Good morning, Broncos Country!
Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos have the best record in the NFL.
The Broncos are poised to win their first AFC West division title since 2015. They have a clear path to the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and with it, home-field advantage and a bye.
Denver also knows it hasn’t accomplished jack squat yet. Despite all of that, the team must play its best and continue winning games.
As Broncos head coach Sean Payton said to the media this week:
“It’s an important game. There’ll be bigger. Same approach last
week. I don’t spend a lot of time on that. More time and energy on how to approach this game, their strengths, and how do we handle and play this game? It’s a similar approach to last week’s game. I think playing at home again, and I’ll say it again: the environment. We’re gifted with the altitude. That’s just where we’re located, so no one gets credit for that except whoever decided to move the team here. (Laughs)
“But the crowd noise – and it used to always be when they go to the line –the crowd noise when he [the opposing quarterback] enters the huddle, one communicating to 10, it’s amazing. I’ve been on the other side of that, where someone didn’t hear it in the huddle, so that noise factor prior to the huddle beginning is a big thing.”
The great news for Denver is that it plays this game at home. If this game were being played in Jacksonville, the task would be even tougher.
Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars (10-4) have won five-straight games and are playing strong, complementary football.
The Broncos know they’ll have to carry over how they played in the second half of the victory over the Green Bay Packers. What helps in all of that is the home-field advantage of playing at a mile high.
“We’ve been able to put something together this year,” Nix said to the media this week. “I think that’s been a good product for them to enjoy. It’s just a great home environment. It’s one of the best atmospheres in the entire country, not just professionally. We’re starting to really play. It feels like each game is a playoff game, and each game has a lot of importance to it. So, having a home crowd and playing at home, you obviously wouldn’t want to go on the road in this situation. It’s extremely exciting. It feels like we’re getting it back to what it was back in its heyday. I think it’s back to what it should be.”
The other aspect to keep in mind is that this Denver team won’t take this for granted. For most of the players on the roster, they’ve never been in this situation before. The Broncos know what’s in front of them, and they remain focused on the task at hand. Today, that means coming out and playing another complete game, doing whatever it takes to secure the win.
Compared to where this franchise was just two years ago, you understand why.
As receiver Courtland Sutton said this week:
“It definitely brings more of a value; I guess you could say. In those years where there are no playoff implications tied to the last three games of the season, you’re literally just going out there to represent the organization to the highest level you can, to represent yourself, to represent your teammates, to play for your brother next to you. All of those things are things that are still implied moving forward with the situation we’re in right now; however, you put on top of that the relative to us being in the position that we’re in in terms of the rankings and the standings and the things that we work to be able to put ourselves into position for. It gives you that little bit more juice to stay consistent, stay neutral, through everything that’s going on. I think that’s the biggest thing for us is making sure that we don’t become drunk of the situation of look what we’ve done and listen to the different people who do want us to give us the pat on the backs — which aren’t many, which is fine. Not, as they say, not drink the Kool-Aid. You have to just do what we’ve been doing.
“We’ve been staying to ourselves, we’ve been showing up week in and week out, having great weeks of work, and then showing up on Sunday and just putting that on tape, and we’ve been able to come out successful. So I think the biggest thing is (to) make sure we don’t lose sight of that and understand the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
