There are no guarantees when the NFL postseason arrives.<\/p>\n
Games are decided by thin margins. Teams are evenly matched.<\/p>\n
The wildest sequences can turn games on their head or they can come down to who executes better on third-and-short. Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been on the wrong side of a pair of those during his time in New Orleans, via the Minneapolis Miracle in the 2018 divisional and an egregious pass-interference no-call against the Los Angeles Rams in the 2019 NFC title game.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s any guarantee about Denver\u2019s first home playoff game in a decade Saturday against Buffalo, it\u2019s this: The Empower Field crowd is going to be loud.<\/p>\n
Really loud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect it to be extremely loud,\u201d quarterback Bo Nix said Tuesday. \u201cI expect it to be a great environment. Similar to what it\u2019s been recently of the past several home games, but something tells me it\u2019ll be kicked up a notch just because it\u2019s got \u2018playoffs\u2019 on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players and coaches alike say the noise at home has been particularly notable since a Week 11 win against Kansas City that got the Broncos to 9-2 going into their bye week.<\/p>\n
It continued through home games against Green Bay and Jacksonville in December, which is when coach Sean Payton said Empower Field ascended to one of about four stadiums in the NFL that can be \u201cdeafening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive lineman Jordan Jackson told The Post recently that he thought the crowd was at its loudest during a Week 16 loss to the Jaguars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever heard that stadium get that loud,\u201d he said, pointing specifically to a Malcolm Roach sack on third-and-long. \u201cOh my god.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head coach Sean Payton in recent weeks has been preaching for weeks that the noise needs to crescendo as the opposing team gets into the huddle, not when they get to the line of scrimmage or when a play is happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, we were conditioned to raise the noise level when they break the huddle,\u201d Payton said this week. \u201cThe noise level needs to be loudest when they enter the huddle. Then can you do that \u2014 Can we do that collectively for 120 snaps? No, I just need it for half the snaps in the game. So, say, 65 snaps of 10 seconds. That\u2019s a huge advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Broncos have had scoreboard cues, including a pregame video featuring Peyton Manning, instructing fans to disrupt the opposing team\u2019s huddle all season. Still, there are rarely louder moments in a stadium than when a big moment arrives.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been the case at Empower Field this fall, too.<\/p>\n
According to data compiled by the team, here are the five loudest moments of the season at Empower Field:<\/p>\n
* Nix\u2019s 18-yard, go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter of Week 7 against the New York Giants<\/p>\n
* Marvin Mims Jr.\u2019s 70-yard punt return touchdown in Week 11 against Kansas City<\/p>\n
* When the Chiefs were in their huddle on first-and-10 from their own 26-yard line in the fourth quarter of Week 11<\/p>\n
* Nix\u2019s touchdown pass to receiver Courtland Sutton in Week 1 against Tennessee<\/p>\n
* Nix\u2019s touchdown pass to receiver Michael Bandy in Week 15 against Green Bay<\/p>\n
That leaderboard figures to get rewritten Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been saying since I got here that we needed to get a home playoff game back in the city,\u201d said wide receiver Courtland Sutton, a 2018 second-round pick and the second-longest tenured Bronco. \u201cThe way that the fans have been showing up, Broncos Country has been bumpin.\u2019 \u2026 I can only imagine what it\u2019s going to be like, first home (playoff) game since 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s well overdue, and I\u2019m excited to see Broncos Country show up and show out.\u201d<\/p>\n