A blessing in disguise

by macklure on Sep 12, 2011 3:21 PM MDT

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August 4, 2010, Elvis Dumervil suffers a torn pectoral muscle during practice. I was bumped, yet still confident we could have a good season. He was just a player afterall. What impact can one player have? For the same reason, I was making fun of my colleague...a Bears fan...beurk! All the Bears did in the off-season that year was to pick up one player: Julius Peppers. They had no first round draft pick. No second round either. We, on the other hand, had two first picks! So when he and I were discussing our teams, I had no problem betting (a meal at the restaurant of the winner’s choice) the Broncos would have a better record then the Bears. Yes, we had lost Dumervil and it was going to have an impact, but how much could one player change the game?

Well, you know what happened. I lost my bet by week 12. What a shame. What had happened? After starting 6-0 in 2009, we were 6-20 since. Meanwhile, the Bears, with Peppers, would end up 11-5 and 1st in the NFL North. Then I realized how much one player can impact his team. I found the definition of an impact player in Julius Peppers.

So I looked back at Dumervil and wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t been injured? I don’t expect we would have made the playoffs, but with 10-15 more sacks, finishing in the middle pack would have been likely. 8-8 like the previous years doesn’t seem unreasonable. But what would that have given us? Yes, it wouldn’t have been as depressing, but was it a bad thing? Finishing 4-12 meant we got the second draft pick overall. With the arrival of Von Miller to join the ranks of Doom and Champ, I am more psych about watching our defence than our offence. Was Dumervil a blessing in disguise? Time will tell, but I feel like it is.

PS: Don’t take my wrong, our D is not perfect, but I know that tonight, when I watch them play, we will be treated with spectacular plays. I just hope they are mostly in our favor. Ironically, the better your defence is, the less you get to see them play.

Enjoy the games folks and GOOOOOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

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I see your point....I'm hoping...

This is NFL version of what happened when David Robinson got hurt and San Antonio had that terrible season then landed Tim Duncan in the draft the next year.

by Triz06 on Sep 12, 2011 3:35 PM MDT reply actions

And Manning's injury could give the Colts Andrew Luck...

by macklure on Sep 12, 2011 3:44 PM MDT up reply actions

Agree

by si_ice on Sep 12, 2011 4:47 PM MDT up reply actions

What if?

At 8-8 we would probably have been treated to another year of McDaniels – and yet another year of going nowhere fast. Sooner or later it would have all crashed any way. No way all of Josh’s brain power was ever going to replace good old fashioned tackling.

by Flunkie on Sep 12, 2011 4:36 PM MDT reply actions

It may just be a double blessing then

by macklure on Sep 12, 2011 9:11 PM MDT up reply actions

If Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller can translate into 3 dimension plays we will be a whole lot better...

Pass rush, run stopper and pass coverage…

by bfree2bronc on Sep 12, 2011 5:20 PM MDT reply actions

Doom

Surprised me on how great he improved on running defense…

I bleed Orange & Blue.

by Fabio Broncos on Sep 12, 2011 6:22 PM MDT up reply actions

Literally the day before McD was fired...

I bet my 49er fan friend that “next year the broncos would have a better year than the niners”. The loser would have to pay for all you can eat sushi and all you can drink alcohol. The next day McD was fired but I refused to let that back me down from the bet. I’ll let ya know what the tab ends up being. GO BRONCOS!!!

The glass is usually twice as big as it needs to be.

by BaldMatt on Sep 12, 2011 6:42 PM MDT via mobile reply actions