Good morning, Broncos Country!
The Denver Broncos are one win away from the Super Bowl.
Yet, somehow, this still doesn’t feel real. Mainly because of how bad this franchise has been, but it’s also been a decade since the Broncos were last in this position.
But the day has finally arrived. One more win and the organization returns to the Super Bowl.
“There’s nothing like it, just advancing to this position, there’s nothing like it,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said to the media earlier this week. “When your alarm clock goes off,
and you’re eating faster because every minute … There’s nothing like it when it’s just ticking, and you’re wanting to make sure you’ve looked at every bit of film, that you haven’t missed anything. You’re playing another good football team, and you know what’s at stake and you know what’s next. It’s exciting.”
For Denver to play in Super Bowl 60, it must do what it’s done all season long: respond to adversity as a team. That’s been one of the most remarkable aspects of this season’s Broncos: nothing seems to faze this bunch. They never lose confidence. Never waver in their belief that they’ll win, no matter what.
Now Denver faces its biggest test yet and will do so without Bo Nix. But if any team is capable of winning today, with a backup quarterback, it’s this Broncos team with Jarrett Stidham.
“I think what I always go back to, in any game, regular season, preseason, the AFC Championship, it’s still the same game,” Stidham said to the media this week. “Obviously, there are implications and winner advances, all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, it’s still football. That’s how I view it. I’m not treating it any differently. I’m not treating my preparation any differently.
“I’m just going to go out there and play and be myself. I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m not going to try to be somebody that I’m not. I know how I can play, and I know the kind of guys I have around me and the kind of team that we have. So we all just have to play within ourselves.”
Added Payton:
“I told the team this. I said, ‘I’m not worried about ‘Stiddy’ in this game. I’m worried about everyone else, all right, and how we play.’ That really is the truth.”
For this team, it all comes down to this. Nothing else matters. One game to immortality.
The Broncos are one win away from the Super Bowl.
“At the end of the day, I’m not focused on anything but Sunday,” Stidham said. “What is my job on each and every play? How can I help my teammates succeed on Sunday? I do not care about anything outside of the next five days and what my job is. That’s the only thing I’m focused on.”
Added Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II:
“We just got to find a way. Obviously, losing a guy like Bo, the emotions just tells a lot. But at the end of the day, we got to find a way and build each other up. I mean, we didn’t make it this far just to come this far. So we realized that we have a lot on the horizon to look forward to. This is championship football now, so we got a lock in and buy into the process.”
