“Fantastic” is a pretty superlative and complimentary adjective for anything. I wouldn’t call a simple deli sandwich fantastic any more than I would use that word in 2014 to describe a used 1994 Saturn SL2. “Serviceable”, or “handy”, or “just there” might be more appropriate descriptors in those instances. On the other hand, I would certainly call a .714 winning percentage fantastic, the same way I would use it to describe four consecutive NFL playoff appearances.

So why do I think there's an interesting parallel between the Roald Dahl story, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”, and former Denver Broncos head coach John Fox? The similarities are much more complex than you think.

It’s undeniable that John Fox’s Broncos have enjoyed great success in the NFL, but that doesn't compare this coach to the Fantastic Mr. Fox. In the story, Mr. Fox steals food every night from three farmers. The farmers try to dig their way into the fox's home, but in the end, the animals trick the farmers and survive underground. John Fox’s story is similar: he has outwitted us all for four years and survived as a less-than-stellar head coach in the NFL without us even having a clue.

The Denver Broncos were right to let him leave, and I’ll show you why.

Wild Animal Craziness

John Fox has had a long and interesting career in football coaching, from 1978 when he was a graduate assistant at San Diego State University, to his 1985 season as the defensive backs position coach for the short-lived USFL’s Los Angeles Express. This was his first foray into professional coaching, and he wouldn’t be away from it for long, taking over as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive backs coach in 1989. Since then, he has been in the NFL for 25 consecutive seasons, in various roles with seven different organizations.

There’s no denying that you have to have some measure of talent to stay in the NFL that long; it can’t be all smoke and mirrors. Yet it seems very clear that John Fox’s time in Denver was less merit and more mystique than anyone wants to admit. We can see that by using our signature metric here at numberFire, January 12, 2015

I’d have to agree, but it does make one wonder if Peyton is unsure about his return to a Broncos team that looks to be slowly crumbling around him. Should he return for the 2015 season, Manning will be 39 years old with well-documented loss of arm strength the past few seasons. In addition, the Broncos are going to run into extreme cap problems this offseason with the potential impending free agency of wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker, tight ends Julius Thomas, Virgil Green, and Jacob Tamme, and even offensive linemen Will Montgomery, Orlando Franklin, and Paul Cornick. And that’s nothing to say of the defense, which might also lose some key players.

The logical solution to the puzzle seems to suggest that the Broncos are preparing to enter a rebuilding phase sooner rather than later, and John Fox was not the coach to lead them to that promised land. If Manning decides not to return, why not press the reset button on the whole franchise and let a new head coach –- possibly Dan Quinn, current Seahawks defensive coordinator, or their own Adam Gase –- be the one to craft the Broncos of the future? This has been an intelligently run organization for the last few years, and general manager John Elway doesn’t want to mire in mediocrity; I respect him for setting up the more painful, but productive path to a better Broncos tomorrow. The first step of that was letting the John Fox Era end.