The Broncos woke up to some surprising news on Sunday morning when ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak was going to step down after the Week 17 game against the Raiders. The Broncos had nothing to play for after getting eliminated from playoff contention, but with the news of Kubiak coaching in his last game the Broncos played inspired, had some fire in their belly, and pounded the Raiders 24-6 in Denver to finish 9-7 and send Kubiak off as a winner in his last game. It was a nice way to end the season on a winning note and send the Raiders from possibly being the #2 seed all the way down to the #5 seed and a wild card. There are so many things to discuss about Kubiak and the future of the Broncos, but I will get to that later on. For now, here are my thoughts and observations on the game...
1) You could tell early on that the Broncos were playing inspired for Kubiak and they wanted to knock the Raiders down in the playoff pecking order, and that showed on the first drive when the Broncos went right down the field and scored an opening possession touchdown, which was capped off by a Devontae Booker 11 yard TD run. The Broncos went 84 yards on 8 plays and looked like they were inspired to finish this season off the right way.
2) I had a feeling the Broncos were going to play well on defense going up against Oakland's Matt McGloin, who was replacing the injured Derek Carr. McGloin was no match for the Broncos defense, and they ended up knocking him out of the game after Jared Crick absolutely crushed him after a throw. McGloin never threatened the Broncos secondary and you could just tell after Denver got up 10-0 in the 2nd quarter, the Raiders were done. They punted on every drive of the first half. Connor Cook came into the game and he didn't have much success and was strip sacked by Shane Ray on the first drive of the 3rd quarter, and he threw a pick late to Justin Simmons in the 4th quarter. The Broncos defense went up against a lot of quality QBs this year (Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers twice, Alex Smith twice, Derek Carr once, Tom Brady, Drew Brees), so when they went up against the McGloin-Cook combo, you knew they would put up a big time effort. The Broncos finished the season as the #1 pass defense in the NFL.
3) On a 3rd and 18, near the end of the first half, Trevor Siemian threw a double screen to Booker, who broke it for a 43 yard TD to make it 17-0. It was a sweet play and I couldn't believe the Broncos actually converted a 3rd and long for a touchdown this season. That play essentially ended the game for the Broncos.
4) The Broncos put another touchdown on the board early in the 3rd quarter when Siemian hit Virgil Green for a 2-yard TD pass to make it 24-0. It capped off a 10 play 64 yard drive.
5) Justin Forsett finished with 90 yards on 22 carries and he had a long run of 64 yards early in the game. Booker finished with 57 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown rushing and a touchdown receiving. It was nice to actually see some runs by the Broncos gain more than like 2 or 3 yards.
6) What was the deal with Aqib Talib ripping off Michael Crabtree's chain after a play in the first half? I love the way Talib plays, but he is a head case and sometimes I don't know what he is thinking about with some of the stuff that he does.
7) Early in the week, Kubiak talked about how he was going to play both Siemian and Paxton Lynch, but Lynch never played and Kubiak later said that he wanted to get him in but he went with Siemian the whole way because of the way the game was playing out. I don't think you can read too much into it other than the fact that Kubiak wanted to win the game badly since it was going to be his final game and he trusts Siemian more than Lynch, so that is why I think he stuck with Siemian the whole game.
8) I was happy that the Broncos finished off the season with a win at home over their hated rivals and finished the year at 9-7. I was also happy that the Broncos knocked the Raiders all the way down to the #5 seed and even hurt their QB in the process leaving the Raiders with the possibility of having to start their third string QB at Houston in the Wild Card round next weekend. Unfortunately, the Broncos missed the playoffs and that is even more disappointing because they started the year 4-0 and 6-2, and they were 8-4 with a month to go. They should have been able to get into the playoffs this year with this defense, and the fact that they are not in the playoffs is disappointing. I know they had a difficult schedule down the stretch, and they had some chances at times down the stretch, but they should be playing this upcoming weekend and they are not, so this season was not a success.
9) I will spend more time on the Broncos season overall and the future, but I was upset to find out that Gary Kubiak was stepping down as the head coach. I think he did a great job last year coming into a team with an aging Hall of Fame QB in Peyton Manning and all the pressure to win and he won a Super Bowl in his first season. This year, he had a tough QB situation with Siemian and Lynch and he ended up going 9-7. He had some rough moments this year, but Kubiak was really a good fit for this team and this franchise. I loved having him as our coach, and you could tell how much the players loved him. I understand that Kubiak is stepping down because he is not fit for the demands of the coaching business anymore, but I really wish he was staying around because I thought he was the right guy for this team and this franchise.
10) The Broncos season is over and now the focus will be on finding a new Head Coach, the draft, free agency and filling in the spots that this team needs to improve upon for the 2017 season. I will always believe that John Elway will do everything in his power to make this team a Super Bowl contender every year, and I have full confidence in him as he retools the Broncos for a run in 2017. I'm upset that we didn't make the playoffs but I can't complain too much after the last five years and a Super Bowl title last year. I don't think the Broncos will be down for long. Go Broncos!
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