Tweet
Yeah, I put an exclamation point at the end of the title! Because we're cursed, I tell you! Cursed!
Okay, that's a little dramatic. But, there is at least a little history behind it.
In the Broncos 44-year history, they (we, damn you!) have started 6-0 six times. They've made it to 7-0 only once.
The first time it happened was the first Broncos season I can remember. Game 7 in 1977 was against the hated Oakland Raiders. We had beaten them in week five, in the "It's all over, fat man" game. The final in that game was Broncos 30, Raiders 7 - a score I would remember throughout my childhood. It was a score that has always been sort of sacred to me. Week seven rolls around, and we lose, 24-14.
The next time it happened was 1986. The team had cruised through the first six games with relative ease. But those six wins had come against mostly weak competition. When game 7 came around, I couldn't stop thinking about how we had lost during the same week almost ten years earlier. I just knew it would turn out the same. We lost, 22-10.
Next was 1997. This was the one I had totally forgotten (credit spdirty). This season had been highly anticipated, after the previous season ended with arguably the most painful loss in Broncos history. They came out of the gate with a chip on their shoulder. The closest game among the first six was an eight-point win at the young and talented Falcons. Then came game seven against the lowly Raiders (finished 4-12 that year). I, of course, remembered the team's history in week sevens. The Raiders had been 2-4; but their losses had been mostly close, and heartbreaking. Still, seven weeks in (six games, plus a bye week), they were already out of the division race. If the Broncos lost here, it would cement this as being more than an anomaly. It would be a full-blown curse! Jeff George threw for 96 yards (Jeff George! 96 freaking yards!). Final score: Raiders 28, Broncos 25. We need a priest, stat!
Next came 1998. This time, it's the hated Jacksonville Jaguars. They were 5-1, and had just lost for the first time the week before. I heald my breath, thinking more than I should about the first three times we had been in this position. I had a bad feeling about it - was almost positive it would happen again. But alas, that Broncos team was too good for curses, and they won, 37-24. The curse was broken, and we won sis more in a row before we lost.
Then came 2009. Holy crap! This Josh McDaniels kid is magic! He can't do anything wrong! He's going to be the coach in this town for the next fifteen years! Sure, he sweats and stutters a lot at press conferences. Bill Belichick's press conferences are just as awkward, and he's won, like, seventeen Super Bowls! So, we're 6-0, and I think to myself, "Self, the 6-0 curse you imagined as a kid was silly! We broke that sucker in '98! I don't care if we are playing at the Ravens, who always seem to have our number. We're a different team now!" The result? Ravens 30, Broncos 7. Ironically - perhaps mockingly - it shares the score with the most sacred game of my childhood. I have no doubt that the curse is reborn. Only now, it's covered with a thin, fetid coating of Josh McDaniels!
But did the curse ever actually die? Or was it just stunned into submission by the brilliance of that 1998 team?
So, here we are - 2013. We're 6-0. Game seven looks to be the most difficult one of the season, to this point. We're 1-4 in Game 7s, after starting 6-0. In those previous four 6-0 starts, we are 30-0 through six weeks. In week seven, we have a .200 winning percentage.
So, what say ye? Does the curse continue?
Okay, that's a little dramatic. But, there is at least a little history behind it.
In the Broncos 44-year history, they (we, damn you!) have started 6-0 six times. They've made it to 7-0 only once.
The first time it happened was the first Broncos season I can remember. Game 7 in 1977 was against the hated Oakland Raiders. We had beaten them in week five, in the "It's all over, fat man" game. The final in that game was Broncos 30, Raiders 7 - a score I would remember throughout my childhood. It was a score that has always been sort of sacred to me. Week seven rolls around, and we lose, 24-14.
The next time it happened was 1986. The team had cruised through the first six games with relative ease. But those six wins had come against mostly weak competition. When game 7 came around, I couldn't stop thinking about how we had lost during the same week almost ten years earlier. I just knew it would turn out the same. We lost, 22-10.
Next was 1997. This was the one I had totally forgotten (credit spdirty). This season had been highly anticipated, after the previous season ended with arguably the most painful loss in Broncos history. They came out of the gate with a chip on their shoulder. The closest game among the first six was an eight-point win at the young and talented Falcons. Then came game seven against the lowly Raiders (finished 4-12 that year). I, of course, remembered the team's history in week sevens. The Raiders had been 2-4; but their losses had been mostly close, and heartbreaking. Still, seven weeks in (six games, plus a bye week), they were already out of the division race. If the Broncos lost here, it would cement this as being more than an anomaly. It would be a full-blown curse! Jeff George threw for 96 yards (Jeff George! 96 freaking yards!). Final score: Raiders 28, Broncos 25. We need a priest, stat!
Next came 1998. This time, it's the hated Jacksonville Jaguars. They were 5-1, and had just lost for the first time the week before. I heald my breath, thinking more than I should about the first three times we had been in this position. I had a bad feeling about it - was almost positive it would happen again. But alas, that Broncos team was too good for curses, and they won, 37-24. The curse was broken, and we won sis more in a row before we lost.
Then came 2009. Holy crap! This Josh McDaniels kid is magic! He can't do anything wrong! He's going to be the coach in this town for the next fifteen years! Sure, he sweats and stutters a lot at press conferences. Bill Belichick's press conferences are just as awkward, and he's won, like, seventeen Super Bowls! So, we're 6-0, and I think to myself, "Self, the 6-0 curse you imagined as a kid was silly! We broke that sucker in '98! I don't care if we are playing at the Ravens, who always seem to have our number. We're a different team now!" The result? Ravens 30, Broncos 7. Ironically - perhaps mockingly - it shares the score with the most sacred game of my childhood. I have no doubt that the curse is reborn. Only now, it's covered with a thin, fetid coating of Josh McDaniels!
But did the curse ever actually die? Or was it just stunned into submission by the brilliance of that 1998 team?
So, here we are - 2013. We're 6-0. Game seven looks to be the most difficult one of the season, to this point. We're 1-4 in Game 7s, after starting 6-0. In those previous four 6-0 starts, we are 30-0 through six weeks. In week seven, we have a .200 winning percentage.
So, what say ye? Does the curse continue?
Comment