SHANACANNED

Well, maybe we should just shut down now. He's fired. Fired! Mike Shanahan is gone, baby, gone after the Broncos embarrassed themselves, the city of Denver, and fans around the world by crapping the bed against the Chargers in a must-win situation they had several opportunities to avoid.

Now don't get all whiny on us and say "oh, who better can they get now, LPP?" Better than what? The glory days of Elway and Terrell were long behind Shanny. Long, long, long. Sure, he's had moderate success since then, and while it's notable in a league where perennial powerhouse like Oakland or Miami can hit the skids for years at a time, "moderate success" is not enough for fans with any sense of pride or hope. The ten-year rebuilding plan is over. Shanahan failed. And if the next coach isn't as successful, well guess what? At least ownership is TRYING instead of putting the entire franchise on Jay Cutler's shoulders and praying for Elway-esque miracles like Shanahan seemed to be doing this year.

Pat Bowlen finally sees what we've been seeing for almost 3 years. At best...BEST...Cutler might have been able to do what Elway did in the early days, dragging a team into the playoffs with little name-brand help. But one man can't win a Super Bowl by himself, and those old Broncos runners-up always had Dan Reeves' solid defenses to keep the score within Elway's range. Shanahan's defenses have ranged from solid in the good years to absolutely horrific in the lean years. And these recent years have been LEAN.

We respect that Shanny was able to ride coattails to back-to-back championships without getting in the powerhouse roster's way. We respect that he never let the Broncos turn into a complete 1-15 type of joke during his tenure. We even respect that he inserted and then stood by Jay Cutler as the #1 QB...even though he did it about six months sooner than he should have. But 1998 was a LONG time ago. The old dog's tricks aren't cutting it anymore. We don't feel sorry for Shanny. He can have a job tomorrow if he wanted, in Cleveland or Cincinnati or St. Louis or even a playoff pretender like Arizona or (yes, even) San Diego. And he will be paid millions for it. The Broncos may suck next year but let's face it, with or without Shanny, a Super Bowl wasn't in the cards as they were currently dealt. A fresh start is needed if only to prove that Pat Bowlen cares enough to try.

We'll have more on this later on after we've digested it. We'd also like to direct you here, because we know this guy's ecstatic.

Thanks for the memories, Mike Shanahan, even the bad ones. However, after reviewing your performance, we regret to inform you that your services are no longer required.

And we didn't even really get into how you should have...

LET PLUMMER PLAY!!!