Here are two QB1 stat lines, four years apart:

ā€¢ Signal-caller A: 29 passing TDs, 12 interceptions, 93.3 passer rating and a 10-7 record as a first-year starter

ā€¢ Signal-caller B: 22 passing TDs, 13 picks, 92.5 passer rating and a 10-7 record as a first-year starter.

QB “A?” Nix as a rookie in 2025. QB “B?” Mac Jones’ debut NFL campaign in ’21 under Belichick.

So before you get all misty-eyed about the notion of Sean Payton subletting the Broncos’ head-coaching job for a few years so that The Hoodie could pad his career stats, take a deep breath. Then ask Jones about what playing QB in the 2020s under Belichick, a 70-something Belichick coaching on fumes, felt like for a young quarterback trying to find his feet.

“So, at first, Bill was going to call the (offensive) plays,” when asked about 2022, Mac’s second season under Belichick. “Which, I was like, ‘All right, this is kind of fun. Let’s see how this goes.'”

It went south. Our old pal Josh McDaniels had been Jones’ personal QB whisperer during the latter’s rookie season in 2021. Only when McDaniels parlayed that into a head-coaching gig with the Raiders before the ’22 season, the wheels came off. Belichick divided offensive coordinator duties between longtime assistant Matt Particia, who’d primarily been a defensive coach, and Joe Judge, who was working with New England’s special teams.

The Pats slipped from sixth in the league in points scored in 2021 to 17th in ’22. Jones shattered, the way this league can crush a QB if the fates are unkind. Mac still hasn’t quite put everything back together again, even after a rookie season that was eerily close to Nix’s numbers in 2024.

“I think that really affected me,” Jones continued. “I felt like, if I could have just built on the year before, it would’ve really helped me and everybody on the team …

“We didn’t know who we were going to hire. And I was a little worried about that … you could kind of see it trending, and I was just a second-year player, so I didn’t really say much, or do much. But Brian Hoyer was the backup, and he was kind of like, looking at me, trying to keep me in it. But we were kind of like, ‘This is not going to be good.'”

It wasn’t. It wouldn’t have been any good in Denver, either.

We mention this because the other big Belichick news of the past week had a distinctly Denver flair. ESPN.com scribe onto the interwebs a few days back. Only there were massive swaths of the tome that left you saying to yourself, ‘What the expletive was Payton thinking?’

Sunshine Sean is a living, breathing NFL savant. Wickersham’s dive was a cinematic stroll through a beautiful, if sometimes twisted, football mind. But this little passage was just …weird:

“Payton and (Bill) Belichick go back decades, forged by mutual respect — and mutual trauma from working under (Bill) Parcells. When Belichick and the Patriots divorced in 2024, Payton considered presenting Broncos owner Greg Penner a proposal for the ages: Hire Belichick as head coach until he reached 15 wins, enough to break Don Shulaā€™s career record of 347. Payton would temporarily step down to assistant head coach and run the offense, then move back after Belichick became the all-time leader. In the end, it was too complicated ā€” and maybe too fanciful.ā€

That’s not genius.

It’s madness.

Payton’s affection for the Hoodie isn’t just real — it goes back decades. When Sunshine Sean was hired in New Orleans, he dug into what made Belichick’s Patriots so dominant.

“We spent a great deal of time looking at New England,” Payton told NOLA.com in 2021.

“(Belichick has) always been someone who’s been a bit of a mentor, someone that I feel I have a good relationship with. That started, really, with the respect factor and what he’s been able to accomplish … to have the staying power that he’s had is obviously remarkable.”

Fine. Whatever. Still loco. Too many alphas. Too small a space. Even if Payton’s turtoring/shielding his QBs as some sort of “deputy coach/offense,” when the buck stops at Wild Bill’s desk, nobody is ever truly safe. Also, the screens. So, so, so, soooooo many screens.

Payton began 2026 as the No. 3-highest-paid coach in U.S. sports, with a reported average salary of $18 million per year — only the Chiefs’ Andy Reid and the Giants’ John Harbaugh bettered him, at $20 million apiece. (When Sportico ranked the top-50 coach salaries in the country, CU’s Deion Sanders ($10.8 million) checked in at No. 34, while Belichick’s $10 million from North Carolina landed him at No. 37.)

It wouldn’t be fair to the Penners, who invested in Payton for him to reset the culture and make it his own.

It wouldn’t be fair to the players, who signed up for one Super Bowl winner, only to get baited-and-switched for another.

