The Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win seems like such a long time ago now. In the two years since, the Broncos have failed to even make the playoffs and went a disappointing 5-11 last year.

Denver still has a good number of players who formed an important part of that championship-winning team – Von Miller, Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Chris Harris Jr., Derek Wolfe, Brandon Marshall, Bradley Roby and Darian Stewart. Broncos general manager John Elway challenged that group to play better and get the team back to title contention.

“That’s the core of your team and you’re right, we’ve got to play better,’’ Elway said per Mike Klis of 9news.com. “I know all those guys you mentioned can play better than they played last year. We’ve got to get the leadership back from all those guys and they’ve got to get their game to the next level where it was. For us to get back and do what we want to do, which is compete for a championship, then those guys you just mentioned have to play better.

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While it’s true that the team’s core group can play much better than they did last season, the Broncos’ inability to get back to the postseason can also be traced to their uneven play at quarterback. That was a particularly glaring problem last season as they shuffled through three starters.

Elway has looked to address that problem this offseason by signing Case Keenum. While limited in his own way, Keenum has proven last season with the Vikings that he can succeed and take a team deep into the postseason if he has a great defense and skill position talent at his disposal.

At their best, the Broncos’ core group has the ability to provide just that. That's why they'll need a complete team effort to get back to competing for championships starting in 2018.