Aqib Talib believes champion Broncos don’t get enough respect
Yes, Aqib Talib, the Denver Broncos had a fantastic defense last season, one of the best ever.
But in case you haven’t been looking around since you returned to Dove Valley for the start of offseason workouts, let us remind you that Super Bowl MVP Von Miller is currently living the Los Angeles life on “Dancing with the Stars”, is staying away from the team facility due to his contract status, and may continue to stay away into training camp; two other defensive starters, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, signed free-agent deals elsewhere, and, oh yeah, Mark Freaking Sanchez is currently your starting quarterback.
So yes, Talib, some folks in the media and elsewhere might have a little bit of concern when it comes to your team in the 2016 season.
“We still have conversations about our respect level. We still don’t feel like it’s there. I don’t know why. You all do all the writing and all the talking, and there a lot of questions, stuff about our performance,” Talib said this week. “We still have a chip. We are going to make it a period instead of a question mark.”
All well and good. It’s perfectly natural to want to remain atop the mountain once you’ve reached its peak. But repeating as NFL champion isn’t easy; no team has done it since the 2003-04 New England Patriots, as free agency has meant teams change, sometimes dramatically, from one season to the next.
It’s entirely possible for teams to win the Super Bowl with a fantastic defense and game-manager quarterback. Heck, the Broncos just did it with Peyton Manning. But Manning is retired, Brock Osweiler followed the Brinks truck to Houston, Colin Kaepernick is (rightfully) refusing to take a massive pay cut to leave San Francisco, and Sanchez, well he isn’t exactly a game manager.
If you’re going to ride your defense and go with that type of quarterback, by definition he won’t be making spectacular plays, but he also, and more importantly, won’t be making back-breaking mistakes either. During his two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Sanchez made 13 appearances (10 starts), and had 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Not exactly the ratio you’re looking for.
