This week, instead of taking a look at 10 story lines regarding the games that were played over the weekend,…

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will kick off the search for the Broncos’ next head coach when he travels to meet with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels this weekend.

Denver also is scheduled to meet with Bucs defensive assistant Raheem Morris on Wednesday. McDaniels and Morris are both 32 years old. Morris currently is slated to replace Monte Kiffin as Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett have also been linked to interest from Denver.

Bowlen expressed support for deposed coach Mike Shanahan at every opportunity, which made Shanahan’s firing two days after the season ended an enormous surprise.

Shanahan, the author of two Super Bowl…

The Denver Broncos are a team in need of a comeback. No surprise, then, that John Elway’s name keeps popping up. The Hall of Fame quarterback has been mentioned as a possible part of the management team that replaces Mike Shanahan, who was terminated as coach and executive vice president of football operations.

Mike Shanahan might not have agreed with the decision, but on Wednesday he said he understood why he was dumped as coach of the Denver Broncos 24 hours earlier.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen expressed support for coach Mike Shanahan at every opportunity, which made Shanahan’s firing two days after the season ended an enormous surprise.

Shanahan, the author of two Super Bowl wins, oversaw everything in the organization. He was the head coach and executive vice president of football operations, which gave him final say on all personnel decisions. After 14 seasons with Shanahan, the Broncos organization will undergo a radical change this offseason.

“After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos,” Bowlen said in a statement. “This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best…

NFL teams searching for coaches saw a big name stunningly burst onto their radar screens. The Denver Broncos fired Mike Shanahan, the league’s second-longest tenured coach, on Tuesday after 14 seasons that included Super Bowl titles in 1998 and ‘99. But the Broncos blew a three-game lead in their division with three games to go this season to miss the playoffs.

Despite a broken backfield, the worst injury epidemic in franchise history and a dreadful defense, the Denver Broncos never once trailed in the AFC West in 2008. Not that it matters. It’s the San Diego Chargers who are preparing for the playoffs as division champs while the Broncos try to decipher how they became the first team in NFL history to blow a three-game lead with three games to go.

Matt Lepsis was living the good life last season, making millions in the NFL and finally fitting in when he locked himself in a closet and screamed for help: Please, God, help me kick this drug habit. The Denver Broncos left tackle, who called it quits after last season and enrolled in seminary, admitted he was high on drugs for the first six games of his final season.

Thrown out of work in Detroit, tailback Tatum Bell was studying cell phone rate plans rather than a play book. After his unceremonious release by the Lions in September, Bell was hired as a manager to run a T-Mobile kiosk inside a Denver area mall. There, in a tiny booth located just across from the Disney Store, Bell waited for a second chance, not really expecting one anytime soon.

The reinforcements have arrived in the Denver Broncos’ battered backfield: Cory Boyd and Alex Haynes, both of whom were recently cut by the team. The Broncos needed them back after losing Selvin Young (back) and P.J. Pope (hamstring) to season-ending injuries Sunday against Buffalo. They are the sixth and seventh tailbacks the Broncos have had to place on injured reserve this season.