There is no question that there were pieces in place for the Denver Broncos to be successful even before Peyton Manning declared that he was going to be their new quarterback. You can simply refer back to last season, with the Broncos winning the the division, albeit a relatively weak AFC West. Then the team went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wildcard round, before dropping to the Patriots in the divisional round.
Flash forward to the 2012 season, and insert Manning.
This will undoubtedly will be a different offense this season as compared to last. Really you just have to throw the stats out. Denver was the No.1 rushing team in the NFL behind Tim Tebow. We don’t see that happening again this season, simply because it will be a whole new offensive system.
That 31st-ranked pass offense in 2011 can probably be overlooked as well now.
But is Manning the missing piece to a Super Bowl run for the Broncos in 2012?
In short, he just might be. Denver shot up on the list of favorites to win the Super Bowl when they acquired Manning, and despite missing the entire 2011 season, he looks to be getting stronger with each practice. And he looked pretty good in his preseason opener on Thursday night too. Now, there will certainly be growing pains even with a quarterback of Manning’s caliber. The nature of a new system, and new teammates dictates that. But the learning curve and comfort with Manning and his offense will be there soon.
But a Super Bowl championship in the first season is a lot to ask for. Especially with the quality the AFC is putting out this season.
New England, Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and a host of other top contenders have heard nothing but Manning and Broncos Super Bowl talk by their fans since the moment No.18 arrived.
It’s funny how a team that went 8-8 in 2011 now all of a sudden as a target on their back. But when you have Peyton Manning, it’s the nature of the game.
While I’m not going to say that the Broncos won’t win the Super Bowl this season, because they certainly can, I will say that it will be a big surprise if they do. Chemistry isn’t just formed in a couple of months. it will be tested each week during the course of the regular season, and we will learn a lot more about this Broncos team then, than we do now.