It wouldn’t be fair to the league’s record book. Or to the legacy of Don Shula.

It wouldn’t be fair to ¶¶Ņõapountry, who grew to detest Belichick and his Pats as a cheating rival for decades — a feeling that bubbled into hate after he foisted his chum McDaniels upon our fair populace.

And it wouldn’t be fair to Nix, who became the quarterback, after almost a decade of false hope and false starts, to lead a proud franchise out of the wilderness.

“(Bill) took (the offense) over, and we kind of didn’t know where we were going,” the former Pats QB told the ‘Bussin” crew. “There (were) three people in the meeting — who stands up to talk to the offense? They didn’t really know.”

Some scenes are best left on the cutting room floor, some things better left unsaid. the Broncos don’t have to worry about keeping up with the Joneses anymore. Mac or otherwise.

“It makes no sense to me to make, at this point in time, a decision that no one can ascend or descend,” the Rams athletic director told The Denver Post recently. “That’s irresponsible.”

Our conversation had turned to the Protect College Sports Act, which could soon be up for a vote in the Senate. And, specifically, its impact on “Group of 6” schools such as CSU.

Weber likes a lot of what’s in the bill. Save for Section 205. If the Protect College Sports Act becomes law, it could lock in conference membership at the highest level of college sports as is. The musical chairs at the top of the NCAA food chain would come to a screeching halt.

Section 205 of the Protect College Sports Act, as written, prohibits collegiate conferences that generate at least $700 million in revenue from merging with one another or adding new members.

The Big 12, ACC, SEC and Big Ten are all expected to meet or exceed that benchmark in theĀ  ’25-26 fiscal year.

“If you look at the attributes of (our) university as a whole ā€” 34,000 students, 277,000-plus alumni, strong academics, , great college town, great facilities, all that stuff,” Weber stressed. “We look just like a Big 12 school. That’s exactly (a) Big 12 school, right?”

If not, it’s pretty darned close.

“Now we have to consistently deliver better on the athletics leg of that stool,” Weber said. “But it’s certainly something that we want to make sure we keep in our sights. And we continue to work toward the opportunity (that’s) there for CSU to ascend.”

Weber’s not trying to stick the Rammies’ cart before any horses, just to be clear. He’s just learned, post-COVID-19 pandemic, that universities would be nuts to burn any bridge with a bigger payout on the other side of the gorge.

CSU isn’t exactly walking gingerly into its Pac-12 phase on Wednesday, either. Jim Mora, plucked from a successful run at UConn, is now the highest-paid coach in the newly reconfigured conference ($2.4 million), with higher expectations to match. Canvas Stadium is getting a new rug for the first time in about seven years. Moby Arena has a new court coming. Last month, during the university’s annual “Day of Giving,” athletics raised $1.5 million in donations over 24 hours. Weber said his first “Giving” two years ago brought in $67,000.

“There have been some things that maybe somewhat quietly, maybe some not somewhat quietly, (that) are, I think, pointing towards some real momentum,” Weber said.

Including, he added, his new league.

“The huge thing that’s going to help us going into the Pac 12 (is that) every single one of our games is on linear (platforms),” the CSU administrator said. “That’s massive … the opportunity for us to compete and have people watch us, that’s where the value comes … eyeballs matter.”
Rivalries matter, too, even with television networks pulling the strings for college sports behind the scenes and chucking geography out a sixth-story window. Weber made a point of preserving the Wyoming series as a non-conference enterprise, but Air Force looks to be in the rearview mirror. And we’re still three years away (2029) from a renewal of the Rocky Mountain Showdown with CU.

“I know (Buffs athletic director) Fernando (Lovo), actually, from (his time at) New Mexico,” Weber said of the new CU boss. “We have not had a conversation around the future of the Showdown … we’ve talked about other things, we haven’t talked about that yet … It’s not a, ‘No’, it’s not a, ‘I’m not interested.’ Literally, we just haven’t talked about it yet.”

In the meantime, he’s hoping the conversations in Washington continue about Section 205 of the Protect College Sports Act.

“(We’re) serious about the work that we’re doing. We’re serious about our move to the Pac 12. We’re serious about the future of the Pac 12,” Weber said. “(But) if you lock in membership there ā€” that is, I think, problematic for a whole lot of people. There are members in those conferences that are not there by intent.”

Realignment since 2021 has made for strange bedfellows all over the map ā€” the four former Pac-12 powers snatched up by the Big Ten; Stanford and Cal, bastions of the Bay, in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Yet the new Pac-12 is a particularly curious marriage of oddball brethren.

