ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos had just dropped four consecutive games by an average of 18 points. They were schooled by the winless Giants at home, shut out by the Chargers in Los Angeles (a first in 25 years for Denver), toyed with by the Chiefs in Kansas City and demolished by the Eagles in Philadelphia. Their starting quarterback had been benched, they contemplated firing their offensive coordinator (they waited a couple more weeks) and by all accounts, all hell had broken loose in Denver.



“Trust the process,” first-year coach Vance Joseph advised at the time. “You’re going to have some adversity during the season. You can’t panic. You can’t simply stop doing what you believe in. Trusting the process and staying with it.”



The trust appeared to wear thin as the Broncos spiraled, but behind the scenes, general manager John Elway continued to trust in a process he established years prior. He trusted the numbers, and an...