There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time. –   Og Mandino

Many of my friends and even my wife asked me about my thoughts on the Bronco's loss to Baltimore.  And, they looked at me in disbelief when I told them that this was exactly what needed to happen to this team!! 

WHAT IN THE WORLD??

I explained very simply..........................

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If the Broncos are going to be able to win the tough games going down the stretch and into the playoffs, than they needed to "taste the bitterness" of defeat.  It is a hard lesson to learn from, and I believe that they will learn from this, as a team and improve in all areas: from Coaches to Players.

 Step back a few months to August, to Coach McDaniels quote at the end of the preseason............

"I've never been on a loser -- never," McDaniels said.  (August 2009)

 "I've never even been .500. Ever. I'm thinking all the way back to youth basketball. Never. I don't know what losing is like and I don't want to know what it is like. That's what I'm trying to teach here."

from the ESPN article by Bill Williamson HERE.

AND from Yesterday;  (DB.COM)

"I think anytime you have a game like this it forces you to look in the mirror and really tell yourself where you're at individually and as a football team. We've got eight days now to get ready for the Steelers, and those are going to be eight hard days, good days hopefully. We need to...

You can find out just as much about one another and your team and your staff through the adversity of a loss as you can through six wins. We're going to find out how we respond."  Josh McDaniels

WINNING IS THE ATTITUDE - Whatever the situation or the event.

IMO - This is why Josh McDaniels is a very special coach.  He truly understands that to "WIN" a season you have to learn from and overcome the adversity of losing a game or two.

The strength of the 2009 Denver Broncos is not over-the-top individual talent, it is the continual growth and development of an INCREDIBLE team. 

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 And losing - getting knocked down, again and again, and willing yourself to get up again and again because you are part of a team is the mark of a winner and a Champion.

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No matter what the record at the final whistle of the last game of the year:  I truly want this team to live up to these words.......

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"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-victorious." – Vince Lombardi

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GO BRONCOS!!!!