This is an omen to make the tough call, Mr. Elway! Want a Coach that plays to win instead of 'not to lose?'

Todd Bowles will change the mentality of this team to play like it had nothing to lose instead of the other way around. Cannot win playing for the beautiful Lombardi trophy, on your heels, not to make a mistake out of being on the attack. Or? Do you want to play to win the Lombardi in the only way you can. Attacking the other team? John Fox is not your coach to win with all the chips out. Belichick will completely do anything new in order to advance in playoffs. Harbaugh, Paganos. If not Bowles, then Pagano, the +Chargers DC, if not him, then Mike McCoy, who we really want back in the organization would be worth the compensatory picks. Dan Quinn, the +Seattle Seahawks DC.

Love ya Foxy, but two playoff divisional round losses in MILE HIGH and the team played timid, not to make mistakes, instead of putting the inferior team on its heels on the road, the stakes rise and the Broncos seem like they are just trying to sneak it out instead of crushing the team across the line of scrimmage. Bowles exemplifies that perfect!

If Elway is paying attention. He failed on the OL personnel moves (lack of). Exposed in center of line since NE loss. Peyton was always throwing before he wanted to because of the rush, blitzes almost exclusively in the area of 2 gap DT's.

Every coach would line up to have the reigns to this team. +BRONCOS CR3W wants a coach that isn't afraid of losing and plays to win. Not playing games to 'not to lose.' The Baltimore heart crushing loss 2 years ago is another perfect example. 39 seconds left and we kneel on it to go into OT despite having the best record in the NFL and highest scoring offense. Three conservative post season losses and two at home and one in SB, please please go get the Cardinals DC, Bowles or someone with a similar philosophy in regards to getting after the opponent. Dropping Von Miller is great but the fact he wasn't rushing the #1 passing QB this season more often than not, says everything we need to know about JDR and John Fox's approach.

They approached the season with all this talent thinking to not get to fancy with schemes and/or plays because of the talent, but there comes a point where vanilla and 3 and outs effect this club and then they play tight. Need someone that makes this roster play loose and aggressive! Someone to fortify and stop the blitzes that Peyton would burn teams for doing if an offensive line does a great job. Have to expect the defensive holding and pass interference to be overlooked in the playoffs and run the damn ball down the Colts throats. This game should be the end of this staff, as harsh as that sounds. If we want this club to do damage in the post season, there has to be a different coach and mentality...

He is the most promising coordinator in the game. What he does with that defense and going after it. He'd rather foo down paying on the attack than sit on his heels. Sounds like the opposite of the current coach in Denver.

We want an aggressive mentality, like NE or SEA, that pulls it all out when it's all on the line. Defense was trying to keep teams in front of you. Bowles, wants to move the ball backwards, even with his defense.

Coaching and addressing the OL are musts or they'll have the same results. Bless Trevathan, Irving, and Brandon Marshall back to health. That heart, edge, emotion of Trevathan was evidently missed by this unit all year. Similar to Beadles edge playing left guard, Woodyard's leadership was sorely missed. OL was exposed more following the Super Bowl.

Regarding, the Coach, we need a younger gamer that BRINGS IT on gameday. Maybe somebody that relates to the younger players, too? I think the sign is blaring from my take regarding the last 3 losses in AFC Playoffs. Note have seen the pattern 3-straight times. A team timid, and not with it all out on the line. It's the best way to lose big games. Team collapses in the spotlight following their coach into battle.

Need a new message in that locker room. Fox and JDR just kept saying, go ahead Andrew, pick us apart despite are insane size, speed on defense, we'll play on our heels.

Setting this, Elway had no choice not to change the environment at the teams facilities & headquarters.

OL was a bust and Elway thought it would not backfire, but Beadles was missed terribly. Got to get Bowles!!

Only "pro" from losing is that he is still available and interviewing. Not for long. Think of the mindset the Pats play with, while it feels very different under Fox. Great guy but not a playoff coach that will go full assault. He is too conservative. Defense was in prevent from the start. Look what happened when pressure was brought with turnovers. Blown call on fumble in third was huge and those 4 pts the Colts got from the refs. Still, we think this can be a blessing on disguise. Never really felt like Fox was the coach to take team all the way. Always had doubts, regardless of success, with Fox doing the necessary risks and tough calls to go on the aggressive.

