Tradition Tuesday: Your Token Division Preview, the 2008 Denver Broncos

The rough focus of this blog touches on the rivalric animosity between the Chiefs of Kansas City (revered by bankmeister) and the Broncos of Denver (beloved by Cecil and old No. 7).

Eight years ago, we started The Tradition, which is a two-part ordeal. Part one involves matriculation from Kansas City to Denver, where the Chiefs faithful take in a visiting-team loss. The other is a Bronco pilgrimage to Kansas City, and that one's kind of a toss up. What both games have in common are proportional inebriation, occasional spousal invitation, and trash-related oration.

Thus, we have Tradition Tuesday, our weekly state-of-the-rivalry address, where we pick a Chonco-related topic, and discuss. For the next four weeks, we'll inspect the four AFC West clubs as part of a month-long endeavor to see just how this division will shake down. When we're done, maybe we'll pretend to care about the rest of the league conference, and cram all those clowns into one run-on sentence type post. Then again, we might not.

The Denver Broncos
We spend a pretty good chunk of time talking Denver pigskin around here, and I'd say now's as good a time as any to be doing so. Now, Shanahan and company have avoided the "rebuilding" terminology that Herm has semi-proudly danced around over in Kansas City. They're "re-tooling," or something like that that's meant to imply something better, but actually means the exact same thing. For instance, it's possible that the 2008 Denver Bronco draft will pan out to be at least twice as successful than that of the '07 variety. Not only did they have more picks, they addressed more positions, and arguably more crucial positions. Add to that they lost their all-time receiving leader in Rod Smith to retirement, cut both Travis Henry and Mike Bell, and are having to deal with Brandon Marshall serving timeouts in the corner of the commissioner's office. They also discovered that their quarterback is diabetic.

That's enough stuff for three offseasons. And that's not even all of it. Anyway, I suspect that their season will shakedown pretty okay, all things considered. If there's one thing Mikey can do, it's rally his troops when adversity stands in front of them. Like I prognosticated here, I imagine that the Broncos will open the second quarter of the season with a 1-3 mark. Alas, it will only get better for them afterwards. After the KC game, the Broncos will host a Buccaneers squad that is still a few slices of pie away from being the whole shebang; they handle the Bucs for their second consecutive home win, but allow Jack Del Rio and the Jaguars to pummel them again the following Sunday at InVesCo. After that disappointing loss, however, an invigorated Denver club takes to the streets and edges the Pats in a tight tilt at Foxboro, pumped as they head into the bye.

Coming off of their rest, Denver's 3-4, and hungry to prove just what this team can do. What better a stage than to host the hapless Dolphins, then travel to Ohio to manhandle an overrated Browns team. Hey-hey -- 5-4 ain't so bad. Another road game in Atlanta, followed by a home game versus the Raiders leaves them 7-4, primed to peak. Though they struggle against the Jets in New York, they come out victorious, and stretch that momentum into a victory at home against the Chiefs in early December, stoked to be sitting at 9-4. An annihilation of of the Panthers in Carolina has all the Salisburies and Hoges taking the Broncos as their sleeper pick for AFC Champs, but the hype reaches to and through the team as well, and they overlook a developing Buffalo squad, falling to Marshawn hit-and-run Lynch, at home no less. In pure disappointing fashion, they lose to the Chargers in San Diego to wrap the season, but they sit at 10-6, poised for the playoffs, and maybe even a division title.

How, though, (you want to ask) House of Georges, scribes, will we know if they are actually poised for the playoffs, and possible winners of a division title? Well, my friends, those are pricey questions; they cost time. And so, you must tune in each of the following three Tuesdays for the awaited sequels to this post, and see, once and for all, who wins this fierce battle (Editor's Note: If you're strapped for time, just tune in in three weeks when we get to the Chargers. Yeah. Alphabetical. That's how we roll. Sometimes.)