Rich Eisen Breaks Down the Denver Broncos’ Chances to Win the AFC This Season

We talked about how the Chiefs are eliminated from the playoffs. We knew they’d be eliminated from the AFC West even coming into this game against the Chargers and the Broncos are the team that we thought maybe on Christmas Day, Christmas night on Prime Video would be the ones to maybe hammer the coffin shut on the Chiefs. The Chargers did that for them. And now with Mahomes out, that makes that visit to Arrowhead potentially that much more winnable for Denver. But the Broncos just need to keep taking care of business themselves. And they entered this week in first place in conference despite having the same number of wins as the Patriots, 11. And now they take on the Green Bay Packers, who are coming off of rousing wins in division against the Lions and the Bears. And they’re the ones coming in with Jordan Love on fire. They’re the ones coming in with a whole lot more of Crucible playoff type wins than Denver. They’re coming in with the quarterback, yes, with more experience than theirs. And they’re coming into Denver. And the Broncos just can’t, unless it’s against the Cowboys, no offense, put together four quarters of, as they say, complimentary football, offense and defense, just can’t do it. They’ll pull something out of their orifice if they have to in the fourth quarter. But can they come up with a Donnie Brook type affair? You know, Green Bay is going to make them play one of those. And sure enough, this game is a one-score game at halftime. And then the team that breaks it open is Green Bay. Just a minute and a half into the second half. And off goes Josh Jacobs for a monster touchdown run. And the Green Bay Packers are up in this game 23-14. two-score game just a minute and 1 seconds into the second half. A 40-yard dash for Jacobs. And that’s when the Broncos turn things around and turn things to their brilliant quarterback in Boon Knicks who finds Courtland Sutton for a touchdown pass and then Troy Franklin for a touchdown pass. The defense stands strong, forces the Packers to settle for a field goal to make it a one-point game. And then RJ Harvey, their rookie running back, who’s playing well with JK Dobbins out for the time being. Maybe he even comes back. My goodness. And the Broncos, the team that everybody loaded the bandwagon for this year. the team that everybody loaded the bandwagon for this year have won 11 straight football games. They started, don’t forget, one and two without trailing for a single second. They’ve trailed again, they’ve trailed more in their 11game win streak than they did in the twoame losing streak at the beginning of the season. Yeah. Zero, right? They lost at the buzzer both times at the final gun, as they say in the NFL in Indianapolis and then against the Chargers. Man, oh man. Oh man. Bon Knicks, four touchdown passes. You have the floor. I was able to learn in college that you’re not going to win the game in one play. You’re not going to win the game in one quarter. You got to piece it all together. And you may look ugly at times, but it really doesn’t matter. And there’s always a way to win the game. There’s always a way at the end to win a game. There’s always a way at the beginning. So, you have to figure that out. And as a team, I think that’s just what makes really good teams. They together they figure out the way and they just uh go out there and do it. Ah fourth career game for Bo Knicks with four more touchdown passes. I think we have a graphic to support this. The only individuals with more such games in the first two seasons in NFL history are named Dan Marino and Patrick Mahomes. Heard of them? Yeah. In terms of in terms of more such games in Broncos history, the only ones who have that are named Elway and Pton Manning with a kiss. They’re in the Hall of Fame. I know. Not too shabby. Not too shabby. And and and let’s not forget when he says learning college, 61 starts in college football. 61. Think about all the kids being drafted in the NFL these days who come in and how long it will take for them to get 61 starts in the National Football League. That’s how Nick Knicks can avoid the sacks. He can make some plays. Obviously, he’s going to have some playoff games and at home, one would think to come. But, um, check the box, man. Everybody thought that he was the consolation prize in that first round a couple years ago that Shawn Payeyton was just left with. He just had to take the kid because if he didn’t, they were going to not going to have any quarterback, right? Dead captain Russell Wilson having this kid come in and everybody thought, “Oh, well Shawn Payeyton, this is a nice parting gift for you from the first round of the draft.” And what a combination those two have been so far. Appreciate coach for letting me be my authentic self and uh I appreciate him for letting me be competitive. Um and he hasn’t taken that fire away from me. I appreciate the opportunity that he’s given me and uh um you know I just I think together we got something going right now. And um you know I thought at the same time he’s extremely competitive himself. So, um, I always wanted that. It’s just a coach that was going to compete for me, compete with me, and, uh, go out there and, uh just let me play, and that’s what he does. And, uh, you know, I think it’s, uh, it’s working, and we’re going to continue to find ways to make it work even more. Now, again, I I know wins for a quarterback stat is dicey. For instance, you know, um, Joe Burrow got the win in week two that he left in the middle of the game, right, that Jake Browning finished up. By the way, Bengals beating Jacksonville in that game. Look at where they both are right now. Um, but that said, with uh Shawn Payeyton and Bo Nicks connecting, Bo Knicks since 1950, since the middle of last century, tied for second most wins in the first two seasons of a career with Luck, Dak, Big Ben, and he’s one ahead of Marino. And if they win out, which is a tall order, they’ve got Jacksonville at home, Kansas City on the road, and of course the aforementioned Chargers game that could be for all the marbles at home in week 18. Um, he would pass Russell Wilson for most in the NFL since the middle of last century. You know, Shawn Payeyton’s out of his skull. Happy about this, right? hit it. He loves playing, you know, and so that’s contagious and um that’s that’s a really good trait for a player at his position and and his his teammates feel that. You remember for 15 years I had one personality and they couldn’t be more different from a just from a personality standpoint and then I’ve had the good fortune of coaching others. But um but it’s learning him and and uh and and him smiling even when we’re down. I mean there’s just a um a competitive nature about him that that’s refreshing. The other quarterback he’s referring to, just in case you’re wondering, is Drew Brees could have been Jared Stam, but I think he’s referring to Breeze. I think you’re right. Definitely not Russ. Because again, when they deadc cat Russ, I think I sat in this very chair and I said, “Good luck.” Because when you have a rookie quarterback, you want to win in the rookie contract. When they’re not making all that money, they’re not making the gajillions. And you then have enough money to spend on other players to support that kid and win in the first contract. That’s the money. That’s the motherload. When you draft the quarterback and you win in the rookie contract, if you win multiple times, oh my goodness, then you’ve hit the jackpot. But how are you going to do that when you’re still paying another quarterback that gajillions of franchise quarterback money like it’s a second, third contract? They were paying Russell Wilson. How are they going to pull that off? Well, guess who’s the first of the 12 win club and Bo Nicks’s second year as starter there, the 2025 Denver Broncos, who have a real shot to win this conference, give everyone a week off, and then have everybody have to come to the Rocky Mountain air. And the number of times that Shawn Payeyton mentioned in his postgame press conference that they wanted to play with pace, bringing the Packers into their building in the thin air again. Last time there was a Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Super Bowl 50, the Broncos went and won it. Got to feel really good about themselves right now. And they’re real. That was a real W against a tough team. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