The football membership, in particular, is rooted in provincial programs that were snubbed by the Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC (Washington State and Oregon State) during their latest acquisition phase, or “big” mid-majors (Boise State, Fresno State, CSU) that never quite made the cut to join the big boys, despite repeated pitches.

“That sort of an approach (in Section 205) has the possibility of harming what really is our core mission of higher education,” Weber continued. “It’s groundbreaking research, and it’s educating our youth. And if we look at it through that lens, if you are consolidating athletic, and therefore marketing, power within a relative few, it’s not unreasonable to think that you could be challenging the educational research missions of a whole lot of schools, right?”

Although 205 at present feels more specifically targeted at the largest football brands in the ACC (Clemson, Miami, North Carolina), several of which have been, or will be, on the radar as potential SEC or Big Ten additions. Let’s put it this way: If the Buffs got an offer to join the Big Ten next week, you couldn’t get them to Columbus or Ann Arbor quick enough.

In the meantime, the so-called lesser schools in the Big Ten and SEC ā€” think Minnesota, Ole Miss, Purdue, Vandy, Northwestern, etc. ā€” see the Protect College Sports Act as a means to keep their powerful leagues intact. Sources told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports recently that those conferences want provisions in the act that prevent an outside entity or broadcaster from cherry-picking the most-watched college football brands to form a national Super League or College Premier League. (An arrangement that might be beneficial for, say, CU and North Carolina, who hired “viral” coaches in Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick, in part, to enhance their television appeal.)

“Our opportunity to compete at the (FBS) level enables our ability to attract more people to CSU,” Weber noted. “‘People’ includes students, it includes faculty, includes a lot of people that make this enterprise go. And (the Protect College Sports Act) is going to be incredibly important to not just CSU, but a whole bunch of schools that would be in that bucket.”

Take a spin around the football internet these days and you will find yourself soaked by a deluge of mock drafts.

Make no mistake, though, NFL front offices do them, too.

Now, they are working with full scouting staffs, extensive visibility into injury and character questions, thousands of human hours of work put into setting the stage for the real thing later this month.

A year ago, perhaps not a single mock draft paired the Broncos and Jahdae Barron at No. 20. That led head coach Sean Payton to describe the wait as Barron fell through the teens toward them and, well, to mock the mocks.

ā€œThe mocks that you guys read for the last month, what do you want me to say?ā€ Payton said then. ā€œIt¶¶Ņõap embarrassing sometimes, but it¶¶Ņõap entertaining.ā€

General manager George Paton last week said the Broncos had narrowed their list to seven or eight players they felt would be available at No. 30 before they traded that pick to Miami for star receiver Jaylen Waddle.

Projecting who will be there at No. 62, where Denverā€™s first pick now sits, is even more wide open.

That wonā€™t stop us. And no apologies for any embarrassment caused, either.

Round 2, Pick No. 62: Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge

In the Post¶¶Ņõap last mock draft, we slid back a few spots from No. 62 and selected RB Jonah Coleman.

This time around, we decided to stick and pick.

The result is decidedly not flashy but also feels like a realistic outcome for the Broncos.

Rutledge is widely considered a Day 2 player and is one of the better interior offensive linemen in this class. He played right guard in college ā€” the Broncos are set there long-term with All-Pro Quinn Meinerz ā€” but should have the versatility to play left or even center. Essentially, if he didnā€™t win a job over Ben Powers or make Denver reconsider going into the season with Powers on the roster, heā€™d be in position to slide in in 2027 or potentially back up multiple spots along the interior.

Offensive line,Ā in general, is a sneaky need for the Broncos. Theyā€™ve got all five starters back from one of the best fronts in football, but general manager George Paton acknowledged at the combine that the team is wary of aging out too many players at the same time. Plus, all five players at the moment are on premium contracts.

Also considered: The dream was for tight end Eli Stowers to fall, but he went in the middle of the second round. Another tight end option and the pick at No. 62 in our first Post mock draft, Ohio Stateā€™s Max Klare, was still on the board. We passed to avoid too much repetition, but he looks like a potential fit in the second round. Also still on the board, among others: Arkansas RB Mike Washington and Mizzou linebacker Josiah Trotter.

Round 4, Pick No. 114: Oregon inside linebacker Bryce Boettcher

Trade: Broncos receive Nos. 114 and 197. Philadelphia receives No. 111.

