John Elway spoke in glowing terms about Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak, who came over from the Houston Texans to replace John Fox after the 2014 season.
While nobody would ever associate the word “soft” with Fox, Elway says he’s seen a “tougher” Broncos team this year under Kubiak’s leadership.
“You look at the games we’ve won this year and how we’ve won. They have all been tough hard-fought football games, and they’ve all been close. We had to make plays at the end,” Elway said, per Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. “The mindset is, ‘Play for 60 minutes.’ We haven’t consistently played well for 60 minutes, but our mindset has been there. That’s why this team is a tougher team. Last year was a good year, but this year is attributed to Gary and his staff. The guts of this football team is that we’ve been in tough football games and figured out a way to win them.”
While these words might rankle Fox, they aren’t without merit.
The Broncos had to win many games this year by the skin of their teeth. Six of their victories came by six points or less, and they pulled out three gutty overtime wins.
Playing with an aging Peyton Manning and inexperienced Brock Osweiler, the offense wasn’t nearly as potent as it had been in years past when Fox was coaching. Therefore it took a concerted defensive effort and mindset by the Broncos to pull out wins on many occasions.
Going into Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, it looks like that same mindset will need to carry Denver over the New England Patriots, because Manning isn’t a quarterback who can carry an offense any more.