Bosc wrote:
They've had Antonio Gates for forever too. 5 division titles in 6 years was pretty good, no?
Yeah, but "pretty good" was as good as it ever got for them. How many Super Bowls did they win during that time? How many Super Bowls did they actually GET to during that time?
The answer: Zero. And they only made it to one AFC Championship game during that time. I'm sorry, but that's kinda pathetic.
Part of the problem was the very same reason they actually had success: Marty Schottenheimer. Dude was a brilliant coach and team builder, but could never, ever get it done in the postseason. It was seriously painful sometimes watching him fall completely apart coaching in the playoffs.
Yes, Gates was amazing in his prime, so much so the Broncos tried to draft/develop a copy of him and recruited Wesley Duke, a former basketball player turned football tight end. Obviously that didn't work out.
They also had Shawne Merriman at LB anchoring their defense, and while I was never a huge fan of his, he was pretty good.