Jock Itch Broncos in the playoffs: Don’t fight it, feel it

The Broncos are a playoff team! Yes—a terrible, terrible playoff team. We didn’t think the Broncos had a chance in hell to win the division, let alone go to the playoffs, so fans will take the extra game and cherish it like a piano-playing cat. A playoff appearance is a playoff appearance—mixed emotions are not allowed. How they got to the playoffs is where the mixed emotions come in.

I started writing this column at the end of the Mike Shanahan era and have never written about the playoffs. The Broncos, mired in mediocrity under Shanny, were going nowhere fast, and I wrote then that he needed to hit the bricks. Surprisingly, Shanahan got fired and a great deal of things (mostly bad) happened in those three years after his departure. Through all that, one thing remained the same: The Broncos have been awful and the playoffs have been nothing but a distant dream. I had pretty much given up on that dream of ever getting to write about a Broncos team that made it to the second season, but now that they have actually made the postseason, is it anything to really get excited about?

Of course it is, because in the playoffs, anything can happen. It’s an extra game fans can enjoy while the hype machine around Tim Tebow and the team continues for one more week at least. You want your team to make the playoffs no matter what. There’s no shame in the Broncos backing into their first postseason berth in six years. If you do need to dish out some shame, it should go to the Raiders and the Chargers, who couldn’t quite wrest control of the division from the badly limping, 8-8 Broncos.

But what will happen next Sunday as the Broncos host the Pittsburgh Steelers is another story entirely. The Broncos didn’t just back into the playoffs; they stumbled backwards, tripped over Brian Griese’s dog, and did a face plant with their pants around their ankles into the playoffs. The three-game losing streak leading them in doesn’t bode well for a team that has done nothing but struggle more and more as the weeks go by.

Tim Tebow had next year’s quarterback job all but sewn up before the Patriots game. But by the time they played the Bills on Christmas Eve, fans and John Elway alike were starting to get cold feet about anointing him the signal caller for life. And now? After his horrendous showing against the Chiefs, the debate has been re-opened like a dive bar at 7 a.m. The job is not definitely Tebow’s at this point, nor should it be, because he’s been bloody awful. Maybe Elway’s shrewd refusal to name him the starter going forward wasn’t so dumb after all, eh?

Really, if it wasn’t for a miraculous stretch of games in the middle of the season, the Broncos would be where everyone thought they would end up: third or fourth in the division and already looking toward next season. And like Shanahan and McDaniels after him, we would be publicly questioning whether John Fox’s job was safe. At this point, it should be, because Elway and company made a very public commitment to Fox when they hired him, and I can’t see them backing off on that this soon. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy had better not get his license plates renewed yet, though. McCoy’s bafflingly bland offensive play calling will get this team nowhere, and while Tebow will get another shot next season, McCoy should be shown the door as soon as this crazy year is over.

The Broncos journey back to the playoffs may be a short a trip, but we shouldn’t care. When your team makes the playoffs—a team that no one thought would be anywhere close, remember—it’s a cause for celebration. The Denver Broncos are heavily woven through the fabric of the city, the state, and the region. No matter what your attitude is toward sports, the Broncos are Colorado and as the Broncos go, so does the Rocky Mountain region. The Broncos limped into the playoffs, but there are 20 other teams wishing they could be in their place. It’s beyond comprehension, so relax and enjoy the ride. Remember, mixed emotions are not allowed in this playoff appearance, so just keep it to one: elation.