Josh McDaniels Wants It, but Can the Broncos Get It?

MINNEAPOLIS -- Young NFL quarterbacks have a knack for flashing and mixing miserable moments with radiant ones. The crowd here on Thursday night in the Metrodome absorbed this feast-famine fare.

For Broncos rookie Tim Tebow, it was a fumbled first snap returned 35 yards for a touchdown, followed by a handful of fancy throws, including a 39-yard scoring strike. For Vikings rookie Joe Webb, it was a lazy, lingering out pass that was picked and returned 51 yards with Webb making the touchdown-saving tackle at the Minnesota six. But Webb also made a stunning 41-yard scramble and completed a 63-yard bomb.

The Vikings and the Broncos finished their preseason thankful that both open real play next week with experienced quarterbacks. Brett Favre begins his 20th season. Kyle Orton begins his sixth.

And Orton has the tougher job.

There is little question about this -- though Favre improvises and colors the Vikings offense in a manner that reflects his personality and stature, Orton will do what he is told by Broncos coach Josh McDaniels (pictured right). To the final detail.

When McDaniels designs a play, when he calls that play, it has a purpose that he wants fulfilled. McDaniels wants the ball in a certain player's hands, in a certain part of the field, in a certain way and at a certain time. Get it there and get it done.

Orton gets it.

"Oh yeah, that's my job," Orton said. "That's the way I am looking to play. And I know more now what he wants. I have a feel before the play comes in now, what it will be and where he wants to go. That's a good feeling. That's something that takes time. He is very specific in what he wants."

And McDaniels has Orton (below right) and then backups Brady Quinn and Tebow to get what he wants.

This is why he was brought to Denver before the 2009 season and this is what he is expected to deliver -- an exacting and detailed approach that brings success.

He wants a team that is systematic in its work and that mixes energy and enthusiasm in each step. He's got the juice to get his team there -- quarterback Jay Cutler was shipped out before the 2009 season and receiver Brandon Marshall was booted before this season. It is going to be McDaniels' way, his philosophy, his teaching. This second edition of the Broncos is more in his image.

But does he have enough to get this team to finish?

That's the point. And the answer is, unless the Broncos can play error-free ball and produce plentiful turnovers, this is another year of building for McDaniels.

Last season the Broncos were 6-0. McDaniels even beat his mentor, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots en route to that quick start. But the Denver finish was four straight losses, two straight victories and then four straight losses. That meant an 8-8 record and no playoffs.

It made people wonder if McDaniels was more sizzle than solid.

Actually, growing pains are natural in new NFL leadership -- regardless if they come early or late. This second season, the Broncos say that they are thinking less and are more ready to pounce. They understand his systems better, his coaching style, his demands, his persistent detail much better.

"We've worked them pretty hard," McDaniels said. "They have responded. Now we'll see what that gets us."

Denver opens at Jacksonville and then comes home to play Seattle and Indianapolis. Then it plays at Tennessee and at Baltimore before returning home to play the Jets.

That is a six-game start that will be defining.

Their four-game season finish -- at Arizona, at Oakland, then Houston and San Diego at home -- does not appear as daunting. But when you have experienced what the Broncos have in each of the last two seasons, sleepwalking and melting through December swoons, the end result is a thought. You're thinking about the end even when you start.

No doubt, McDaniels does not want that. He wants his team moving from play to play and from practice to practice and from game to game, building something lasting along the way. There is clarity in the way he coaches, but also an expectation that does not appear to match the depth and resources of his roster.

"I think it's up to us to prove to people what we have and what we can do," receiver Jabar Gaffney said. "I don't think we're in a waiting mode at all here. It's about performing."

And making the details dictate.