Yeah, but that Patriots offensive line …
Stop.
Yeah, but Cam Newton, man, he looked …
Stop.
Yeah, but COVID …
Dude. Dude! Seriously. Stop.
“I think that the Broncos, they could’ve won a week earlier,” former NFL scout Dan Shonka said Monday when asked about Denver 18, Bill Belichick 12. “Just as well as they won the other day.”
Enough with the caveats. The qualifiers. The excuses. The yeah-buts. Belichick had two weeks to prepare for last Sunday, too.
Don’t apologize for the fact that The Hoodie was forced to do most of that homework without Newton or Stephon Gilmore. This is 2020, man. If your quarterback meetings are designated as a superspreader event, brother, that’s on your tab. Own it.
Don’t apologize for beating the Patriots in Foxborough. Ever. In the last 20 years, only two opposing quarterbacks have gone into Gillette Stadium, thrown two or more picks, and still won.
Drew Lock is one. Kurt Warner, who did it with the 2001 NFC champion Rams, was the other.
Now that’s not to say Buzz Lightyear is riding Warner’s comet trail to Canton. Or that Week 6 somehow stamped the 2-3 Broncos as Super Bowl contenders after an 0-3 start. But as far as that expanded playoff bracket …
“Things have gotta fall right,” Shonka continued. “The Broncos have kind of been snake-bit by injuries at different spots over the years. And I think that if they can do that, avoid a major injury, then they’ve got a shot.”
Shonka worked for years as an NFL scout with Kansas City, Philadelphia and Washington. These days, he’s picking talent for the East-West Shrine Game. The man’s a straight-shooter. He’s also got more football bona fides in his right pinkie than a room full of Monday Morning Quarterbacks.
“And I’ll tell you, everything is so volatile right now,” Shonka said. “Some teams might not have (their stars) back. You just don’t know.”
We won’t know Uncle Vic’s ceiling until after the Chiefs roll into town Sunday. But we know the floor. We know it’s about 17 stories above the Jets and Jags.
We know that they’re good enough to roll with Jeff Driskel behind center in Pittsburgh and somehow hang in to the bitter end. We know they’re good enough to somehow start rookie Brett Rypien on the road, have him throw three interceptions, and walk away in one piece.
We know they’ve figured out how to adapt to coronavirus football, in a year that’s forcing coaches to crack open Plans C and D. We know, for all the teeth-gnashing and Tanking-For-Trevor talk after 0-3, just how close they really were:
• Week 1: A 2-point home loss to Tennessee, now a 4-2 division leader.
• Week 2: A 5-point road loss at Pittsburgh, now a 5-0 division leader.
• Week 3: An 18-point home loss to Tampa Bay, now a 4-2 division leader. Rough day, yes. But a rough day with Driskel and Rypien at quarterback. And no Phillip Lindsay.
Yeah, but Shaq Barrett …
Hang on, will ya?
A month later, and the Broncos’ first three opponents have a combined record of 14-2.
Now, on the flip side, their two victories are over teams that are 2-9. The Jets (0-6) look like a dumpster fire that NASA satellites can spot from the mesosphere. The Patriots (2-3), thanks to COVID-19, are a withered husk.
Yeah, but Albert O …
Don’t apologize for kicking a bully while he’s down. Don’t you dare.
“John Elway, he’s worked hard trying to get that offensive line squared away. It all falls apart at one time or another, whether it’s because of injuries or whatever,” Shonka said. “If that group can stay together and develop, and if the running attack, now that Lindsay’s back and they rotate him (with Melvin Gordon) …
“I mean, things have got to fall right for them. But there’s certainly talent there. And if they play to that talent and they can avoid injuries, I think they’ve probably got a chance.”
Yeah, but …
Look, they’re not there. Not all the way. Not yet.
But the right tackle isn’t a turnstile. The left tackle isn’t a flag waiting to happen. Lock’s back, swaggering like he never left. Lindsay’s back, running angry. Running with a point to prove.
As long as they’re upright, there’s a chance. And just because the Broncos aren’t as bad as we thought doesn’t give you the right to be a royal pain in the asterisk.
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