The fourth rolled around and the Paton, sans ā€˜Yā€™, in the Post¶¶Ņõap drafting team emerged. We were hoping to move back from No. 108 to get an extra pick or two and, sure enough, found enough suitors to land a deal we liked. That trade with Green Bay involved moving back to No. 120 and the details are below.

Then the surprise popped up. Philadelphia wanted to move up and we felt good about sliding back just a handful of spots and still getting our guy. What was Howie Roseman thinking?

At No. 114, the pick is Boettcher from a school Denver is quite familiar with. Heā€™s a physical player and a good leader who had 136 tackles for the Ducks in 2025 and contributed each of the past three seasons to one of college footballā€™s stoutest defenses.

Denverā€™s had an active offseason at ILB, retaining Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, releasing Dre Greenlaw and now moving Jonah Elliss inside. Still, hereā€™s a young player who can be a special teamer early and a potential Singleton replacement down the line.

Round 4, Pick No. 120: Boston College offensive tackle Jude Bowry

Trade: Broncos receive Nos. 120 and 160, Green Bay receives No. 108

Is this draft scintillating enough yet? The Broncos have only drafted one offensive lineman on Day 2 in Patonā€™s five drafts so far ā€” Meinerz in the 2021 third round ā€” but now are up to two in this draft alone. Again, it¶¶Ņõap not an immediate need, but Bowry checks boxes the Broncos like.

Offensive line coach Zach Strief told The Post last fall, ā€œWe love guys that can anchor. If you donā€™t get bull-rushed in this league, youā€™re 80% of the way there.ā€

Bowryā€™s got good strength and heā€™s a good athlete. Heā€™s got experience at both left and right tackle in college. Ideally, he doesnā€™t have to play right away.

In this scenario, though, Denver rolls into the summer with a pipeline that includes Rutledge and Bowry out of this draft, plus Alex Palczewski, Frank Crum, and Alex Forsyth. That¶¶Ņõap building to withstand the rigors of an NFL season and also preparing for a future in which the quarterback is no longer on a rookie deal and the front line must be cheaper ā€” but not without some incubation time in one of the leagueā€™s best offensive line development programs.

Round 5, Pick No. 160: Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon

Now things are heating up at the offensive skill positions. Teams across football have found ways to identify tight ends on Day 3 that end up making a real impact. Not everybody can land George Kittle, of course, but there are going to be quality tight ends from this draft class that donā€™t hear their name called until Saturday.

Raridonā€™s got a chance to be one of them. Heā€™s enormous at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds. Heā€™s got a good blocking foundation to his game ā€” though like most young players, heā€™s not a finished product ā€” and heā€™s athletic enough to believe heā€™s going to be a good receiver, too.

Like it or not, Denverā€™s going to play Adam Trautman and Evan Engram a ton this fall. The Broncos trust Trautman and theyā€™re hoping to get more from Engram as a receiver in his second season in the offense. Could a rookie tight end blow up that plan? In an outlier scenario, perhaps. More likely, a young player gets a chance to carve out a role as a rookie with the hopes that he blossoms late in the year, if injuries arise or in 2027 and beyond.

Round 5, Pick No. 170: Indiana running back Kaelon Black

Black fits the Payton running back threshold of ā€œshort but not smallā€ at 5-foot-9 and 210 pounds. Heā€™s a physical runner who was second on the national champsā€™ offense in carries at 180 behind Roman Hemby (230). Black averaged 5.6 per carry and, though he wasnā€™t used at IU in the passing game, he did have 44 catches and six receiving touchdowns his last two years at James Madison.

At Indianaā€™s pro day, Black reportedly ran 4.45 in the 40-yard dash and jumped 37.5 inches vertical. Heā€™s taken a top-30 visit with the Broncos. Black isnā€™t a prototypical third-down back, but he could carry some of that load and would be an intriguing fit with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey.

Round 6, Pick No. 197: USC safety Bishop Fitzgerald

In looking for safety depth, the Broncos here lean on the connection to USC in new defensive backs coach Doug Belk. Belk had Fitzgerald, an undersized safety, in his room for one year after Fitzgerald transferred from NC State.

Checked into the combine at 5-11 and 201 pounds and ran 4.55 in the 40-yard dash. He produced takeaways throughout his college career, with five interceptions in 2025 for USC and five combined in two seasons at NC State before that.

Denverā€™s got special teamers galore in its safety room behind starters Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones. Fitzgerald could add to that and perhaps push toward more.