Rich Eisen weighs in on the Denver Broncos’ Week 15 win over the Green Bay Packers.

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38 comments

  3. If Broncos get the number 1 seed in the playoffs and if the Ravens win their Division and the 2 and 3 seed win! The Broncos will not be winning a playoff game lol

  7. You take away the gift the Colts got and lets be real it was a gift and tired of refs dictating the end of games, Denver would be 13 and 1 meaning they lock up the AFC West this week, and would need 1 more win to seal home field advantage that tells you how 1 bad call can make a whole season harder and too many implications for 1 call to have in a season. I say if the Refs do not sign the new deal with the NFL and agree to better training, and being responsible for bad calls I say the NFL funds a new union willing to do the work.

  11. The Bo Nix hate now just seems like a lazy echo chamber from people that hated him b4 he ever even set foot on the field. It’s like watching CNN covering Trump. Bo Nix should be in the MVP hunt. Denver’s defense isnt pulling off these game winning drives. Bo is. Bo for MVP

  13. to my fellow broncos fans, top bitching about people not believing. the franchise is minted and this is simply what happens as teams are built and grow. you make the fanbase look like pussys. The broncos are good again and thats all that matters. when they get eventually bad, they will eventually get good again after that. We are not the browns or jags, this is what good franchises do and you should just enjoy instead of being annoyed other fans werent on board.

  16. You guys have no idea how painful it was being a Broncos fan during that playoff drought. Been here since 1993 and I’ve watched many Broncos teams play and 3 Super Bowl wins in that span. This team is special. We have better odds to go all the way this year than we did in 2015 and no one thought we’d win it all in 2015 either. Proud to be a Broncos fan.🙏

  20. Who loaded the band wagon you clown?? No one thought Denver would even be in the playoffs this year! Everyone said Nix would regress!!! Put some respect on his name….look at his company for the year!! He sits among HOFers!!!!

  37. Dude is way off base with Bo being a “consolation prize”. Sean & the GM went to watch Bo workout and Sean had his mind made up within the first few minutes of it. Paton told Sean to pump the brakes but he wasn’t trying to hear that.

  38. We Bo-lieve and really don’t give a rat’s a$$ if the nationals don’t. Keep with the disrespectful energy the rest of the year cuz we f’n love it! 🔷🔶🏈💪🏼

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