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Troy Renck: A day later, hearts stay in throats, fists stay in a ball. The frustration and disappointment with the Nuggets’ season-ending defeat is palpable. There isn’t any disgrace in dropping to a workforce as gifted because the Minnesota Timberwolves. However the Nuggets didn’t lose. They choked. No NBA workforce over the past 25 years has ever squandered a 20-point lead in a Sport 7. Worse, the Nuggets have been at dwelling, the place they’ve been dominant the previous two seasons. It’s laborious to think about a extra crushing defeat. Perhaps the 2012 Broncos falling to the Ravens and Joe “Cool” Flacco? Or Denver collapsing at dwelling to the enlargement Jacksonville Jaguars within the divisional spherical in 1996? So, with feelings nonetheless uncooked, I ask the query: Was Sunday evening essentially the most crushing loss in Colorado professional sports activities historical past?
Sean Keeler: Joe Flacco! Mark Brunell! Too quickly, my man. Too quickly. The Broncos are woven so deeply into this city’s soul, these wounds lower deeper. At all times will. However Sunday evening? Sunday evening was epic. In all of the mistaken methods. The ’96-97 Broncos by no means had a second-half lead towards the Jags. The ’12-13 Broncos, who scored at will, by no means led by 20 versus the Ravens. (Or, in reality, by double-digits.) Broncos playoff losses will all the time damage longer. However a Sport 7 that performs out like that? Oh, it hurts extra. Brother, it burns.
Renck: Recency bias makes it laborious to not argue the Nuggets’ loss is the worst. If Denver will get any offensive contribution from Aaron Gordon or Michael Porter Jr., they win. However for me, the 1996 Broncos’ playoff collapse was extra crushing. That workforce was loaded and internet hosting a Jaguars workforce in its second yr. Jacksonville owned a 9-7 document and was 1-7 on the street throughout the common season. This was presupposed to be the season John Elway received his first ring. Inexplicably, Mark Brunell outplayed him, erasing a 12-point deficit whereas shredding the Broncos protection.
Keeler: There’s a circle of Hades for Broncos Nation during which Jimmy Smith’s landing runs on a steady loop, the group gasping as DB Tory James stretches, then flails ultimately zone at a near-perfect strike from Brunell on the fade. No person needs to go there. No person ever ought to. However Anthony Edwards stealing the ball from Jamal Murray at half-court on the finish of the third quarter of Sport 7, then beating everyone downhill for the two-handed slam, feels destined for a circle of its personal now.
Renck: The 2012 Broncos loss stays contemporary 12 years later due to the ending. Whereas the Jaguars dominated Denver for 3 quarters, the Broncos have been in management vs. Baltimore. All they needed to do was not hand over a Hail Mary. As an alternative, they didn’t bump receiver Jacoby Jones on the line of scrimmage and he raced by the protection as security Rahim Moore misjudged Flacco’s bomb like a child dropping at Three Flies Up within the yard. Seen objectively, it was must-see TV, a observe meet disguised as a soccer sport. However there’s no denying it ruined Peyton Manning’s historic season, made worse by taking a knee in regulation and dropping in time beyond regulation.
Keeler: Within the phrases of Matt “Guitar” Murphy from the “Blues Brothers” film, they’re all fairly dangerous. In response to Pro-Football-Reference.com, there’s a cause that Jags upset nonetheless lingers. The Broncos have been a 12.5-point favourite, and Jacksonville hadn’t scored greater than 25 factors on the street all season — till the playoffs. The Nuggs have been five-point faves going into Sport 7. So even when Sunday evening isn’t Denver’s No. 1, it’ll in all probability keep lodged among the many metro’s high 5 wounds ceaselessly.
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