DeMarcus Ware says fans should expect the spectacular from the defense

Hey, did you guys hear we lost on Sunday and the world as we know it is over?

Well, of course it isn’t and, of course, you all know that (but when you listen to press conference questions, it’s difficult to fight the gloom and doom).

But get perspective, people. That’s what DeMarcus Ware says.

Actually, he said fans/media need a little more sunshine.

"Sometimes when you’re on ground and you’re looking at the sky and it’s cloudy all the time, maybe you need some sunlight in your life," Ware told the Afternoon Drive about naysayers after the loss to Kansas City.

So there. You tell ‘em, DeMarcus.

I know no one here is giving up (well except Scotty, but he’ll come around in six weeks - haha), and I know it sucks to be third in the AFC West and on the "outside looking in" if playoffs happened today.

But the playoffs don’t happen today, so I think we should all do as Ware says and get a little more sunshine in our lives and get our minds right for the next team up - the Jags (in fact, I think Gary Kubiak should do the same and get more "Sunshine" on the field too, but that’s a different post, I guess).

And Ware does not think it’s unfair for fans to expect the spectacular out of the defense. He believes the opposite actually - fans absolutely should expect that.

"I think every game you’ve got to expect that because that’s what we put on ourselves and we’ve got to play with that mentality every week," Ware said.

(*editor’s note: We should probably ask Ware to go talk to Kubiak about that "great strategy on offense" thing so the coach and his OC can figure fix that hot mess before the season is over, but at least the great defense is accurate).

Les Shapiro and Eric Goodman debated this idea about expecting the defense to be amazing and to bail out the offense every game.

Obviously we should understand that sometimes the defense can’t pull out the miracle, but I kinda like Ware’s thinking. Because when expectations are high, people generally perform better than they would have otherwise.

As fans we shouldn’t assume our defense will pull through, but I don’t think it’s so bad to expect them to make the big play. After all, it isn’t unrealistic with this defense.

Even Sunday night, the defense easily could have batted down a pass or two on the final drive - the 4th and 10, the touchdown, the two-point conversion - and I don’t think a single player or fan would have thought it was unusual. Awesome and unbelievable, yes. Unusual no.

So expecting this defense to get big plays is a good thing.

To those of you who grew up watching John Elway make comeback after comeback -remember how you felt every fourth quarter when the Broncos had to score a touchdown to win? Maybe you were nervous but never in doubt. In fact, you might have been more surprised when he didn’t succeed in a miraculous come-from-behind victory.

High performance = high expectations = higher performance = ...

Anyway, on to Jacksonville.

Bonus Listen:

Devontae Booker is looking forward to building off the positives from the game moving forward.

"Trevor played his butt off last night along with the rest of the team, and we just have to carry that into next weekend and try to get a W," Booker said. "We just need to go in and win. Plain and simple. Execute on all cylinders."