Denver Broncos Super Bowl Performance Was Like The Movie Identity Thief

There is probably not a better team captain and leader in the NFL than Denver Broncos quarterback, Peyton Manning. At age 37, he led the Broncos through an amazing 2013 season, handily breaking the NFL records for passing yards and passing touchdowns by a quarterback in one season, to clinch the AFC championship. So what happened after that?

The 2014 Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks is what happened. And, it started with that first snap.

That’s when the identity thief took over.

The Denver Broncos whole team turned into a bunch of suckers against a mighty Seattle Seahawks team who pretty much caused the Broncos to lose their identity.

Watching Manning and the Broncos struggle through three painstaking hours of blunders and sheer out-play by the NFL’s toughest defense was brutal. If you were a Broncos fan, you probably couldn’t stand the torture much past the start of the third quarter when the score was 22-0, in favor of the Seahawks. Surely, a much needed second or third or fourth cocktail and another graze around the food table was in order to drown out your sorrows.

I for one, as host of my own Super Bowl party, couldn’t continue to entertain my guests wearing my bleeding orange Demaryius Thomas jersey while the Broncos were getting stomped into the ground.

So, I as well as the Broncos, lost my identity and swapped Thomas jerseys. True story – ask my friends.

It’s all history now as it ended horrifically bad for the Broncos.

Anyway, time to move on now, as the Denver Broncos will humbly begin their 2014 season which kicks off with organized team activities right around the corner.

According to USA Today, Manning had this to say.

You have to move forward. You have to kind of reestablish your identity as the 2014 team; 2013 was a good season in a lot of ways, there’s no question…It did not end the way we wanted it to, but we have to build off that and try to take it a step further, try to finish.

For the first time since the Broncos disastrous Super Bowl loss, Manning spoke with reporters this past week about the roster changes the team has made during the free agency period, putting the Super Bowl loss behind, and just moving forward.

The Broncos will begin the new 2014 season without wide receiver Eric Decker and running back, Knowshon Moreno, who was a beast all last season. Also, they are minus veteran Champ Bailey, whom the Broncos cut and the New Orleans Saints picked up.

Despite losing some quality starters, the Broncos did make some key moves during the free agency period, in reinforcing what was turning into quite a weakened defense by signing DeMarcus Ware and Aqib Talib.

In what could possibly be Manning’s last season, Broncos fans especially want to erase the last time they saw their team take the field and look forward to seeing Manning and his team make a fresh start later this year. The Denver Broncos will begin working out together as organized team activities and minicamps begin starting next week. Let’s shout an “Omaha” for new beginnings.

Of course the Broncos goal is to participate in Super Bowl 2015, and as a fan, I would like to see that too. I just need to be sure I’ve got the opposing team’s jersey handy in case the Broncos take part in Identity Thief II.

Photo: Joe Camporeale, USA Today Sports