When things are going good in sports, it seems like the good times will never end. When things are going bad in sports, the bad times seem like they’ll never end.
The black cloud continues to hang over the Broncos. And it seems like it will never go away.
The Broncos have two weeks to think about their latest loss, a 24-16 setback to the San Francisco 49ers in London.
Fans have expressed emotions such as disappointment, frustration, outrage and many more as the Broncos losing streak has grown over the last month. All of that is legitimate.
It seems to me that expectations are at the core of the reaction to the Broncos’ performance in the first half of the season. The Broncos have always publicly talked about high expectations. Given their tradition and competitive nature, this is understandable.
No team expects to have a bad year. Every team works hard to be good. Certainly Broncos fans expect that out of their team.
When expectations go unfulfilled, emotions run high. Admittedly, I expected the Broncos to be a good team. As the Broncos get a week off, I have been thinking about the second half of the season. Instead of having expectations, I have changed to having certain hopes.
There is definitely a difference between expectation and hope. Since the Broncos have dashed my preseason expectations, I’ll admittedly hedge my bet for the second half of the year, for which I do have several hopes. Granted, they are nothing profound. But sometimes the simple things turn out to be pretty good.
1 – I HOPE THE BRONCOS PLAY BETTER. I know, way to go out on a limb, Rice. But I’m learning my lesson. I expected them to play well before the season began and look where that went. Straight out the window.
It is hard to imagine the Broncos playing much worse. But even with the injuries, the Broncos have talent. I don’t look at the Broncos roster and think about the worst teams in the league. I really don’t.
But they have not played well. They have regularly started slowly, scoring only seven points in the first quarter all season. They also have trouble finishing, being outscored by opponents 70-39 in the fourth quarter. I hope the Broncos reverse those trends in the final eight games. And I hope they reverse some disturbing trends on defense, too.
2 – I HOPE THE BRONCOS STAY UNITED. Let’s face it, when a team is 2-6 and not coming close to meeting its own expectations, things can get ugly. Players can bail. Guys can go through the motions. Things can be said and done which only serve to divide.
I’d like to think the Broncos will remain professional. I will be more than a little disappointed if effort suffers, if guys pack things in. It’s one thing for a team to have a tough year. It happens. But it’s something entirely different to have a tough year and just go through the motions.
3 – I HOPE THE BRONCOS GIVE US HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. It is always hard to have that hope when a team is going through a tough stretch. It seems like every week, the Broncos find a new way to come up short. Before the season started, I expected the Broncos to get better as the year went along. I now hope they meet that expectation.
What are your thoughts about the second half of the season? As always, thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Best,
Mike
Tags: 2010, Denver Broncos, Mike Rice
I thought it was against the rules, but woulda been funny if it wasnt and he really did lol. Then again, one of our players has a fantasy footbal league, even auctioned off one of his spots in his league for charity. So i thought ff was acceptable for players. PLus i saw a funny article about that, coach McDaniels team name was “I will be Bill” lol
sndvl, last night I had a dream that we played the Browns and we lost. After all was said and done Hillis ran for 165 yards, 35 yards catching and 3 TD`s. Sweet revenge. It was Hillis way of saying I win you lose coach.
“Keeping it Simple” is not going to change how bad this team is. If they were to play Buffalo next week, I would take Buffalo. If they were to play Dallas, MAYBE they could beat a Romoless Cowboys team. It just angers me how McDaniels was given a talented team on offense, and has slowly traded away that talent for less than value. He didn’t make this team better, he has made it worse on both sides of the football. I figure that Clady, Harris, and DJ will be on the trading block next. Champ and BDawk will be gone after this year, and what is left? Nothing. I am so angry at Mr. Bowlen, because he lied to us taxpayers. He said if we built that ugly monstrosity called Invesco for him, he would ensure that Denver would always be a top tier team. He got his stadium, and we got the shaft, as the team has gotten worse and worse every year. If this were a capped year, the Broncos would be 26 in salary, which is lower than the Rockies for crying out loud. My hope is that Mr. Bowlen, remembers his promises to the people of the Denver metro area, and brings in The Chin, or Chuckie to run this team. Just because you had success as an OC with Tom Brady, doesn’t mean it will translate into being a good head coach.
Okay, a bit off the subject, but . . .
My wife and I are flying to Denver Sunday morning for the KC game, then flying home to Seattle right after the game. A 20+ hour adventure for the Orange and Blue.
Any tips about getting from DIA to the stadium, can’t-miss food or attractions that someone who had one day in Denver could use?
Any tips are appreciated. GO BRONCOS!
Fire Xanders and McD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you’re gonna actually go to a Broncos game the way we’re playing….I’m gonna wear a paper bag on my head, and I’m watching at home, I live in Alabama so I’m no help on that michaellaughs, but I just want to say the more I look at Coach Gruden, and the more articles I read on him, I would be super stoked if Pat would bring him in to fix this mess, I know it would take a few seasons to get on track after McDaniels has wrought us basically talentless, but he would at least put some fire into the players, a tough coach like that is what we need McDaniels deals with all the Broncos problems by ignoring the cause, and the only time he took responsibility that I remember was after the Oakland loss, he is not a leader, just a young guy who got a big head after one accomplishment and thought he was ready to coach, he needs to check his ego, his head, and man up. I still would like to see Tebow finish out the year, a couple more bad games I may finally get my wish, but I mostly want to see some pride out there, is that too much too ask, lets not blow it against another division opponent.