DENVER – As the most baffling, frustrating, infuriating, draining season in Bronco history ends, players, coaches, fans and John Elway must face a haunting truth: It didn’t have to be this way.

This season shouldn’t have ended so early. The Broncos could have delivered damage in the playoffs, clawed their way to upsets, maybe even traveled to the AFC title game in New England.

(I won’t get too carried away about the possibilities. The Broncos would have failed to conquer the mighty Patriots.)

Even the season-ending 24-6 smack-down of the Raiders delivered pain. The Broncos, with little reason for motivation, dominated the Raiders, who were battling for the AFC West title.

Von Miller grimaced as he considered the impressive finale.

“Why haven’t we been playing like this all year?” Miller asked, speaking for anyone who cares about the Broncos. “It’s crazy.”

Yes, it is.

The 2015 Broncos overachieved their way to a Super Bowl title. The often-stumbling offense was led by the ever-determined Peyton Manning, blessed with a brilliant mind and cursed with a broken-down body. The defense soared to greatness of historical level, but there was one other massive factor in all the fun: Virtually every break bounced the Broncos’ way.

This season, luck no longer wore orange.

The lingering what-if moment of 2016? You could go with the Chiefs’ last-minute Nov. 27 march to a touchdown and 2-point conversion, but I’d go with the pass Bennie Fowler dropped in the end zone against the Titans on Dec. 11. If Fowler catches the fourth-quarter pass, the Broncos probably would remain alive today as a wild-card team.

Regrets?

Fowler has one.

“Ah, just the Tennessee play,” he said, bringing up the drop without being asked. “Everybody wants to talk about the Tennessee play. If I had to re-do that, I would go out there and score. I want to turn that back.”

Here’s the main reason Fowler yearns for another chance to catch Trevor Siemian’s perfectly delivered pass:

He believes in this team. He was visibly irritated when asked if the Broncos could have delivered an upset, or two, in the playoffs.

“Upset? I don’t think we would have upset anybody,” he said. “Everybody would have known what was coming.”

The Broncos, Fowler believes, could have taken another march to the Super Bowl. Those are big words, but Fowler has no doubts.

“Absolutely,” he said. “You saw the way we came out today.”

That’s true. We all saw how the Broncos pulverized the Raiders. We saw a team roaring, finally, at the peak of its potential. We saw a hungry, focused team with serious talent. We saw a defense of Super Bowl quality.

And that glimpse just multiplies the agony.

The franchise limps into an offseason filled with questions.

Gary Kubiak, burdened by his health, said goodbye to the franchise after 22 seasons as player, assistant coach and head coach. Some NFL coaches thrive on the strain of chasing victory. Some NFL coaches can barely imagine life without the thrill, and torment.

Kubiak could no longer thrive, so he stepped away from his dream job.

Every player understood the decision. Winning is important. Health is more important.

“We don’t want him to die doing this,” Chris Harris Jr. said.

Kubiak, and his Broncos, performed masterful work in 2015. They were at their best in the fourth quarter. They were endlessly clutch. They were highly emotional and highly disciplined, a rare combination.

The next Bronco coach will face an enormous burden, a burden Kubiak no longer could carry. The new coach will be asked to return the Broncos to the playoffs, which has become a Front Range expectation.

And the new coach will be asked to erase memories of a crushing and confusing 2016 season.