FanHouse Bob Slowik

If you watched the Chargers - Broncos game last night, you know that San Diego was mildly warm on offense. They scored 52 points, the game was never really close, and LaDanian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles and Jacob Hester all ran roughshod over the Denver defense. Additionally, Philip Rivers was his season-long MVP candidate self as the Chargers rumbled to an AFC West division title.

Add in the fact that the Broncos lost to Oakland and Buffalo to close out the season (and by losing they, naturally, gave up some unnecessary points) and you would think that Mike Shanahan would be fed up with defensive coordinator Bob Slowik. Oddly, he's not.

Asked directly after the game whether Bob Slowik will return, Mike Shanahan indicated there would not be a change.

That vote of confidence came despite his team allowing the most points in a game since Oct. 31, 1988, and the seventh most in franchise history.

"I'm definitely happy with him as coordinator," linebacker Jamie Winborn said. "We played like (dirt). We didn't play to win. You play a good team like that, and that's what's going to happen. They came out fiery and took advantage of their opportunities."

It's nice that he has the full support of his players and all, but that doesn't really excuse giving up 374 yards per game (and 6.1 per play from scrimmage). Nor does it excuse sitting in first place in the AFC West for an entire season, only to choke away the division title at the end of the year because your defense coughed up an insane 112 points over the final three games of the season. Not saying Shanny has to can Slowik, but throwing out a vote of confidence after that little run seems a bit shortsighted.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

How far do the Denver Broncos have to go to return to the playoffs? Their team was ravaged by injuries en route to a 7-9 record this season. A healthy team could have easily won another couple of games and found itself battling for a wild card. A more pessimistic view might point out that they got old in several spots because they haven't built well through the draft. That would indicate there's a longer road back to success. Either way, the good news is that, in Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Elvis Dumervil, they've got building blocks for 2008 and beyond. Here's where they need the most immediate help.

1. Defensive Stability – Jim Bates was hired as defensive coordinator and immediately installed a scheme predicated on big defensive tackles. It was a total flop. Sam Adams and Amon Gordon couldn't occupy blockers, leaving the middle of the field open to all comers. They overhauled the line during the season, but found no better results and that led to Bates's firing. New coordinator Bob Slowik must establish a strategy and stick to it if the team is to improve defensively. Be they big DTs or athletic ones, the team can't afford to veer wildly in such a short amount of time.

Well, Shanhan's already been busy this off-season. Following up on the earlier story about the firing of Larry Coyer, yesterday Shanahan also fired defensive line coach Andre Patterson, which I also think is a good move. The line was far in a way the weakest link in the Broncos defense. They were never able to rush four and get any pressure at all on quarterbacks, and Coyer was too predictable and wouldn't call a blitz to make up for it.

Mike Shanahan's new people have now moved in. Taking over as defensive coordinator is defensive back's coach Bob Slowik. I don't know a lot about Slowik, but I think promoting the person who runs one of the best parts of the defensive is, inherently, a pretty solid idea. However, Shanahan also brought in Jim Bates, a 14-year coach in the NFL, to be assistant coach of the defense, and word on the street is that he'll have most of the defensive control, just like Mike Heimerdinger, the assistant coach of the offense, has more control of the offense than the current offensive coordinator.

I don't honestly know a ton about Bates. He was the interim head coach during the 2004 Miami debacle, but his most recent stint was as Green Bay's defensive coordinator. Of course, it's hard to know how much his season at the Pack reflects how good he is, because that team's great defensive tradition has fallen on hard times recently. But what we do know is that Shanahan has been connected to Bates for some time. Bates' son works as an assistant for the Broncos, so it's plausible at least to think that Shanahan has been targeting him since earlier this year when the defense started its collapse.

The one thing I want address about this is that while I agree with the defensive shakeup in general, I don't think that's where the work needs to end. Larry Coyer and Andre Patterson weren't solely responsible for the lack of defense late in the season. I think Shanny's Cleveland experiment has failed. The Broncos need some new personnel on the offensive line, and Shanahan shouldn't stop overhauling the defense until we have the players and the coaches that can put the Broncos in a position to be successful rushing the quarterback.