Round 7, Pick No. 246: North Carolina cornerback Marcus Allen

Round 7, Pick No. 256: Kansas wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson

Round 7, Pick No. 257: IPP outside linebacker Josh Weru

In the seventh round, as Paton said last week, teams are often trying to get a jump on post-draft free agency. If you donā€™t think youā€™re going to win a battle for a player or donā€™t want to risk a bidding war in the post-draft chaos, this is the time.

Denverā€™s had success recently in the seventh round, finding contributors in WR Devaughn Vele and OL Alex Forsyth, plus players with still-interesting development arcs in OL Nick Gargiulo and TE Caleb Lohner.

In this rendition, a trio of seventh-rounders begins with Allen, who is 6-2, ran 4.5 in the 40, and comes from a program now led by a coach Payton really respects: Bill Belichick.

Denverā€™s receiver room looks pretty darn full, but Henderson is a receiver plus a special teams asset. Heā€™s a good returner ā€” even if Marvin Mims Jr. doesnā€™t see an uptick in playing time, NFL teams have realized you need two good ones given the kickoff ruleā€™s evolution ā€” and can handle other duties, too.

Mr. Irrelevant? Try Mr. Freak. Weru hasnā€™t gone mega-viral like IPP classmate and defensive lineman Uar Bernard, but make no mistake, heā€™s a ridiculous athlete. The 6-4, 244-pounder reportedly ran 4.45 in the 40 and jumped 41.5 inches vertical at the HBCU showcase. Heā€™s training with Javon Gopie, who also works with Nik Bonitto and trained Que Robinson last spring. Gopie told The Post recently, ā€œI think heā€™d be a no-brainer fit in (the Broncosā€™ scheme).ā€

A few days back, One picked Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, whom I’m amazed still has his job. Another took Lincoln Riley at USC. A third chose Deion Sanders at CU.

Pressure?

No question. That 3-9 doesn’t go away.

Hot seat?

Not the way Sanders’ contract is structured.

If terminated without cause, Coach Prime is owed 75% of all of his remaining base supplemental salary through 2029. Which means the Buffs would be on the hook for $33 million this year; $25.5 million in 2027; $17.25 million in 2028; and $9 million in 2029.

Boulder’s not a drinking town with a football problem. It’s a drinking town with an accounting problem.

CU has confirmed multiple reports that project its athletics department was, as of December, on a pace to finish the ’25-26 fiscal year with a $27 million deficit.

Sanders landed a $5-million raise a year ago. He’s slated to make about $10 million this season. That five-year, $54-million extension celebrates its first birthday in a few weeks.

Which begs the question: Was it worth it?

, only 13 FBS coaches at public schools were paid more than Sanders last year. Of that club, Brian Kelly was 5-3 when he was fired by LSU midway through the year. Mark Stoops went 5-7 and was fired by Kentucky after the season.

Among the coaches who collected the sport’s top 15 salaries last fall, only Sanders (3-9), Stoops (5-7) and Bill Belichick (4-8) had losing seasons. The latter was in charge of a college program for the first time. It showed.

But outgoing Buffs athletic director Rick George has been at this a long time. He should know better.

Why, 11 months after the fact, does it feel as if George was pretty much bidding against himself last winter when it came to Coach Prime’s services?

The Cowboys? Come on. Yeah, Jerry Jones is wacky enough to try anything once. But Sanders grasps the politics of an NFL locker room and the mindset of NFL veterans better than anybody. His approach wouldn’t land the same with grizzled adults.

ESPN? Maybe. That off-ramp is always there, though. Sanders is ratings gold, a TV master, and he knows it. Disney gave Pat McAfee a five-year, AAV deal of $17 million in 2023. The Mouse will pony up for personalities that bring eyeballs.

Another college, though? Not likely. It’s hard to picture many major collegiate athletic directors giving Coach Prime the power/perks/protection/political capital he covets. CU had an empty throne and a lonely, waiting crown.

Was it worth it?

George and CU didn’t really have a choice, did they? Not when it came to an extension. A hot coach always commands some gesture of good faith, even if it’s symbolic.

After last fall went so badly off the rails, the wiser play for the Buffs surely would’ve been to wait until this year to re-negotiate — to see what a post-Shedeur/post-Hunter roster looked like.

Or perhaps the school could’ve offered a 50% raise for 2025 after 2024’s 9-4 record, instead of basically doubling Sanders’ pay ($5.7 million two seasons ago) right from the get-go. Stagger those incentives.

