Energized by the win and a revived defense under new coordinator Mike Nolan, the Broncos roared to a 6-0 start that included an overtime win over the Patriots in a game played in throwback uniforms for both teams to commemorate the 50th season of each club’s existence.

But at midseason, the Broncos began crumbling, losing four consecutive games by a combined 80 points. A two-game winning streak followed before the Broncos collapsed entirely in December, dropping four games, including narrow losses to Oakland (20-19) and Philadelphia (30-27). A 44-24 defeat to Kansas City in which Jamaal Charles trampled the defense left the Broncos in the same place they were a year before: 8-8 and out of the postseason.

Without Cutler’s howitzer right arm, the offense declined, falling from second in the league in 2008 to 15th. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall was capable of almost anything, from a league-record 21 receptions against the Colts in Week 14 to getting in trouble by punting a ball instead of handing it back to an equipment staffer in the preseason.

Eventually, Marshall would be suspended for the final game of the regular season, and would be traded the following offseason. Nolan departed for Miami after a mutual decision to resign his position, despite the defense’s across-the-board improvement from the previous year.

The optimism of the first six weeks of McDaniels’ regular-season tenure had evaporated, and the Broncos would not be able to reverse the momentum in 2010.