"To begin, I didn't think the defense was better than average. It was 20th in the league overall. If you remove Green Bay, Detroit and New England, it was about average, at best. It got exposed by the Patriots. The Broncos definitely need another cornerback, and those safeties have to grow up, and Joe Mays wasn't anything special. They still must draft a defensive tackle (and sign the two starters who are free agents), and they need some more speed at linebacker and in the secondary.

The loss this week of Dennis Allen hurts. The players loved him as a person and a coach, and they trusted him. If someone comes in from the outside, they start over again. That's why I recommend that Richard Smith be promoted. He only served with the Dolphins for one year as coordinator, and was fired in Houston after a couple of years under Gary Kubiak, but he did an excellent job this year, I thought, with the linebackers, especially in helping to develop Von Miller. He has worked with Fox, knows Allen's system and, truthfully, won't be a head coach candidate probably because of his age (56 next season) and because he has bounced around over the years."