If you’re not aboard the Denver Broncos bandwagon, it’s time to hop on.
Even the biggest Broncos haters have to acknowledge what happened against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
This team can officially win the Super Bowl in fewer than two months.
Before the season, I had the Broncos at 13-4 and got mocked. Turns out, 13-4 might’ve been too many losses. There’s a real chance the Broncos finish 15-2 or 14-3.
The way they played against the Packers was unbelievable. A high-quality, legitimate NFC threat came into Empower Field at Mile High and Denver sent them home wounded and defeated.
Down 23-14 in the third quarter, things looked momentarily bleak for the Broncos. Then they did what they’ve done all year long.
Pat Surtain II had a game-changing interception off Jordan Love, Denver QB Bo Nix had arguably his best NFL performance and the Broncos outscored the Packers 20-3 the rest of the way.
Riding an 11-game winning streak and sporting a 12-2 record, the parade route needs to be mapped. It feels more real than ever we’ll all be downtown in the middle of February celebrating the franchise’s fourth Lombardi Trophy.
It absolutely stinks that running back J.K. Dobbins got hurt against the Raiders on Thursday Night Football and could be out for the year. But the dirty little secret is that since that injury, Nix has been nails.
The Broncos were a running team through the first 10 games of the season. Now, they’re a passing team, and Nix looks up to the challenge. He was phenomenal against the Packers, topping 300 yards, throwing four touchdowns and not turning the ball over. Nix also didn’t take any sacks.
People thought the Denver defense could lead them to a title, and they still can, but the offense is finally catching up. That side of the football was the reason they beat the Commanders a couple of weeks ago and a huge reason they prevailed over Green Bay.
And the depth the Broncos have on offense is fascinating. No one had both Michael Bandy and Lil’Jordan Humphrey catching touchdowns to go along with the usual suspects like Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin.
Also, can the RJ Harvey slander finally stop? The rookie scored his 10th touchdown of the season and has stepped up in a big way since Dobbins unfortunately went down.
Yes, Vance Joseph’s defense had a frustrating first half and start to the third quarter versus the Packers, but they were unreal down the stretch.
They pressured Love on seemingly every throw, had two interceptions and finished with three sacks. They got stop after stop in the final minutes even after some questionable fourth-down decisions by Sean Payton.
Look around the NFL. The Chiefs and Bengals are done. The Bills, Ravens and Chargers have holes. And the Patriots, Jaguars and Texans might still be a year or two away.
In the NFC, the Rams offense is scary but their defense can be beaten. Do you really trust Sam Darnold in Seattle or Caleb Williams in Chicago? Plus, the Packers unfortunately lost Micah Parson for the year, San Francisco is extremely beat up and Philadelphia and Tampa Bay both have had long stretches of looking like frauds.
There’s no opponent out there that will scare the Broncos, whether it be in the divisional round, AFC Title Game or Super Bowl.
Sure, this isn’t going to be easy, but picturing Denver winning it all feels like a very realistic possibility.
That’s a testament to Payton’s coaching, Nix’s resurgence out of a (small) sophomore slump and a defense that makes big plays at opportune times.
If you haven’t started looking at flights to Santa Clara for Super Bowl LX, now might be the time. With the No. 1 seed in the AFC firmly in the Broncos sights, it would take two home wins to play in that game.
And with their swagger and confidence on the field right now, becoming champions on Feb. 8 really doesn’t feel that crazy.
