Josh McDaniels is Not Stupid

Back in March, I took the internet by storm with an article entitled "Josh McDaniels is Stupid." After all, Josh McDaniels had attempted to trade Jay Cutler, one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL for the New England Patriots backup. When that didn't work out, McDaniels traded Cutler for a quarterback who absolutely defines mediocre, and already had the hometown fans calling for his job. While that was definitely stupid, Josh McDaniels is not.



I have never been more certain that an NFL team would fail than I was about the Denver Broncos this season. I thought they would go 0-16 and make the Detroit Lions look like the All-Madden team. A contract dispute and suspension of star reciever Brandon Marshall in August only confirmed what I knew would happen. I would have wagered everything I own that the Broncos would have a miserable season. The two problems with that were that I own nothing of monetary value, and nobody would be gullible enough to take the bet.



Week 1 came around, and the Broncos beat the Cincinatti Bengals on a fluke pass play with time running out. Upon watching this play, I was sure that the Broncos would go 1-15. Not because they almost lost 6-0 to the Bengals, but because of what I saw on the sideline. When Denver won, McDaniels threw his hands up in the air while members of the team patted him on the back and said "Good job, coach". Not only did he seem totally shocked his team won a game, but he looked exactly like that kid from the movie Little Big League. I could picture the movie in my head. It freezes at that part and the voice-over comes on:



Well, I made it. I knew I was really an NFL coach. Sure, maybe we didn't win too many games that year, but we sure had a lot of fun. And sometimes, thats what really counts.



Roll credits.



STARRING



Josh McDaniels - Little Big League kid



Brandon Marshall - Chris "Ludacris" Bridges



Brandon Stokely - Val Kilmer



Weeks 2 and 3 the Broncos dominated two perpetually awful teams in the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. This would not be worth mentioning save for the simple fact that most people expected them to be equally bad, if not worse than both of those teams. Not only that, they beat up on both teams the way good NFL teams do.



Week 4 the Broncos pulled out a nailbiter against the always overrated Dallas Cowboys. Formerly disgruntled Brandon "Baby T.O." Marshall caught the game winning catch and ran 51 yards for the game-winning touchdown. His nickname is now Adult T.O.



Tomorrow will be the do or die game for Denver. McDaniels former teacher and fashion consultant Bill Belichick will bring the Patriots to Denver in hopes of sending his former pupil spiraling back to Earth. This is make or break for Denver. Win, and the Broncos will be known as a legitimate contender. Lose, and they endure another week of countless idiots calling them the "worst 4-1 team ever".

Don't get me wrong, Denver's not going to win games against elite defenses. The reason is simple: Jay Cutler is not their quarterback. If he was, they would most likely be the best team in the AFC, if not the NFL right now. Despite the poor decision, McDaniels has done a good job of managing the team. Most importantly, the players love playing for him and gets his team to consistently compete at a high level. He's not the best coach ever, but he's definitely not stupid.

So, Josh, you made a mistake. You thought for sure things would happen one way, and they didn't. Don't worry, buddy, it happens to the best of us.