The Broncos are Super Bowl bound!
But hold your horses, cowboy.
It’s not going to happen this season.
With the big digital clock at the entrance to the Denver locker room counting down to kickoff of the most anticipated Broncos season in a decade, coach Sean Payton is talking big.
This team’s goals, Payton said Wednesday are …
No. 1: “Winning the division.”
No. 2: “Best (playoff) seed possible.”
No. 3: “Play for a Super Bowl.”
I love Payton’s ambition.
He has dared this team to dream.
And it beats the snot out of the dark clouds of no-shot hopelessness that cast a shadow over Broncos Country for nearly a decade.
But Payton’s mouth is writing checks his team can’t cash.
Not yet.
Not this season.
Back when he coached in New Orleans, his Saints won the NFL championship during Payton’s fourth season as coach.
And, if you ask me, that’s the track these Broncos appear to be on now.
After a lost decade, it’s good to see the swagger back in Broncos Country.
More important: One glance around the Denver locker room and see legit Pro Bowl talent in every corner, from cornerback Pat Surtain to edge rusher Nik Bonitto and guard Quinn Meinerz.
My, how this team has grown since Payton walked through the door at Dove Valley headquarters in February 2023.
Unlike the cluelessness that defined the Nathaniel “Huggy Bear” Hackett error, the Broncos now have a real prickly coach spurring them to greatness.
The ownership team of Greg Penner and Carrie Walton is a dream outcome from the long nightmare scenario that was the implosion of the battling Bowlen kids.
But in a time when we expect Siri to do our thinking for us and make our every wish her command, building a Super Bowl champion can’t be rushed.
As everyone from Buffalo to Detroit knows all too well, pro football is a game where the lessons can be so hard they hurt.
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Before you can hoist the Lombardi Trophy, there is invariably pain to be endured.
Describing the tough maturation process for a football team, Meinerz said: “You’ve got to grow callus.”
While Payton’s spin doctors in the national media (I’m looking at you Colin Cowherd and Dianna Russini) are stumbling over each other to jump on the Broncos bandwagon, it would be reckless to cast this season as Super Bowl or bust.
It’s going to be all about growing calluses.
A young, talented and hungry Broncos team exceeded all expectations a year ago by winning 10 games and snaring a playoff berth.
The next step is far steeper.
While he has firmly planted the notion in his Denver players that they have what it takes to be champions, I suspect Payton very much understands the focus required on all the small, nuanced and delicate things that can make or break a Super Bowl run usually needs to shatter at a team’s feet before it can manifest its full potential.
Losing in the playoffs is heartbreak that makes resolve grow stronger.
“You want to take the wins, and you want to appreciate the wins, especially in this league (because) it’s really tough,” quarterback Bo Nix said.
“You want the victories, but also, I think it’s the hatred of losing … I hate letting the team down. I hate letting the building down. Maybe it’s just a fear of failure. But it’s more a fear of letting people down around you.”
Can these Broncos win a division title for the first time since 2015?
Yes. The Chiefs look vulnerable. And the Chargers are natural born mess-ups.
Best seed possible? Certainly, an obtainable goal.
But elbow their way past the Bills and Ravens to the Super Bowl?
Not gonna happen. Not yet.
For these Broncos, this season is about channeling the hatred that drives Nix and learning a painful playoff defeat can grow calluses.
A champion can hate failure. But cannot fear it.
The next NFL champion will be crowned at Super Bowl LX in California.
Taylor Swift might be there. But the Broncos won’t.
After a summer of runaway expectations, Denver will get down to business this season of learning how much all the small stuff matters and how badly a big playoff loss hurts.
In February 2027, the Super Bowl will be played at the house Stan Kroenke built in Los Angeles.
I will see you and the Broncos there.