Why isn't this team on the aggressive from the opening kick??? This faction of Broncos CR3W doesn't want to go through a full off-season, draft, and great record, playoff berth, only to see them play cautious and on their heels against a team that will take that game because they are there "TO WIN." Bowles is the perfect guy at the perfect time for this team to embrace his traits and concepts.

Todd Bowles, looks to be the former Defensive Coordinator of the +Arizona Cardinals shortly, with an Head Coach position likely to be offered by a number of teams. (Photo Courtesy - +Sports Illustrated - IMG)

Broncos use a well-fittted (salary) cap, Elway Treats Free Agency like Dating

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- When John Elway said "everything in my power," he meant everything.

Everything as in Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen’s checkbook and incessant desire to win. Everything as in Elway’s legacy as a Hall of Fame player. Everything as in a presumptive Hall of Famer currently at quarterback, and everything as in one of the most favorable salary-cap positions among the 2013 playoff teams.

Yes, the Broncos, still bruised in many ways from a 35-point Super Bowl loss last month, have rampaged through the opening hours of free agency with some specific goals in mind. They wanted to get nasty, wanted to have the elusive Plan "B" for when their next-level offense doesn’t have the kind of day it’s used to.

And the result has been a 24-hour defensive binge that now includes defensive end DeMarcus Ware (three years, $30 million, $20 million guaranteed); cornerback Aqib Talib (six years, $57 million, $26 million guaranteed); and safety T.J. Ward (four years, $23 million, $14 million guaranteed).

John Fox Greets DeMarcus Ware | DeMarcus Ware Greets Broncos Country

"That’s why me, Talib and Ware were brought in, three physical players. ... It’s going to help this defense, it’s going to help this team," Ward said in his first appearance at the Broncos' complex.

But Elway made Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning a promise as he recruited him in the days that followed his release from the +Indianapolis Colts in 2012. When Manning arrived at the Broncos’ complex for a visit, he was still stunned the Colts had actually released him, still reeling with all of the uncertainty in front of him.

Aqib Talib said that signing with the Broncos 

gives him the best shot at reaching the top of the NFL.

Daniel Shirey/USA TODAY Sports

"I wasn’t sure what the future was going to look like. There wasn’t a map for me to follow," Manning had said.

But at that time, Elway’s pitch was a promise that Elway, as Bowlen’s chief football decision-maker, would "do everything in my power" to make sure Manning retired from the +NFL as Elway did, with Super Bowl titles in those final seasons.

The Broncos made history on the way to last season’s 13-3 finish, set scoring records and raced into Super Bowl XLVIII using the fastest of fast lanes. Then the +Seattle Seahawks pushed Denver down, and the Broncos simply never got up in one of the worst title-game losses of the Super Bowl era.

Manning didn’t play well, the receivers didn’t play well, the linemen didn’t block well and a defense that was the biggest question mark heading into the Super Bowl actually answered the bell until the game got out of hand.

But Elway has since talked of creating "the mindset" to win a championship, has talked of being more physical on both sides of the ball and has talked about if they saw the opportunity to sign any player the team believed could be better than the ones they had, the Broncos would do it.mindset" to win a championship, has talked of being more physical on both sides of the ball and has talked about if they saw the opportunity to sign any player the team believed could be better than the ones they had, the Broncos would do it.

T.J. Ward meets the Denver media

They also had managed their salary cap well enough to have $28.7 million or so of cap space last Thursday morning. They then released cornerback Champ Bailey that day and guard Chris Kuper retired Monday. With those two events the +Denver Broncos gained roughly another $14 million in cap space, and with that cap space and the bulk of a roster good enough to have finished 13-3 in back-to-back seasons, the Broncos went to work.


Certainly, Manning is still the centerpiece of all this -- so much so that when Talib was asked Wednesday why he chose Denver, he quickly pointed to the 37-year-old quarterback.

Photo Courtesy: +Denver Broncos (AP)

"We just kind of looked at the best package," Talib said. "I do have a family, I have kids, I have a wife that I got to take care of, and it was Peyton Manning, you know? It was just the total package. Denver was the best place."

Elway has been a no-nonsense, grassroots executive right from the start. He grinds the video on draft prospects, he goes to the Senior Bowl, he has made the pro day rounds and he makes decisions based on the long term "because my job is to be two steps ahead."

But after three trips through the opening of free agency, he has to be considered one of the league’s best closers as well, and closers get the coffee and former Pro Bowl selections, it seems -- Manning, Louis Vasquez, +Wes Welker, Terrance Knighton, Talib, Ward and now Ware.

