......Heart won that game.......
Originally Posted by BBW Katrina
Not picking, Katrina; but just a few thoughts on that idea though.....
As we know, there's been a parade of storied teams throughout NFL history that have had plenty of the "right intangibles"; particularly that spirited component: "heart". The difference, however, between this year's Bronco team (and the one that got slammed in SB 48) is glaringly obvious:
TALENT won that game; pure and simple (along with a smart game plan, of course). That said, the MVP trophy IMO could just as easily gone to one, GM John Elway.
After being taken out to the woodshed by the Seahawks a short 24 months ago, Elway's mission was crystal clear: Acquire as much defensive talent as possible and take pressure off Manning and his offense. Whether by design (or luck), appointing Wade Phillips as the team's DC was the cherry on top of this masterful plan.
Ware and Miller as bookend mad dog, hair-on-fire edge rushers were potent all season long. Once the post-season kicked in, they made (along with that stifling secondary) All Pro QB's Roethlisberger, Brady and Newton miserable on a convincingly thorough championship run.
Heart is wonderful. But talent is usually the Trump Card when it comes to the nut cutting (ie: see the current Golden State Warriors as another example).
That said, note to Cowboys GM for Life, Jerry Jones:
Using the current Broncos as a shining example of "what to do", perhaps the criticism you've received these past 20+ years actually has merit to it. The pundits have preached from Day One that you step down and appoint an actual living, breathing "football man" as the team's GM. Let's be real...it's been an obvious need ever since you fired your first one, the architect of 3 Super Bowl Championships.....the great Jimmy Johnson.
In a fraction of the time you've owned the Cowboys, a football man for most of his life....GM John Elway (who has as lengthy and decorated a football pedigree you'll want to find)....put together an NFL team the "right way". Shrewd drafting in tandem with spot on free agent signings built a solid squad capable of winning it all. And it didn't take two-plus decades to achieve it either.....
And he didn't do it by pursuing speculative (if not questionable) characters like Joey Galloway....Roy Williams (ie: trade with Detroit)...Quincy Cater....Terrell Owens...Pacman Jones....Rolando McClain....Greg Hardy....the list goes on and on and on....
The facts are damning......and JJ should be embarrassed and ashamed after seeing what Elway did to pull this off.
It wasn't by using hocus pocus....it wasn't smoke and mirrors or a bunch of double-talking the media and fans with his Hillbilly backporch wit. It was simply by staying true to a long standing blueprint of principles that will never change. No matter how rule changes the NFL makes and continues to make.....Defense wins Championships.