Blame Peyton Manning and John Elway

SB Nation's NFL blogs ran it's annual year-end awards and the Denver Broncos were a big part of that. Peyton Manning was voted MVP and comeback player of the year by our bloggers and John Elway was tabbed executive of the year.

Ugh.

I talked with John Bena over at Mile High Report earlier this week and I told him that seeing the Broncos dominate those year-end awards made me sick to my stomach. The Broncos are dominating not just the AFC West but the NFL. It's like it's 1997 all over again. (Except for that part about the Chiefs being good.)

So how did all this happen?

Peyton Manning is obviously a huge part of it, probably the biggest part. There's no substitute for one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

John Elway has a lot to do with it as well.

As a Chiefs fan, I shudder seeing the name Elway. It makes it that much worse when he's doing extremely well, and he's doing it at the expense of the Chiefs. So much for former players lacking the front office experience to run a team.

When I talked with John Bena of Mile High Report last week, I asked if he thought this is what was going to happen. Did he expect Manning to sign and then boom(!) AFC West title and a top seed in the playoffs?

"While I feel what John Elway set out to do has been accomplished," John said, "I'd say that most Broncos fans expected MORE from Manning and the Broncos than just an AFC West title."

"For me, it was a move to turn around a franchise that was dangerously close to becoming completely insignificant. You could see the coaching carrousel beginning to turn. The Broncos had so much turn over that they were having a hard time attracting free agents. Denver was no longer a destination since the team was losing and the Mike Shanahan-era of over-spending was gone. The Tim Tebow mirage could have been catastrophic for the Broncos had Elway not rescued the franchise.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

"With Manning," John continued, "the Broncos are not only winning, but with Elway running the show, a respected football man like John Fox as head coach, and Peyton Manning at quarterback, the Broncos are now respected again. Anything else in 2012 is icing on the cake."

The Chiefs ARE that insignificant team. We're way past the point John was talking about with the Broncos.

You see why, as a Chiefs fan, this is hard to handle? Elway and Manning are the two quarterbacks I dislike the most. Out of any quarterbacks. Elway ruined my childhood, especially that January 1998 playoff loss at Arrowhead, and Peyton Manning ruined the period after that, beating the Chiefs in the playoffs on two occasions (so far).

I'd have an easier time seeing the Raiders have success. At least we know they'd screw it up soon enough.

But the Broncos look good -- really good -- maybe even for a few more years, which puts the Chiefs in a tough spot. And we have Peyton Manning and John Elway to blame for that.