Mike Shanahan didn't seem in danger of being fired. Even during Denver's late-season collapse, his name was never liberally mentioned with other head-coaching goners like Rod Marinelli, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini.

Nor should it have been. In the course of 14 seasons, Bowlen had stuck with Shanahan through worse. There was no reason to believe that would change until Tuesday. That's when Bowlen shocked the NFL by dismissing the league's second-longest tenured head coach.

Shanahan's critics will claim the firing is justified and long overdue. Denver had become the first team since 1967 to squander a three-game divisional lead with three games remaining in the regular season. The Broncos (8-8) also missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year, something that had never happened to Shanahan before.

With final say over all roster moves, Shanahan is ultimately to blame for putting Denver into this hole. But Shanahan also was digging his way out.

Shanahan, who revamped his front office last spring, landed two cornerstone players in the 2008 draft: Left tackle Ryan Clady and wide receiver/returner Eddie Royal. He groomed Jay Cutler into the team's best quarterback since the John Elway era. The argument could even be made that the 2008 Broncos overachieved at 8-8 considering the injuries that decimated the team's running backs and defense.