As Broncos G.M. John Elway explained on Tuesday the decision to part ways with coach John Fox, one of the more eye-opening comments related to Elway’s perception of the team’s fire (or lack thereof) in recent postseason losses.
“I think if there is one thing that you would like to have and you want to feel—at least in the last game you want to feel like you go out kicking and screaming,” Elway said. “When you’re right there and I think two years in a row it didn’t feel like we went out kicking and screaming because of the fact the way we played the last game.”
Elway’s use of “two years in a row” means that he had concerns about the team’s overall demeanor in Super Bowl XLVIII, against the Seahawks. Which for some (at least, for me) conjured memories of the comments from former Broncos defensive lineman Jeromy Mincey, who was candid about the blowout after signing with the Cowboys.
“Sometimes the better team don’t always win,” Mincey told SiriusXM NFL Radio in March 2014. “The Seattle Seahawks came out there fired up and they wanted it more than we did. I think we were a little bit lackadaisical in the locker room before the game. See, that’s the thing about having, like, older guys. And Denver was full of older guys. Older guys take stuff a little lighter than younger guys. . . . We were more laid back and lackadaisical and I think that kind of cost us in a sense.”
Mincey, who was in the room and thus in position to get an impression of the existence of lackadaisiality (not a word . . . yet), apparently perceived the situation in the same way Elway did. Now, Elway will be looking for a coach who ensures that a greater sense of urgency will prevail in those key moments.
That coach, whoever it may be, first needs to be able to get the team to the playoffs every year. There aren’t many who can pull that off.