Hindsight, alas, is for suckers and columnists. The Buffs, who open spring ball Monday, are full-speed ahead at pretending 2025 didn’t happen — so much so, in fact, that nearly half the roster, both coordinators and a chunk of the coaching staff are brand new.

For months, CU faithful wanted changes. Wise-cracking scribes wanted changes. Sanders listened. Or someone told him to listen.

Coach Prime replaced offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur with Brennan Marion — a move widely considered an upgrade, if simply for the fact that Marion isn’t Pencil Pat.

The more surprising turns came a few days ago. This past Tuesday, The Post’s Luca Evans, among others, reported that CU’s wonderboy defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston, was leaving the Buffs to join the Broncos as defensive passing game coordinator — largely the same position he’d held with the Bengals before coming to Boulder.

The plot thickened later in the week when CU confirmed reports that longtime Sanders friend and confidante Warren Sapp, who was elevated to defensive pass rush coordinator in ’25, had resigned from the program.

Sanders is on his third defensive coordinator and third offensive play-caller since March 2023. Ordinarily, $10 million is the kind of money a university typically pays for Saban-like stability — not volatility.

CU just doesn’t have the money to buy out big mistakes. Or even little ones, frankly.

Was it worth it?

The Buffs remain a mandatory selection for TV executives, almost entirely because of Sanders. Although from mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025, reported broadcast ratings for Buffs games had dipped 44%. Irrelevant football is irrelevant football, no matter who’s coaching it.

Enrollment of black students at CU-Boulder in fall 2025 was up 13.8% over fall 2024. Undergraduate enrollment and out-of-state undergraduate enrollment jumped in ’23-24. These are all good things. Football is a school’s best marketing front porch.

The Buffs reported $31.216 million in 2023 football ticket revenue to the NCAA; CU’s 2024-25 report, released last month, said football ticket sales brought in $24.026 million during the 2024 campaign.

The website Oddspedia.com recently . Assuming that’s reasonably in the ballpark, it would mean CU athletics lost $1.6 million off ticket sales during its final two home games of last season when compared to its last two home contests in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Buffs listed a departmental profit of $8.24 million in ’23-24. And all of that was before the House vs. NCAA ruling went into effect — which will account for an additional $20.5 million in expenses for student-athlete revenue sharing in ’25-26.

Was it worth it?

Ask us at Halloween. What limited history we have to go on says the Buffs, and Sanders, will be better this fall. For sanity’s sake, they’d better be.

Dahlen, a longtime front-office and personnel executive in the NFL, stood alone as the winner of the most Super Bowls in league history (seven) until Patriots head coach Bill Belichick surpassed him in 2017. Dahlen won five Super Bowls across a tenure of nearly two decades with the San Francisco 49ers, and won two more as the Broncos’ director of player personnel in 1997 and 1998.

Following quarterback John Elway’s retirement in 1998, Dahlen served as the Broncos’ general manager from 1999 to 2001 alongside head coach Mike Shanahan, as Denver went 25-23 in Dahlen’s three seasons at the helm. After his retirement, Dahlen remained in Centennial, where he passed away on Sunday, Palko said.

Palko remembered her grandfather as a “very quiet” man who didn’t crave the spotlight, but was an important figure in the background of a slew of championship teams. Around every Super Bowl, Palko posts a tribute on social media in remembrance of Dahlen’s career.

“I’m trying to keep sharing his legacy, because most people don’t know who he is unless they’re Googling, like, ‘Who has the most Super Bowl rings?'” Palko said.

Former Broncos Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, who was on Denver’s staff for several years with Dahlen in the front office, remembered Dahlen helping steady the roster in the period after Elway’s retirement. Two seasons after the legendary quarterback hung it up, Denver went 11-5, as rookie running back Mike Anderson — a sixth-round-pick — was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year

ā€œBetween him being so quiet about his contributions, which were bigger than his voice, I guess ā€“ he was a real stable personality around there,” Dennison said of Dahlen. “He really kept things moving, and did his job without a lot of fanfare.ā€

Dahlen’s organizations went 7-0 in their Super Bowl appearances, across a career of over three decades in the NFL. Dahlen, a California native, was .

“He was a man of few words,” Palko said. “But he has a big legacy.”

But not for the reasons you might think. It was not a slap in Sean Payton’s face. There is no need to put the quarterback and coach on a couch and let them talk it out.

What played out this week is not an example of a feud, but rather just the opposite. It is the secret sauce of their relationship.

