ENGLEWOOD — Airlines will be disappointed if they were counting on celebrating Broncos players to help fill seats on flights to Las Vegas during the team’s playoff bye this week.
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Broncos staying home to celebrate
Quite a day for NFL sacks. Seven coaches and five general managers were fired Monday in a flurry of pink slips that were delivered the day after the regular-season ended.
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Reid among seven NFL coaches fired
ENGLEWOOD — Rookie running back Ronnie Hillman will have to regain his coaches’ trust after his first-quarter fumble Sunday set off a chain of near catastrophic events.
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Broncos’ Hillman’s fumble could have been costly
ENGLEWOOD — As a head coaching candidate, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy is getting hotter by the hour.
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Broncos’ McCoy will talk to Bears, Cards
Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt is clearly mulling different options and I think he is open to keeping general manager Scott Pioli. I think one o…
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What is Scott Pioli’s future?
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Whether it was a quirky quarterback or a quintessential one, Mike McCoy helped them fit comfortably and successfully into Denver’s offense. The man who dusted off the old read-option for Tim Tebow a year ago and helped guide Peyton Manning through his outstanding comeback in Denver this season is a hot head coaching candidate for his work as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. McCoy will use the bye week to interview for newly vacant head coaching jobs in Arizona and Chicago. “With team success, you get recognition,” coach John Fox said. Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said the team has reached out to McCoy to interview for their head coaching vacancy following the firing of Ken Whisenhunt after six seasons that included the long-suffering franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance. McCoy also will interview for Chicago’s position following the firing of Lovie Smith after a 10-6 season, a person familiar with the situation said. The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly speak about the interviews, said the talks would take place in Denver this week. McCoy, who interviewed with the Miami Dolphins last year after retooling Denver’s offense to fit Tebow’s skill set, burnished his head coaching credentials this season while blending the power formations the Broncos used in leading the league in rushing last year with Tebow and some of the spread formations that Manning ran in Indianapolis. Manning returned from a year off due to neck issues to put up MVP numbers and lead Denver (13-3) to the top seed in the AFC playoffs with a league-best 11-game winning streak. McCoy spent nine years as an offensive assistant in Carolina before joining the Broncos as offensive coordinator in 2009. Manning recently credited McCoy and quarterbacks coach Adam Gase with helping him navigate his way through a new team and a new system. “It’s been a team effort and I really appreciate the help that Mike and Adam have given me going all the way back to when I first got here,” Manning said. With a slew of openings in the NFL, another potential head coaching candidate is Broncos defensive coordinator and former Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio, who helped Denver improve from 22nd against the pass a year ago to third and jump from 18th against the run to third this year. Del Rio recently indicated he’d be picky about moving on. “When you’re a young guy and you haven’t been there, the urgency and desire to get that opportunity is such that you’d take just about any job given to you,” said Del Rio, who was in charge of the Jaguars for nine seasons. “I don’t feel that way now. If there’s something that fits and the right situation comes along, so be it. But in the meantime, I’m all in, 100 percent as a lieutenant on this staff. I’m somebody that John Fox, John Elway … and the players can count on. I’m 100 percent invested in helping them be their best.” – By Arnie Stapleton, AP Sports Writer (© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Two short years ago, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen sent out a letter to season ticket holders. “You deserve more from this franchise,” he wrote. Then, he went out and fixed it – first by hiring John Elway, who remembered how things worked when the Broncos were one of the NFL’s premier organizations, then by bringing on John Fox as coach and, eventually, Peyton Manning to play quarterback. On Monday, the day after the Broncos closed out a 13-3 regular season and wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the team distributed a different kind of memo, a five-page list titled “Denver Broncos 2012 Regular-Season Superlatives” – quite a fitting symbol for a franchise that has transformed itself from a punch line with a 4-12 record to a Super Bowl favorite in the span of two years. How to explain a turnaround that came ahead of schedule? “You look at Pat Bowlen and his career as owner of the Denver Broncos. He’s amassed an unbelievable record. That doesn’t just fall out of the sky,” Fox said of his owner, who has brought two Super