Surely not to take away from the highly talented players on the Denver Broncos, but the takeaway message of the Broncos’ Super Bowl win transcends talent. Arguably, the Carolina Panthers had the better talent and certainly had the better record, but here is what they didn’t have:
• persistence, tenacity. Most of the Panthers’ wins came with ease; none of the Broncos’ wins did. The Panthers and especially their talented quarterback Cam Newton covered the field like it was a festival. The Broncos scrapped for every field goal, every yard, every point — and never gave up.
• aspiration. The Broncos had a great season last year. But it wasn’t a Super Bowl season. Any other team would have been more than satisfied with a coach who took his team to 13-3. But not the Broncos. John Elway wanted a Super Bowl, so he made a risky change, parting ways with the successful John Fox in favor of a new coach — who would make his own changes.
• coaching, willingness to change. With Peyton Manning losing his magical edge, the Broncos faced three possibilities: 1) trade Manning; 2) ignore Manning’s decline and try to bolster the offense anyway; 3) radically revise the game plan.
Most coaches would have opted for one of the first two options. Gary Kubiak mustered the faith and courage to take the third option: acknowledging both Manning’s decline and his remaining strengths, while building a fearsome defense.
• coaching skill. With consummate good judgment, Gary Kubiak knew just when to play Peyton Manning, just when to bench him, and just when to leave him in a game; and the same for Brock Osweiler. A real juggling act, without whose complete success the Broncos would not have made it to the Super Bowl. And of course this again speaks to John Elway’s wisdom in choosing Kubiak to start with.
• maturity. This was a team that worked together. Its players focused on winning games, on cooperating — and behaving responsibly off the field so as to avoid those criminal or immature distractions that make it hard for a team to gel. Case in point: The Broncos have avoided unpleasant, Cam Newton-like, post-Super Bowl vivisections.
A New England Patriots’ sports writer said the Broncos weren’t a very good team. What he should have said was: not a very flashy team. But a good team? It’s the best.
Certified.
Thanks, dear Broncos, for the fun.
Oh, and Mr. Manning, please. Go out on top. Take care of your hip and the rest of your body. You’ve already got every record in the book. That, too, is maturity: knowing when to stop.
Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News
