Congrats to Coach Kubs!

[Tenacious Faulker]

I've been a fan of him since he got Elway's Broncos to the Super Bowl, then a believer when he turned the Texans around and loved it when he came to Baltimore and set up the best offense in franchise history.  I'm ecstatic for him to finally have won a SB as a head coach now. 

Consider his path to this great achievement.  Despite being drafted by the Broncos in 1983, the Broncos traded the Colts for Elway relegating Kubiak to a career as a back up.  He was good in spot starts but never "Elway-good" and never a Super Bowl caliber QB - or at least we'll never know for sure.  He was a great QB coach and OC in Denver helping Shanahan to develop the Zone Blocking offense that would churn out 1000-yard rusher after 1000-yard rush despite lack of elite talent, either on the OL or in the running corps. 

He made QBs better too.  After Elway, he had Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, David Carr and Matt Schaub who all were not exceptional but benefited in his systems...well, maybe not David Carr who was too far gone by that point.  Then he gets Flacco and Peyton Manning who both benefited as well.  Flacco became more efficient and had a system they worked for him despite the fact that it didn't need his big arm.  Manning benefited more.  Unlike Joe, Manning lost enough of his arm strength and accuracy to be a liability.  Kubiak's system took the pressure off him so that he could make plays.  Manning is a smart enough player to take what Kubiak gave him and use it to the maximum.  Last night's SB win exemplified that and proved that the Texans were premature in firing him back in 2013 amid one awful season and health concerns.

That firing however, proved to be a blessing.  Forget that Kubiak proved he could lead a team to a Super Bowl title.  He stepped back for a season out of the head coaches spot and worked with the Ravens helping them to another playoff win against the arch-rival Steelers despite the injuries the team sustained in 2014.  That was enough for Elway to offer him his dream opportunity - to coach for the team he began with and for his former friend and starting QB, Elway.  The team was loaded with talent and had a ton of cap room.  He could not have asked for a better opportunity. 

His time in Baltimore was too brief and I think that he could've also taken us to the SB had he spent another seasons here; they almost made it in 2014 with him had it not been for some New England shenanigans.  Even with a depleted defense, they still managed to score well enough to stay ahead.

While this may read a bit like an obit, this is really a heart-felt congratulations to great, deserving, and undervalued coach.