Post-Devastation: How have you decompressed? What do you feel?

[captainbronco]

i felt terrible during the whole game i was watching the game at my cousins house and my whole family were draped in Orange and Blue
as the game came to a close i went through the stages of of "how do i live on with my life" to "i accept what has happened" kinda like the stages one goes through before death
overall i am proud of this team and proud to be a Bronco fan

sucks we lost but i couldnt root for any other team ive put too much time and passion into this team to just jump ship maybe i havent been a fan as long as some of you older gentlemen but i was watching the post Elway days to the plummer left handed throwing days to the mediocre cutler days to the tebow/orton days to now ill be here if the Broncos are 3-13 or 13-3 i love my team

[ERoyal248]

Over it, given the key injuries (5 defensive starters, All-Pro LT), they did all they could do.

Injuries caught up to them vs a better team.

[dizzolve]

I stopped watching in the 3rd Quarter which is disgusting. I never leave a game early. That's how out of it the Broncos were. I couldn't be more embarrassed for a team - and unfortunately for me it's my team.

I stopped watching in the 3rd Quarter and haven't watched any sports news till today. And a sample the other day. Get away. The fact that I'm here now disgusts me.

I have a Dallas fan where I work. He had the audacity to text me during the game with jabs and uppercuts. The nerve of some people. I don't know about you guys - but he crossed the line - only GREAT friends or family should be allowed to ruffle feathers. Thank god it was text because if in person - I dunno what would happen.

So yea, don't be a sore loser - give the opponent their props - shrug it off and KNOW that it's not your fault - it's the Broncos fault

time is the best medicine

by the draft I will be ready to root my team on again

[BroncoManiac_69]

For me?

The excitement of actually being in the Super Bowl was so thrilling and a long time coming. 15 years of waiting just to get there took me over. Made me so excited and had me in la-la land for two weeks.

Did I expect more than we got? Sure

Did I expect us to win it? Sure

But I also was ready for a loss. I was ready to be only 2nd this year because of the team we faced in Seattle. A team that was clearly dominant defensive wise and a team that seemed to be on their own destiny. The way we got beat was a bit hard to swallow, but overall...... I for one am still proud of this team and what it has accomplished over the past couple of years.

We pick up the pieces, we brush ourselves off and go at it again next year.

[broncoslover115]

Well , I thought I'd watch the Olympics - The Team Ice Skating and just like our game, the first guy for the USA team made so many blunders to start off it put the whole team in a big hole and it's sinking....

Yikes, can't seem to get away from bad starts and big blunders. Help!

[BroncoManiac_69]

Yikes, can't seem to get away from bad starts and big blunders. Help!

Watch some Gilligan Island reruns. Seems to help me! Escape disaster with humor.

[Monkeyknuckles]

My wish for our Broncos: I hope that the team,to a man,uses the Superbowl outcome to fuel them for what is to come next year. I hope they feed off the loss and turn it into something motivational. This doesn't have to be shared with fans..just shared between the players and coaches.

Right about now would also be a good time to let the Denver Broncos know that their fans still do and will always believe in them.

[Rockies3384]

Oh god I couldn't deal with it!...

As for me, no I haven't calmed down. I want John Fox fired more then I want to EAT right now. I hate that guy, actually REAL LIVE HATE!

I will flip my wig if/when he gets an extension.. Then I will burn some orange stuff and leave football until he gets fired... I hate his smug little soft style and personality, and I hate the little finesse soft teams we are with him.

I WANT JOHN FOX GONE more then anything in life right now! And its making me crazy because I know we probably are going to give him another year or even a extension!!!!

Take a chill pill bro.

[Rockies3384]

Who cares. We lost and life goes on. The Baltimore loss was worse. Once you admit that Seattle was the better team, you'll be able to move on from it. Sure we lost by A LOT, but it was going to take a miracle to beat them anyway.

If anyone listens to Sandy's show on 104.3 the fan, there is a guy from Prediction Machine (Paul Bessire) that went on there every week during the season. Paul said the whole season that from doing 50K simulations the most probable super bowl was Seattle and Denver, and the Seattle wins it 42% of the time vs Denver only 28% of the time.

http://www.predictionmachine.com/NFL...uper-Bowl-2014

Long story short... I hope you guys can move on quickly. It was a good season (not a great one), but we ran up against the better team. Time to refocus for next year.

[Rockies3384]

Here's some more proof for the rest of you...
http://www.predictionmachine.com/Gam...uper-Bowl-2014

The Broncos could have won if…

To reiterate, Seattle was always our projected winner and never less than 55% likely to win Super Bowl XLVIII. The Seahawks also spent more than 26 minutes (almost a half) of game time being 99% likely to win.

