No Emotion


Heading into this season, there was a lot of buzz about the Denver Broncos. Many predicted the team to do well, in large part thanks to Peyton Manning. Manning, now 36 and having endured a whole missed season and four neck procedures, is one of the most celebrated quarterbacks of all time. He's clearly also past his prime. That's where the difficulty begins.

I love football season, and I love the Broncos. But, now five games into this season, I've had trouble getting emotionally invested in this team. The games are boring and it's just not the same. I think that's emblematic of where the season is going.

Denver had a nice opening week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but aside from that this has been a flat, formulaic season. The Raiders game aside — logically because the Raiders aren't great and seemed to give up in the second half — the Broncos have really scuffled. One would point out that the Falcons, Texans, and Patriots are all great teams. That's true, but it's also emblematic of the fact the Broncos, even if they're lucky enough to get into the playoffs, aren't really any better than last year's squad.

And the furious comebacks haven't impressed me either. Going down by 20 plus points, fighting back to respectability, and losing isn't impressive. It doesn't make me think the team is close, just that they have moments of fight in them after the other team is comfortable.

Of course, Monday's game against the enigmatic San Diego Chargers will tell us more about the Broncos. And, given that the AFC West is really weak, it's not inconceivable these Broncos would win the division. It's hard to trust the Chargers, while the Chiefs and Raiders are among the NFL's worst squads.

And, the second half of the season could be deceptive. After the first seven games (with bouts against the Chargers and the Saints), the Broncos could be 2-5, 3-4, or 4-3. None would surprise me, and any would be a decent start. The next section of the schedule is weak, and could let Denver go on a mini-run. I'd be happy, but that wouldn't fool me into thinking this is an elite team. It's not.

There are many holes. The defense is weak up the middle (defensive tackle, middle linebacker, safeties), lacks pop on offense, and then there's the unknown of Manning's true condition. But worse than that, this is a boring, vanilla team to watch.

Say what you will about last year's team. They weren't great, and Tebow had flaws, but they were fun to watch. You can't say the same about this 2012 edition.

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