Patriots vs Broncos: John Elway Forgets He Already "Poked the Bear"

The Denver Broncos are on a bye week and they are taking some much needed time off. Peyton Manning is the first quarterback to reach 6-0 with more interceptions than touchdowns in the past 30 years, and their offense ranks 31st in the league. They are getting ready to take on the Packers in week 8, and they don't have to see the New England Patriots until week 12.

But that doesn't mean they aren't trying to put a band-aid on an impending wound.

According to Monday Morning Quarterback, Broncos general manager John Elway is trying to prevent the Patriots from using Deflarthyism as motivation for their match-up.

[Elway] went to his equipment staff, and had footballs inflated to 13 psi, and 12 psi, and 11 psi, and he felt them and tested them himself.

"I mean, it’s not that big a difference," said Elway. "It’s hard to tell the difference. Not a big enough difference to have the attention on this that it’s gotten. What I come down to is, does it really matter? Some guys like the ball a little softer. And if a guy likes a harder ball, that’s fine too. We want the quarterbacks to be as successful as they can be, and we want them to give the fans the best entertainment they can. Who cares if a quarterback likes it at 10 and a half? If that makes him play better, fine."

Besides showing a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually happened (Wells Report showed that the Patriots footballs were underinflated on average by a MAXIMUM of 0.3 PSI if and only if the official did not remember which gauge he used, and if the league is alleging that Tom Brady was particular enough about his footballs to three-tengths of a PSI, why would the footballs be at such a wide range? Also, every single football would fall below the 12.5 PSI limit if it's under 50 degrees outside, John. How many games did you play under that condition?), Elway is trying to dismiss the impact that Deflarthyism would have on the game.

"The last thing you want to do is poke the bear," Elway said to MMQB's Peter King. "The bear got poked, and this is what happened."

Well, John, it's a shame really. You seem to have forgotten that you've already poked the bear.

"One thing about it is the game is No. 1," Elway said immediately after Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the Patriots penalties. "The integrity of the game is No. 1. So the commissioner obviously felt that was compromised and did what he believed he had to do. I think what the commissioner does, he's done a tremendous job for this league and especially the growth that it's seen since he's been here so I support the commissioner 100 percent."

I don't think backtracking will save you now. The Patriots will already be fired up to play against one of the best defenses in the league in one of the best home stadiums in the game. The bear's already been poked.