The Denver Broncos were a heavy favorite entering Sunday afternoon’s AFC Divisional Round game at Sports Authority Field. However,Andrew Luckand the Indianapolis Colts had their own say, destroying Denver with their aerial attack play-after-play. Indianapolis came away with the 24-13 victory and will travel to New England to take on the Patriots next weekend.
AlthoughPeyton Manninglooked hurt and inaccurate, his offensive line didn’t help out his cause either. Lets face it though, Manning played as poor as you can in the biggest game of the season. The future Hall-of-Famer finished the game completing 26-of-46 passes for 211 yards, including one touchdown pass toDemaryius Thomason the teams very first drive. It was all downhill from that point on.
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The guy who was drafted to replace Manning in Indy, Andrew Luck, fittingly eliminated Manning and his Broncos. From my perspective, Luck played phenomenal despite the two interceptions. The third-year pro out of Stanford completed 27-of-43 passes Sunday afternoon, tallying two touchdowns and the two interceptions noted above. Luck and company will giveTom Bradyand the New England Patriots all they can handle next weekend.
One player that stood out to me and many others wasC.J. Anderson, the kid simply didn’t want to lose. How about the composure he showed when offensive tackleOrlando Franklinwas involved in a scuffle. Denver would have ultimately faced a 15-yard penalty if not forAnderson‘s smart, quick response holding Franklin back. Anderson’s rush on 4th-and-1 was a potential season-saving play. Anderson looked as if he lost two yards on the play but never gave up, breaking and avoiding tackles left and right for a critical first-down.
It was a heartbreaking end to a season that looked as if Denver’s best chance to win a Super Bowl in quite some time.John Elwayremodeled the defense by adding Pro BowlersAqib Talib,DeMarcus Ware, andT.J. Wardto add a physical presence. The defense was much better than last season, but came up short.
The coaching staff needs a remodel as well, Mr. Elway. It seems like the same story line every season as the Broncos seem unprepared in the biggest games of the year. It all falls back on coaching. Looking at you John Fox. According to a CBSSports report via Will Brinson, the Broncoscould dump Fox if they lost to Indy, which they did. Fox’s record of 46-19 all-time with Denver is a bit skewed due to the team they’ve had, but under Fox they’ve managed to only muster a record of 3-4 in the postseason with one Super Bowl appearance.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Denver pull the plug on Fox, which they need to do. Also, with offensive coordinator Adam Gase fielding interviews to become a head coach, Denver might potentially need to look elsewhere for an offensive coordinator and/or head coach. And of course, was that Peyton Manning’s last game? I personally don’t believe so but it will be an interesting story line over the next couple of months.
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