The next two weekends will mark the second and last time the Broncos have back-to-back home games in 2008.
That being the case, now is as good a time as any to say it: If, as Mike Shanahan insists, this is a playoff team, the Broncos had better win both of these games.
The truth is, we don’t know about these Broncos. Given their defensive deficiencies, we don’t trust them. Can’t trust them. One minute they’re rolling down the field, and the next minute they’re disappearing in Larry Johnson’s rearview mirror.
For all the questions surrounding them, though, there is one thing we can be sure of: The road to the playoffs is built with home wins. It has been that way for the Broncos since the 1970s, when they first tasted success as a franchise, and nothing has changed.
The Broncos have been the NFL’s best home team for an entire generation, but their invincibility in the altitude is a distant memory. They’ve been altogether ordinary at home for much of their seven-plus seasons at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Check out the past two seasons. Shanahan was 70-18 at home going into 2006, but the Broncos lost seven of their next 16 homies. That dropped Shanahan behind Dan Reeves on the list of Broncos coaches with the highest home winning percentage.
Things haven’t been much different this season. Yes, the Broncos are 2-0 at home, but it was a struggle each time. They needed a blown call to beat the Chargers by one point and a missed field goal to beat New Orleans by two.
Nothing out of the ordinary there. Of the Broncos’ last 11 home victories, four have been by a three points, two by one and another by two. And three of those wins have come in overtime.
Looking at those numbers, the bottom line becomes clearer. Before any more talk of the playoffs, the Broncos have to rediscover their Mile High mojo. They have to re-establish their dominance at home.
Sure, they’ve been fortunate, but they’ve won each of their first two home games. If history is any indication, they probably need to win at least four more, if not five, to make the playoffs.
Not that they can’t win on the road. But when you lose to a team that had lost 12 straight games (the Chiefs), it’s not something you want to count on.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s sports updates on The Jimmy Page at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
