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Denver » Pat Bowlen wasn't smiling. No reason for that after his Broncos just topped off a 6-0 start with a devastating 2-8 finish.
But Bowlen walked away from his 25th year as the Broncos' owner with his usual quiet dignity. Bowlen knew his young coach, Josh McDaniels, made a difficult decision this week when he decided to bench two of his best offensive players in Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler with the playoffs potentially at stake.
"Unfortunately we lost this game, but I have no problems with the coach,'' Bowlen said as he left the home locker room at Invesco Field following his team's 44-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. "He's my coach.''
McDaniels just finished his first season as the Broncos' head coach with an 8-8 record. Kyle Orton just finished his first season as the Broncos' quarterback with a career-high 3,802 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, but also three interceptions in the final regular-season game.
As he walked to his car Sunday night, Bowlen stopped long enough to endorse McDaniels as his coach for the foreseeable future.
"I certainly can do a better job of what I do and I'm not going to go into detail about this, that and the other,'' McDaniels said. "I'm looking forward to getting better in the offseason at what I do. And trying to improve our team in every way that I can."
One way, McDaniels said, is to help Orton become a better quarterback.
"This was his first season and he'll get better,'' McDaniels said. "Part of my job is to help him get better by coaching him up.''
Although Orton's contract has now expired, he said he expects to sign a new deal with the Broncos. "I think something's going to be worked out,'' he said.