Denver's Shannahan on the spot in Denver

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Mike Shanahan likely on hot seat now

Chris Harry | INSIDE THE NFL March 23, 2008

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The AFC West is apparently a breeding ground for "dysfunctional relationships."

To be fair, it's purely coincidence that a second-such brouhaha has reared itself in the same division in as many years.

But they do have similarities.

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Mike Shanahan can only hope he emerges looking as good as A.J. Smith did last season after San Diego's owner sided with his general manager and fired Coach Marty Schottenheimer following a 14-2 season ended after one playoff game.

The Schottenheimer-less Chargers won the division and advanced to the AFC title game.

Following a 7-9 season (and second straight out of the playoffs) in 2007-08, Denver owner Pat Bowlen axed GM Ted Sundquist last week, citing philosophical differences between Shanahan, the coach and executive vice president of football operations, and Sundquist, a front-office fixture with the Broncos for 16 years, the last five as GM.

Shanahan is the guy with the two Super Bowl rings. He's also the guy who's just 1-5 in the postseason since winning those championships (and the subsequent retirement of Hall-of-Fame quarterback John Elway). He's the guy who's on his third offensive coordinator and third defensive coordinator in as many seasons.

He's also the guy who wasn't the fall guy.

Scene inside the owner's office:

Bowlen: "OK, what happened this season, Mike?"

Shanahan: "Don't look at me, ask Ted."

That's probably simplifying things, but you get the idea.

Bowlen is one of the league's outstanding owners and no doubt is indebted to Shanahan for the Lombardi trophies in the lobby. That hardware has helped foster a perception that Bowlen has given Shanahan a leash that stretches up Pike's Peak, given the Broncos' underachievement in the postseason the last decade.

Shanahan anointed Brian Griese, then Jake Plummer as his franchise quarterbacks. He used a third-round pick on washout Maurice Clarett. He had the '05 season AFC Championship Game at Mile High Stadium, against a No. 6 seed playing a fourth straight road game, and his team was crushed by Pittsburgh.

The Broncos are 16-16 since.

Some owners would kill for a coach with Shanahan's pedigree. Some would have parted ways with him.

Bowlen attempted to quell any questions whether it's the owner or coach who's really running the franchise.

"The changes you see are changes that I told Mike he's got to make," Bowlen told the Denver Post. "I wasn't specific with him. I didn't say, 'Mike, you've got to fire the defensive coordinator.' I'm not going to start making those kinds of calls. But we both agreed we needed to make some significant changes across the board, including in the locker room where we had some bad guys. So we've been going through that process and I'm comfortable with where we're at."

Shanahan has gotten a lot of credit for the Broncos' success during his reign. Rightfully so. But with Sundquist now gone, there's only one person to get the blame.