The wounds are still fresh as is the media’s recollection of the “non-handshake.”
When the Broncos take on the Chiefs for round two of this divisional battle, gloves may come off, blood may be shed, but one thing is absolutely guaranteed: Josh McDaniels will be at midfield to shake Todd Haley’s hand at the end of the game.
“I plan on shaking hands and all that stuff,” McDaniels said in Wednesday’s press conference. “It’s not a big deal to me. I plan on doing that no matter what the outcome of the game is.”
For you Bronco fans who may have been living under a rock in week 10, the Broncos beat the Chiefs 49-29 at home. As Todd Haley met McDaniels at mid-field following the contest, Haley refused to shake McDaniels’ hand and instead scorned the second-year head coach.
Haley has since apologized to the world for letting “the emotions of the situation” get the better of him, but he has not reached out to Josh McDaniels.
Kyle Orton doesn’t think it’s a story worth writing.
“I didn’t think anything of it. It’s an emotional game. All these rivalry games are emotional and things are said on the field between players, between coaches, between players and coaches,” Orton said. “That’s just how it goes.”
This incident is just one more item to add to the list for the Broncos-Chiefs rivalry being one of the greatest in football.
In week 10, it could have appeared that the Broncos were running up the score. It was 49-17 with 12 minutes left in the game, and the Broncos were not easing off the gas.
If that sort of situation were to happen again, McDaniels said that he wouldn’t change a thing.
“They [the Chiefs] were continuing to play the whole game and so were we, and I think that’s how it goes every week,” McDaniels said. “We were trying to stop them on offense, and we were trying to move the ball effectively on offense. There’s really no other way to play…I think it’s just two teams that were playing hard.”
Against the Rams, the Broncos were on the other side of the coin, down 33-13 to begin the fourth quarter and ended up with 33 points to end the game. No lead is safe, particularly when an efficient quarterback is leading the charge.
The Broncos were right to keep pushing forward in week 10. Whether or not that momentum will carry over remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the only thing the Chiefs are seeing is red.
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