Different personnel... Patriots had more talent at RB (especially pass-catching RB's) and O-line back then, while Wade had more talent at LB this time around. But the fundamental game-plans remained the same... which was a mistake on the Patriots part, as it was clear they would need to give Brady more help with protection instead of running 5 wide almost every snap.
And he did it in a variety of ways, too: draft (in a lot of different rounds), trades, free agents (undrafted free agents)... Thinking about it... I wonder if maybe Elway saw the writing on the wall: Manning's career is nearing the end, they'll have to rebuild and Kubiak - while not, on the surface, an appreciably better coach than Fox - has shown an incredible knack for finding/developing offensive talent.
Kubiak's fatal flaw was loyalty. Not only did he not hire an experienced DC, he never did. He had every opportunity to replace Bush after realizing he wasn't getting it done; loyalty. He completely dismissed Manning; loyalty to Schaub. Kubiak's loyalty toward Smith was so strong, it rubbed off on McNair
John Fox made that team. I give Kubiak credit for not making mistakes and messing things up. But John Fox and Elway made that roster for the Broncos, which is a great roster and better than what Kubiak had with the Texans in 2006 through 2013.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2015 Assistant Coach Of The Year: <a href="https://twitter.com/Broncos">@Broncos</a> DC <a href="https://twitter.com/sonofbum">@sonofbum</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFLHonors?src=hash">#NFLHonors</a> <a href="https://t.co/dUK7YajJ06">pic.twitter.com/dUK7YajJ06</a></p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696151109111521280">February 7, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After all the shiz that Kubiak and Wade went through here, and so many people here calling for their heads, I'm so glad they get a ring.
That and people calling for their heads. I mean look at that thread. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=247909 People cheering for someone getting fired. The boos at Reliant Stadium. The classy exit when he took out a page in the ad in the Houston Chronicle. I felt bad for Kubiak. He's from Houston, and this is a cool thing to see.
Happy fold them, but Kubiak is an average coach. There's no world where he's not. He landed in the perfect spot form him. Super dominant defense. Grind it out offense with QB that is top 2 all time but isn't near that anymore BUT managed game to perfection. His saving grace as a head coach was finally stepping up and getting a aware as a d coordinator. Again glad for him but also shows why it didn't matter if he stayed the coach here or not.
Wade Phillips and the Denver defense deserve my respect and most people were very happy with Wade Phillips as a defensive coordinator. Kubiak is still a mediocre coach.
