Deja Vu

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It took me a long time to finally be able to sit down and write an article about the heart breaking loss by the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.  It took me a long time because I wanted to write something objective and free of anger and sorrow.  Because I'll be honest.  I was mad the Broncos lost.  This was supposed to be our year.  Instead, we are all left just scratching our heads.  

I wondered if I should write about what led to the loss, or what we need to do this offseason.  Then I realized, none of that matters, for two reasons.  For one, we've been here many times before.  This truly was a matter of deja vu for me.  This game completely reminded me of Super Bowl XXIV when Denver was manhandled and blown out by the San Francisco 49ers.  It's nothing new.  I was hoping for something different but Denver was Denver in the Super Bowl...but while that may sound like bashing, eventually Denver always comes back to win it all.  Let's not forget the worry we all felt before Super Bowl XXXII when Denver finally brought home that championship bacon.  

The other reason I'm not concerned about trivializing over every single detail of this loss, is because that too is deja vu.  Let's go back and think back to that loss in Super Bowl XXIV one more time.  Because everyone and their sister had a take on why the Broncos lost that day.  Hell, there was even talk that perhaps John Elway was finished, I recall Denver drafting Quarterback Tommy Maddox as the heir to #7.  

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The bottom line is this.  We've been here before.  Heck, we may be here again. The answer to why we lost Super Bowl XLVIII is quite simple, we were outplayed and out coached.  The end.  We lost, and quite frankly, it is time to let it go.  We can continue to analyze an ugly loss or we can start opening our eyes to some simple facts...this team is still pretty damn good.  

Let's not forget a few years ago the Denver Broncos were 4-12 and the laughing stock of the NFL.  They were tarnished with a cheating scandal and if there was a time to not have any hope that was it.  Since then, Elway has returned as the team's top boss and we've enjoyed three consecutive AFC West Division Championships, an AFC Championship, a 34-14 record, three years of playoff appearances and oh yeah...we snagged Peyton Manning as a free agent and we've been to a Super Bowl. That, is an incredible list of accomplishments that some teams in the league have never seen in their entire franchises existence...just ask fans of the Cleveland Browns.  

This is in fact, remarkable success and reasons to celebrate as a Denver Broncos fan.  This team will rebound, this team will figure it out.  There is no one at Dove Valley thinking to themselves "Eh, we can let it ride for a little while."  This organization wants another championship, so do the players, they've had another bitter and crushing loss leave a bad taste in their mouths, and you saw how they bounced back from last year.  We lost, I'm over it, you should be too.  We're Denver Broncos fans, we are United in Orange and holy hell...do we have some great things going for us.  I can't wait until next year.  

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