So it seems the Broncos really didn’t just go all-in this year. They’ve just kind of had that mindset all along.

-------------------------

"I view free agency like dating, if you didn't want me to scoop them up then you should have treated them better," he was reported to have said today.

The AFC champs, who got blown out in Super Bowl XLVIII, have already added T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware to their roster.

So yeah, it's pretty much Super Bowl (victory) or bust for John Elway and Co.

The legendary QB, who is now Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Broncos, has apparently found a great way to sum up his take on free agency:

Elway, "I view free agency like dating, if you didn't want me to scoop them up then you have treated them better" #BroncosNation — Eric Weidner (@ESPNWeidner) March 12, 2014

H/T to +FOX Sports 

Manning Unanimous All-Pro, Makes 7th Team (AP)

UDATED JAN 3, 2014 2:08 PM ET

NEW YORK (AP)
Peyton Manning has responded to a lost season the way he reacted to all of his great seasons.

By having more great seasons.

Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. It was his seventh time as a first-teamer, tying Hall of Famer Otto Graham for the most by a quarterback.

The Denver star set NFL records this season with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 yards through the air.

Peyton Manning (18), QB of the +Denver Broncos 

He was chosen on all 50 ballots from media members who regularly cover the NFL. Manning also was an All-Pro for Indianapolis in 2003, '04, '05, '08 and '09 and last season made it as a Bronco. He's been on the All-Pro team in both seasons since missing 2011 after several neck surgeries. 

"I think it's well documented that this is the second chapter of my career, and didn't know what to expect off that injury and new team, new players and new physical state after an injury," said Manning, a four-time league MVP who never missed a pro start before 2011. "So I had no idea what to expect, and I've put a lot of time and a lot of hard work in to it. But I've received a lot of help along the way from coaches and trainers and strength coaches and teammates. So I'm very grateful."

Manning still has a ways to go to set the record for most All-Pro appearances at any position. Among the players ahead of him is Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice with 10.

New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham and Indianapolis outside linebacker Robert Mathis each drew 49 votes. Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy and Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman had 48.

Minnesota kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson was the only rookie on the squad.

Eighteen NFC players and nine from the AFC made the team. Carolina and Philadelphia each had three: linebacker Luke Kuechly, center Ryan Kalil and fullback Mike Tolbert for the Panthers; NFL rushing leader McCoy, guard Evan Mathis and tackle Jason Peters for the coach Chip Kelly's Eagles.

"Just when Chip came here, we knew we were going to run the ball," McCoy said. "The linemen, they've all been healthy this whole year. They've been blocking so well for me and without those guys, it's not possible."

Only two members of the top teams in each conference made the All-Pro team. Joining Manning from the Broncos (13-3) was guard Louis Vasquez. Joining Sherman from the Seahawks (13-3) was safety Earl Thomas.

"It is very special, especially in a special season," Sherman said. "If you're having a special season and your team has four wins or five wins, I'm sure it doesn't feel as good. But when your team is winning, your defense is No. 1 in every category and you're just contributing, you're not even trying to do anything special individually, you're just contributing to the entire group. It really feels special. And with the chance to do what we have a chance to do this year, it would be fantastic."

Unlike Sherman, many of the players chosen did not enjoy huge team success this season: 12 of the 27 failed to make the playoffs.

Rounding out the offense were receivers Calvin Johnson of Detroit and Josh Gordon of Cleveland; running back Jamaal Charles of Kansas City; and tackle Joe Thomas of Cleveland.

Other All-Pros on defense were ends J.J. Watt of Houston and Robert Quinn of St. Louis; tackles Gerald McCoy of Tampa Bay and Ndamukong Suh of Detroit; outside linebacker Lavonte David of Tampa Bay; inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman of San Francisco; cornerback Patrick Peterson of Arizona; and safety Eric Berry of Kansas City.

The special teamers were Patterson, kicker Justin Tucker of Baltimore and punter Johnny Hekker of St. Louis.

One of 15 first-time All-Pros, Kuechly was last season's Defensive Rookie of the Year.

"It's an individual award, but it's a representation of the team," he said. "You got to always remember that you have four guys in front of you. You got the other linebackers, the coaches and the DBs behind you that make everything possible."

Overall, 16 clubs were represented on the All-Pro team: Denver, Kansas City, Cleveland, Baltimore, Houston and Indianapolis in the AFC; Philadelphia, Carolina, Seattle, Detroit, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Arizona, Minnesota and San Francisco in the NFC.