Whether you think John Elway is the best evaluator of talent in the league or not, there’s no denying this: John Elway hates to lose.
And on Sunday, the Broncos lost to a greater extent than they have in half a decade, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in embarrassing fashion and eliminating themselves from playoff contention before Week 17.
He’s not going to let that go unnoticed.
“We’ll see,” Elway said after the game, according to 9News’ Mike Klis. “We’ll start that evaluation process. We’re always working to do get better so we’ll look at them and evaluate them and go from there.’’
And according to Klis, Broncos Country should expect to see some changes, not just to the “players on the roster, but within the coaching staff and personal department as well.”
Elway expects the best, and that means a Super Bowl championship. When that doesn’t happen, he makes moves.
Despite one of the most exciting playoff victories in franchise history, Elway was quick to swap out for Tim Tebow for Peyton Manning. After Denver fell to Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII, he overhauled the defensive side of the ball and rebuilt it as one of the greatest units in NFL history. When the Broncos bowed out of the playoffs against the Indianapolis Colts at home the next year, Elway cleaned house, moving on from his head coach and his coordinators.
What will he do after Gary Kubiak, Trevor Siemian and Co. failed to make the playoffs? Only time will tell, but it’s clear that he’s not happy with the performance of his team.
“Didn’t make enough plays late in the season,” Elway said. “Turned the ball over and you just can’t do that. Didn’t play well. That’s the hard part: We just didn’t play well.”
The conversation will start at quarterback, but the problems go much deeper than that. If Elway truly is one of the best general managers in the NFL, he’ll have to prove he can pull the pieces back together … without Peyton Manning behind center.