Spoiler alert: Payton is hard to work for, as a player and a coach. This is why owner Greg Penner likes him. Payton creates high expectations and holds people accountable, which is the fabric of his elite culture building.

But Payton cannot help himself. He is not a vibes guy. He is a mood.

He takes jabs at opponents, media members, and, yes, on occasion, his own players. Earlier this week, Payton said he thought a doctor found ā€œa condition that was, like, predisposedā€ when evaluating Nixā€™s ankle. What he meant, according to those in the know, was that there was stress on the bone, suggesting a fracture was inevitable. This came on the heels of Payton’s joke falling flat after the win over Buffalo when he said he would not have drafted Nix had he known about his previous ankle issues.

Nix, who placed his recovery time at 4-to-6 weeks, pushed back. This is what he does. Remember the sideline shouting match with Payton during his rookie season? How about the multiple times he has yelled at his coach to hurry up with the play calls this year?

ā€œHe doesnā€™t really even know that,ā€ Nix said of Payton’s reference to previous ankle problems. ā€œBut I think it¶¶Ņõap going to be good to get back to work, start from ground zero. Work from the bottom up, get back to training. And there is nothing really that concerns me, nothing that scares me going forward.ā€

Nix stands up to Payton. His position gives him stature, and it is appreciated in the locker room when Nix holds his ground with the coach. It is viewed internally as creative friction, the same back-and-forth that has defined the most successful partnerships in Payton’s career. He and Drew Brees had their disagreements. They came to understand each other, and their sense of humor.

There is a reason that Payton referred to Nix as Ferris Bueller as a rookie. The kid is not afraid to tweak the coach, to color outside the lines. Payton demonstrated the same tendencies as a young play-caller with the New York Giants.

Payton will pop off. And Nix, often with a smirk, will return the volley.

That trust and dynamic clearly did not exist in the Payton-Russell Wilson arranged marriage. Wilson never challenged Payton publicly until last year on social media over a perceived slight when Payton praised Giants starter Jaxson Dart.

Football is not played in an office cubicle. Tom Brady screamed at his coaches. Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday went nose-to-nose. Payton gets under people’s skin. And Nix is not afraid to give it back to him.

This is their connective tissue, not evidence of a fissure.

Bad Bill: Bill Belichick was not elected into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. A few writers who did not vote for him explained his omission because of the process that pits coaches against senior players and contributors. The system stinks. But not voting for Belichick to relieve a backlog of candidates is flawed logic. Secondly, if Belichick was punished for Spygate and Deflategate, that would be understandable, save for this issue. The Pro Football Hall of Fame, unlike baseball’s, does not have a morality clause. Voters have not punished previous cheaters in this fashion, and definitely not a candidate with Belichick’s resume. Are they going to apply the same standard to Tom Brady? The worst part of the snub? Belichick will get in next year, meaning Mike Shanahan will have to wait another year, if not longer, before entering Canton.

Final thought: Nikola Jokic is back. The Nuggets went 10-6 in his absence, and with Oklahoma City returning to earth, there is no reason Denver cannot win the NBA Championship if healthy.

The Drake Maye we saw during the regular season would absolutely beat Denver. The Drake Maybe we have seen during the postseason creates serious doubts outside of the greater New England area.

Once Jarrett Stidham moved into the starting lineup for an injured Bo Nix, the Broncos lost respect. New England fans, buoyed by six Super Bowl titles, see Denver as a speed bump, a layover from Boston en route to Santa Clara.

They are laughing at the Broncos because they know Stidham. They had him.

In 2020, he was on the verge of becoming only the second NFL player to be selected after the 100th pick in the draft and start the opener in his second season without starting as a rookie. That ESPN stat is a mouthful, but it spoke to his potential. Then Bill Belichick showed how much he thought of Stidham by signing an injured Cam Newton.

Patriots fans cannot reconcile Stidham beating their team. Because he won’t. Not by himself. His task is to outplay Maye by having fewer sacks and turnovers.

If the Broncos pull off the upset, it will be because Nik turns into Von, because the defense that slumped against the Bills turns back the clock and makes Maye as miserable as Tom Brady was a decade ago.

“I have never coached a game where we hit the quarterback more than that day,” said former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips of the last AFC Championship Game in Denver. “We had two Hall of Famers in Demarcus (Ware) and Von (Miller). And when we got them one-on-ones, it was a problem.”