Bowl and 10 division titles to Denver since he became owner in 1984. “John coming back to the organization, his background. Just his commitment to being successful, doesn’t matter what that was, whether it was football or business. I knew what kind of competitor he was. “And I’ve done it before. In Carolina. It was just a good fit and I’m happy it worked out.” Back with the Broncos and running their front office, Elway signed Fox, citing his positive attitude and the quick-turnaround ability he showed in taking Carolina from 1-15 to the Super Bowl over the course of two years. Elway drafted Von Miller , who finished the season with a franchise-high 18 1/2 sacks. And Elway, of course, signed Manning while also jettisoning Tim Tebow, whose success in Denver created a confusing, emotional mix that might have made it difficult for a less-beloved figure to sort out. “I don’t look so much at who was here, who wasn’t here, who gets credit,” Fox said. “It’s more what that one guy in 53 can bring to the team and bring to winning a world championship.” Of Denver’s 53 guys, Manning, of course, is No. 1. The quarterback is in the hunt for his fifth Most Valuable Player award. Nearly an entire page of the five-page handout from the Broncos is dedicated to listing his achievements this season. Among them: -Single-season franchise records for completions (400), yards (4,659), completion percentage (68.6), touchdowns (37) and passer rating (105.8). -Tied a personal best and set a team record with nine 300-yard games. -Became first quarterback to make a Pro Bowl after missing the previous year due to injury. -Led Denver to 11 straight wins by at least seven points, tied for the second-longest streak of all time. “I had no real expectations for what this year would be like, so I don’t know if you can exceed expectations if you never really had any,” Manning said after Denver wrapped up home-field advantage with a 38-3 win over the Chiefs on Sunday. “Some things were really kind of wait-and-see for me, but it’s been a gratifying regular season and very humbling. I have to admit that.” Fox is using the bye week to stay sharp, calling for short, crisp practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and a mandatory weightlifting session Saturday, mainly to keep the team “focused, not concerned with flights to other states and those type of things, especially close states.” (Think, Nevada.) Meanwhile, in another telling symbol of a team’s success, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will use the bye week to interview for newly vacant head coaching jobs in Arizona and Chicago. “With team success, you get recognition,” Fox said. “Those guys are all professionals. They understand the focus it’s going to take for us to get where we want.” After the weekend, the Broncos will know who their next opponent is – either Cincinnati, Baltimore or Manning’s old team, the Indianapolis Colts. The playoff game is scheduled for Jan. 12 – two years minus one day to the date Fox came to the Broncos, who were a mess at the time, reeling from an embarrassing videotaping scandal, a midseason coaching change, a league-worst defense and the presence of Tebow, who was drafted by a coach who wouldn’t put him in the lineup. That coach was Josh McDaniels, now offensive coordinator for the Patriots, whose name still raises hackles in Denver. In so many ways, however, his departure feels like longer than two years ago. “It’s a lot of people with a commitment to work hard to make it happen,” Fox said. “It’s a big commitment. Not just a little bit of interest. It’s a commitment to being world champions and we’ve been working on it for two years. We get that opportunity again to get in the tournament and see what happens.” Notes: Barring a change in the NFL schedule, either the Broncos or Raiders will play a Thanksgiving game at Dallas in 2013, which hosts an AFC team in the traditional holiday contest next year. Denver will also travel to Houston and New England while hosting the Washington Redskins and former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. … The Broncos outscored opponents 299-138 in the second halves of games this season, the third-highest second-half scoring differential since the 1970 merger. … Broncos gave up fewest sacks in NFL (21) this season while sharing the league lead in sacks on defense (52). … Denver finished fourth in total offense and second in total defense, marking fourth time in team history finishing in top five in both categories. … The team said the 5,000 playoff tickets it put on sale Monday sold out in nine minutes. – By Eddie Pells, AP National Writer (© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Broncos Go From Joke To Contender In 2 Years
Observations from all around the NFL for Week 17 action.
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Around The League: Week 17
In part 1 of 2, Cousin Sal and Chad Millman join Bill to review the Week 17 action and look forward to the matchups on wild-card weekend. In part 2, M…
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The B.S. Report: Chad Millman, Cousin Sal, Mike Lombardi, and Joe House
The Vegas Bettors’ Poll is a power rating of all 32 NFL teams by handicappers. After Week 17, the Denver Broncos end the season as the No. 1 team in the poll.
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NFL – Overall season-ending power rankings from NFL handicappers for every team