal is, who is going to be in there and what the whole situation is so we aren’t in the dark. We’re not guessing; we’re not wondering as the week goes along what the plan is. For him to do that is awesome of him. I think him doing that allows us to focus on the game plan and what our individual jobs are, and that helps us deal with the distraction of all those questions you might get asked during the week: Who do you want in there? Who is looking good? Who does this offense function best for? All that stuff that gets asked, it’s pushed to the side just because we established who was the guy every week, so that helped out a ton.”
Which quarterback fit better in the “Kubiak” offense?
“The Kubiak offense I have known for the previous nine years, it seemed like it was a little bit more along those lines with Brock in there, and maybe that’s just because he is a little more mobile so we could run more keepers and stuff with him. When Peyton was dealing with his foot injury, we couldn’t really get him out to do stuff like that. That movement is a big part of our offense, it always has been—or part of Kub’s offense, I should say. But we did implement some of what Peyton had done in the past, what we had done earlier this year with Peyton in there, in terms of the up-tempo stuff. I think that is a great thing to have, to be able to use. We used that to get back into a couple games, the Cincinnati game being one of them, we kind of went back to the up-tempo style. It was good to be able to do both, especially when you are playing up here in the elevation. It is Kub’s offense, but we like to mix some things in there. The more stuff you can do, the more stuff the defense has to prepare for and the more thinly spread they are.”
What was the feeling around the team as Manning came back in Week 17?
“Going into that game, pretty much everyone knew what had happened earlier in the day and that all we needed to do was take care of our business and then the playoffs ran through Denver. That was big to know. Unfortunately, we had a tough first half with turnovers, but having Peyton come in, it was definitely a spark for the team, for the fan base, and for everybody.”
Have all the questions given Manning any extra motivation?
“Both Peyton and Brock have done a tremendous job of handling all the questions they have been getting every week about their health and how they have been playing. Those guys being very professional and being able to handle it the way that they did says a lot about them. And I know a lot has been said about Peyton. If he is who I think he is, he hears everything but he doesn’t let everyone know what he hears, and he definitely uses it. Great players use everything that they can as motivation and inspiration. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did get motivated by all the comments that people are talking about all season. I think that’s a good thing for us.”
What does it mean to Gary Kubiak to succeed in Denver?
“I don’t think he will ever tell you how much it means to him, but it means a lot. It means a lot to him to be back here as the head coach, with the team he played for and won Super Bowls with as the offensive coordinator. Now he wants to get it done as a head coach. I have a ton of respect for Coach Kub and what he did for the franchise in Houston and what he was able to help us do last year in Baltimore. Now he is back home, so to speak, and I am excited for him that he is in this position and that we have the team that we have. We are trying to get it done for him.”
