Broncos vs. Patriots The Rivalry

     In the very first game of the American Football League(AFL) on September 9 1960, the Denver Broncos played the Boston Patriots.  The two original AFL franchises faced off, and in Boston, the Broncos beat the Patriots 13-10.  I have heard from Patriots fans, that they never thought of the Broncos as a rival, they think of the Dolphins, Jets, and Colts as more of rival than the Broncos.  Maybe that's because the Broncos beat that ass into a 25-18 record overall, including a 13 year win streak over New England, where John Elway never lost(11-0).  Patriots fans don't really seem to understand why the Broncos hate them so much, and in defense of their team, respectfully, hate the Broncos in return.  Well the Broncos never saw the Patriots as a rival for a long time either.  It took longer for New England to become a consistently good team, year in and year out.  So we are going to take a look here and we'll see that this is becoming one of the good AFC conference rivalries.
     These two franchises are powerhouses in the AFC, for sure.  The Broncos have won 6 AFC championships, and 2 Super Bowls.  The Patriots have won 7 AFC championships, and won 3 Super Bowls.  The Denver Broncos have John Elway, THE Bronco, and the Patriots have Tom Brady.  Both men are synonymous as the fac9es of their franchises for all eternity.  Both men are the only QB's to take their team to 5 Super Bowls.  Both teams have had Hall of Fame head coaches, Mike Shanahan in Denver, and Bill Belichick in New England.  But let's see where this rivalry began to sort of come into fruition.
     I honestly think it was the game in 1995, where the Broncos blew the Patriots out of the water, and Shannon Sharpe got on the phone to call the president and asked him to send in reinforcements.
 
     It was a 34-8 Broncos victory, and both teams went on to be the AFC champions in the next 3 years. the Pats losing to Green Bay, and the Broncos winning back to back Super Bowls.  But this was before Tom Brady and the "Hoodie" (Bill Belichick), arrived in Boston.  Bill Parcells was the coach for New England, and he had a big hand in turning that franchise around.  Him and Robert Kraft purchasing the team.
      Now, rivalries begin usually in division, or in the playoffs.  The Broncos have the Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers, and the Pats have the Jets, Dolphins and Bills for division rivals.  They have only played each other 3 times in the playoffs, Broncos winning twice, in 1987 and 2006.  So you wonder, how did this rivalry come about?!
     Tom Brady was 10-0 in the playoffs, and had 3 Super Bowl rings before he played Denver in 2006.  Since that loss, he has lost 2 Super Bowls, and a perfect record.  Belichick was 1-7 vs the Broncos all time.  Were these reasons to start a rivalry?
     Nope!
     This man here!
     Josh McDaniels
.
     His name alone is insulting to all Broncos fans.  The Broncos had the worst season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.  McD was the offensive coordinator for the Pats in 2007 when they broke all sorts of records, and was supposed to bring that awesome high scoring electric offense to Denver.
     Yep, that, uh, never happened.
     Days after arrival in Denver, he began to shop Jay Cutler, the franchise QB who was signed to a 5 year contract, on the trade market.
     Why?
     Scoring was not the problem. The Broncos were abysmal on defense.  So Cutler got pissed off and was traded to Chicago for Kyle Orton, and a first round draft pick.
     And we all know what happened after that.  I will say though, if it weren't for McD, the Broncos would not have Peyton Manning, or Von Miller, so there's some light for your darkness.  But also getting caught in London spying on the 49ers was a black eye for Denver, and this was when Spygate was fresh in the headlines.  McD, traded up two rounds to draft Tebow in the first, traded our best offensive threat in Brandon Marshall, and traded off our starting running back, Peyton Hillis.  He made so many bad decisions for Denver, it's almost as if he did it  on purpose.
     Which, I think he did.  He is from Cleveland, and is on the record saying he grew up hating Denver.  The Broncos crushed the Browns every year in the 1980's, no wonder.  Why would you interview for a job at a company you fucking despise?  That just makes no sense at all.  He had a personal vendetta and he settled it.  Did he throw away his career?!  No.  He is young enough that he could interview for another head coaching job in a few years, but it will be hard as hell for him given his shady history.
     Josh McDaniels came from New England, got fired twice, and is now back in New England, and this is a big reason why Broncos fans cannot stand the Patriots.  He represents New England in the eyes of Broncos fans.  So, if the Patriots don't see this as a rivalry, well then fuck 'em.  All the MORE reason to want to beat them.  This is just more of two big franchises in two big sports cities, going head to head and there are reasons to wanna have success against each other.  It's not that big, yet, but it is interesting especially when you dig a little into reasons why so many fans around the world hate the Patriots.
     I don't even really have much respect for New England especially after Spygate, and them being proven cheaters, but throw Josh McDaniels into the mix and you get the feeling in your stomach that makes you cry on the toilet wishing it will all be over soon.  He ran the Broncos into the ground and that's just fact.  So that''s just how I and many other Broncos fans see it.