Josh McDaniels - Still Ruining Sundays

Being a Broncos fan over the last few years has not been easy.  Mired in mediocrity, the Broncos have spent the last few years making one bad decision after another, erasing the "glory years" and replacing them with laughable misery.  The dam of "mediocrity" has become the river of failure. 

In sports, it's impossible to stay on top. Sure, some teams are just perennially successful (Detroit Red wings) and some teams are just perennial...terrible (Chicago Cubs...) but remaining at the very top for years and years just doesn't happen.   The late '90s were good to the Broncos but after Elway retired, Denver went through one QB after another trying to find a fit.  We hung in there for a little while but sure as taxes, things started to fade.

After an 8-8 season defined mostly by injuries, the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan, the most successful coach in Broncos history.  The fact that it was the third straight season without a playoff berth probably did not help any.  And just like that, Shanahan was gone.

From then on, a series of events would take place that would see the Broncos falling far, far from grace.  Instead of a football team, they would become both a soap opera and a spectacle; both the picture of dwindling hope and dark disappointment.

To kick off the misery, the Broncos hired Josh McDaniels, of the Videogate '07 Patriots.  It was all downhill from there.

If only I had a time machine...

Maybe you're reading this and thinking, "Wow, here's something new:  Another Broncos fan who hates Josh McDaniels. How original."

I don't care.

I hate Josh McDaniels, and though I can't credit him with every minute piece of the Broncos demise, I can place a significant proportion of the blame directly on his shoulders.

What an idiot...

If I'm a brand new coach just stepping into my first coaching position ever, why would my first thought be: "Hm, step one for me?  How about I create a gigantic rift between myself, the team, and the franchise QB.  What a brilliant plan"?

Um, plainly, it wouldn't.  Not in a million God damn years would that EVER cross my mind.  And yet, for one brilliant new coach, it was.  And that's exactly what happened.  Cutler took off for Chicago, the locker room stood divided, and McDaniels acted like nothing had gone wrong as he tried to corral respect from the rest of the team.

What a joke.

Look, I get it.  If Cutler isn't your guy (and honestly, he wasn't exactly mine), then sure, go out there and find someone who is.  But you better make DAMN sure you know what you're doing before you get yourself into that mess...and it better end with something better than Kyle Orton (who isn't terrible, but for someone like Jay Cutler, the Broncos likely could have done better.  Though I have to say, Orton has done well here).  Dude didn't even end up with the QB he started this disaster for (Matt Cassel, who ended up going to division rival Kansas City). Way to kick it off right, McD.

From then on it was just...well, not bad actually.  The Broncos started off 6-0 and for a second there, all of us poor Broncos fans thought that maybe, just maybe McDaniels wasn't an idiot.  Maybe all that soap opera shit over Cutler was worth it?

How wrong we were.  The Broncos dropped eight of their next 10 games and, with a playoff berth on the line, McDaniels benched Marshall and Scheffler against the Chiefs.  Needless to say, Kansas City sealed the deal and the Broncos missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Second ranked offense in 2008?  Ranked 15th after one year of McDaniels.

The 2010 season was an outright failure all around.  Drafting Tim Tebow (for whom we gave up a 2nd, 3rd, AND 4th round pick) might (and I use that term loosely.  MIGHT) have been the only real light in the dark here (I will also grant that McDaniels handled the publicity surrounding the suicide of Kenny McKinley very well).   Brandon Marshall?  Gone (again, not a terrible decision, I guess), Scheffler, gone.  3-9 record? Very real.  Videotaping the 49ers practice in London?  Stellar idea.  Losing in London even though we cheated?  Embarrassing. Mike Nolan (the man responsible for taking a 29th ranked defense and turning them into a 7th)?  Ditched.

All of these events, however, pale in comparison to one notable McDaniels move that continues to haunt the Broncos and their fans...and will only be getting worse in the seasons yet to come.  That move?   March 15, 2010:  Josh McDaniels trades Peyton Hillis and picks to Cleveland for Brady Quinn.

Peyton Hillis...for Brady. Effing. Quinn.

Brady Quinn would go on to do next to nothing for the Broncos in the 2010-2011 season.  As for Peyton Hillis?

Well...would they put just anybody on Madden '12?

No, no they wouldn't.

But a guy who rushed for 1,177 yards, 11 rushing TDs, 61 receptions, 477 yards receiving and two receiving touchdowns?  What about him?

Of course they would.  

It's mindblowing, really, just how one decision by an arrogant, overly-confident moron will play out as time goes on.  This one hurts almost too much for words.

He's been gone since December 6, 2010...but Josh McDaniels is still ruining my Sundays. 


-Shaela