Late in the second quarter, trailing 15-0, Denver was in Seattle territory and desperate to score. Facing a 3rd and 13 from the Seahawks 35-yard line, Manning under pressure had his arm hit while throwing. The resulting duck flew into Malcolm Smith’s arms and the Super Bowl MVP returned the interception for a 69-yard pick-six.

That play gave Seattle a 22-0 lead and made the Seahawks 95% likely to win.

Had that pass been incomplete instead of intercepted, Denver most likely attempts a field goal on 4th down. A successful Matt Prater field goal makes it 15-3, the Broncos expected win probability would have been 13%.

Dream scenario for Broncos’ fans, Manning’s pass is not intercepted; instead his target, Knowshon Moreno, catches the ball and picks up enough yards to entice Head Coach John Fox to go for it on 4th down. Manning and the Broncos are able to convert and with a fresh set of downs they eventually score a touchdown to make it 15-7. Had this sequence of events occurred, Denver would still only have had a 23% chance of winning, not great considering the 14-point swing.

Coaching decision

After Malcolm Smith’s pick-six, Denver quickly moved the ball into Seattle territory. With a minute remaining in the half, the Broncos faced a 4th and 2 at the Seattle 19-yard line. Some might have expected Denver to kick the field goal but the difference between going into the half trailing 22-0 (3% likely to win) or 22-3 (4% likely to win) is just 1% in expected win probability. John Fox made the correct decision to go for it on 4th down. As Bill Barnwell said:

Trailing by more than three touchdowns it is no time to be conservative, unfortunately for Denver, the Broncos did not execute their 4th down play. Seattle went into half with a 97% chance of winning the game.

Had Denver converted the 4th down and then scored a touchdown before Bruno Mars’ halftime show, the Broncos would have had a 10% chance to win trailing 22-7.

Additional Game Notes

Denver made numerous mistakes: a safety, two interceptions, two fumbles, two turnovers on downs, and a kick return for a touchdown. Combined these errors resulted in a 30% swing in Denver’s expected win probability.

[broncogal4ever]

I know we have been talking about the post mortem: everything from our next moves to why we melted down like Three Mile Island and there has been some thoughts on how we are dealing with this crushing loss; but is anyone here actually residing in the PNW presently? What are your experiences like since Sunday? How are you dealing with it?

I am finding it hard because I live in Hawk country...and many of my friends are Hawk's fans...I have been gracious and congratulatory, but they still like to egg me on, insult the Broncos....I suppose on one level we deserve it...we laid a big egg.

The skin will get thicker, the wounds will heal to scars, but I am already hating having to live here in Hawk country and it's only 4 days removed. I may have to relocate to Denver. Kidding...maybe not.

It's going to be a lllllooooonngggg off-season and we better beat them come September! Go Broncs!

[Incomplete84]

Everyday I get up, check the latest football news in hopes to see someones head roll for this loss. I lost all hope in the third quarter and went to the gym. I was over it by the time the workout was done, I even chuckled knowing that I left more on the gym floor that our team did on the field.

The terrible thing for me is that I didn't sit back and enjoy the ride this season because of how we lost last season. This will probably only amplify my feelings for next season. Honestly, I would have rather lost a nail biter, because at least I could say we had a chance, at least we would have put up a fight. Instead we looked like that cow in the beginning of Jurassic Park. We were completely oblivious to what was about to happen and when it was over, there was nothing left to remember us by except that we tasted really good going down.

So I will continue to hope that a head rolls, even though I know it wont. And I will be optimistically excited about the rumor of new uniforms, the draft, and free agency. But if we lay an egg against the NFCW this year...well, they better pull a McDaniels and fire someone in the middle of the season because clearly nothing was learned!

[roushmartin6]

Right now i'm still depressed, I can't even get happy about free agency. We hit a home run in free agency last year and it didn't matter, now we will end up losing Knowshon and maybe even Decerk and DRC. Hard to think positive right now

[BroncosPWNn00bs]

Still makes me sick. Its hard to go to the SB, let alone win it. People think we can just get back next year and win it. Which, could happen. But it could also be another long 15+ years til we make it again or longer. Thats just disgusting. I really hope we can end it with a win next year, but I'm just sick at the way we played. I had NOTHING to cheer about the whole SB. The 1st time we scored, we were already down 36-0 Cant be too happy about that. But from being down 2-0, it just got worse. Hard to get excited about anything. Just another meaningless 16 games next year, until the playoffs. We'll see what happens.

[horsepower18]

I spent all of Sunday night and Monday reading this forum (exactly what I did when the Saints beat the Colts in the big game)...I was surprised how quickly I recovered this time. WHY? Because after that horrific performance, I know everyone in the Bronco's organization will do everything possible to right this ship. Yeah, WE all feel horrible; imagine how THEY all feel???? Counting down the days till next season, and GO BRONCOS!!!!!