The Denver Broncos were one of the best teams in the NFL last season, but their Super Bowl hopes went down the drain with barely any time left in the fourth quarter of their postseason game against the Ravens, as safety Rahim Moore allowed the tying touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones in the secondary.
According to ESPN.com, the Broncos have decided to keep Moore on the roster for next season despite the mistake, saying that he showed great strides last year and that he has the confidence to put the play in the past and move on. John Elway, the Broncos' vice president of football operations, and coach John Fox said that Moore would remain in the rotation and that he could get plenty of playing time in training camp due to an injury to Quinton Carter, who had knee surgery.
Moore allowed Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones to get past the secondary during the final minute of regulation, giving quarterback Joe Flacco the chance to throw a 70-yard touchdown to tie the game and head into overtime. The Broncos were in a position to close out the game before that play, instead they allowed the Ravens to score and win the game, which propelled them to a Super Bowl win in New Orleans against the San Francisco 49ers.
"We anticipate both of them to come back even better," Fox said at the NFL combine last week about the two safeties Moore and Carter.
Elway spoke about the players and the team on Thursday on 104.3 FM The Fan radio station in Denver and added that the team is not planning on moving Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey to safety next year despite him getting older in age.
The Broncos, behind quarterback Peyton Manning, earned the number one seed in the playoffs after going on an 11-game winning streak, but were eliminated by the Ravens. The team was the favorite to make it to the Super Bowl out of the AFC, but they allowed the Ravens to stick around long enough to win the game in the postseason.
Although there are a number of free agent options af safety, including names like Ed Reed and Charles Woodson, the Broncos will likely stick with who they have on the roster after the success they had last season. Denver had one of the top rated offenses after going 13-3 and the defense was ranked third in both average rushing and passing yards allowed per game.
After losing to the New England Patriots in early October, the team reeled off 11 straight victories, including a 38-3 win against the Kansas City Chiefs in the final game of the season. The team had a first round bye in the playoffs before taking on the Ravens, where they lost in double overtime 38-35 after allowing the touchdown to Jones.
"Rahim had a great year," Elway said at the NFL combine. "The strides he made from his rookie year to this year were tremendous. We expect him to make those same strides and I think the bottom line is for him -- I haven't seen him since the last game, but once he gets back and around his teammates -- there are a lot of things in that game that caused it to end up the way it ended up. It wasn't one play that caused us to lose."