By now, you all know the Broncos blueprint: Stidham plays steady, rips it early, and protects the football. Executing the game plan, however, requires Nik Bonitto leaving footprints on Maye’s chest.

Patriots’ fans view Sunday as an annoying calisthenic, if not a joke.

What is not funny is the Patriots’ record here, and how it could apply to Maye. The Patriots have won 39 playoff games, and exactly zero in Denver in four tries. Brady lost three, one to Jake Plummer and a pair to Peyton Manning.

So, are we to believe Maye is going to handle this environment?

Really?

Maye has earned a high profile this season, entering the MVP discussion, even if Matthew Stafford will win the award. But he has not looked like the league’s top player over the past two weeks, most notably in the first halves (47.1 completion percentage).

He has six fumbles, losing three. He has been sacked 10 times. He has also been ordinary against teams with a winning record this season, going 3-2 with four interceptions and 22 sacks.

Whether because he is not healthy or a rookie, Patriots left tackle Will Campbell is regressing, looking like he could not block someone on Twitter. Khalil Mack, Odafe Oweh, Will Anderson Jr., and Danielle Hunter combined for two sacks and nine pressures against him over the last two games.

And this was at home, where Campbell could hear the snap count, and Maye could audible changes in protection.

Bonitto will line up against Campbell. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is too smart to leave the kid on an island. But asking running backs to chip or a tight end to help benefits Denver because it takes a target out of the passing game.

Bonitto has delivered on the turnover plea by Sean Payton, helping the Broncos post seven takeaways over the past two games after netting 12 in the first 16.

“(Vance Joseph) kind of broke it down easily, heā€™s like, ā€˜You know if you get the ball, you can still get a sack?ā€™ Weā€™ve been working on it, and I feel like thereā€™s been more of an emphasis,” Bonitto said. “I think not only for myself but the whole group weā€™ll see more of that.”

How the Patriots match up with Bonitto is significant. If they double him, likely since opposite edge rusher Jonathon Cooper has one sack in his last nine games, it provides a notebook for Zach Allen, D.J. Jones, Malcolm Roach and John Franklin-Myers to write a diary of havoc.

It goes back to pressure. Pressure generated. Pressure on Maye to perform. Pressure on the Broncos to bounce back.

Lost in the Stidham narrative is the uncomfortable truth that the Broncos defense did not play well last week. Denver barely won because the Bills converted 11 of 16 attempts on third and fourth down.

Denver could not get off the field, save for turnovers. That won’t work on Sunday.

It would be surprising if the Broncos are victorious, but hardly impossible. The Broncos’ best players are better than New England’s, starting with cornerback Pat Surtain II, right guard Quinn Meinerz, left tackle Garett Bolles and Bonitto.

But, they are not better at quarterback, a point underscored in every national conversation and, specifically, those in Boston. No way Drake Maye loses to Stidham.

We get it.

But the same thing was said about Brady against Manning. Ten years ago, the Broncos secured an early lead, and hung on by dental floss by hitting Brady over and over again.

A sequel with the same ending demands a similar script.

Stidham or no Stidham, the only way the Broncos win Sunday is by turning Drake Maye into Ache Maye.

The Broncos are done. Sean Payton went to Jarrett. And now everyone is returning the cubic zirconia ring to the store and demanding a refund.

The painful truth was obvious Saturday night when Bo Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle, an in-stadium X-ray turning elation into devastation.

It is obvious. Too obvious. The Broncos will never win again this season, not with Jarrett Stidham aiming to complete his first pass in a game that counts in two years.

Write it on the calendar. Put in the book. Bet it on the app, where Denver is already a 4.5 to 5-point underdog.

No chance.

Or is there? (Insert Sean Payton’s smirking face.)

Be honest, ¶¶Ņõapountry. You woke up this morning feeling like you drank a gallon of spirits and ate a drum of greasy food. Then, eyes blinking, head throbbing, you did something smart. You watched the Patriots beat the Texans, 28-16.

New England won in a performance that had more in common with leather helmets than dominance. The Patriots return to the AFC Championship Game for a rematch with the Broncos 10 years later, and this game suddenly feels winnable again for Denver.

Hard to believe for those of us who remember when Bill Belichick was famous for coaching, not dating, but the Patriots are a feelgood story. They went 4-13 last year and, now, in Mike Vrabel’s first season, they boast a 16-3 record.

Let’s be clear. They are a really good team. They are not that team. They are not invincible. Not inevitable. Admirable? Sure. But vulnerable.

Second-year quarterback Drake Maye belongs in the MVP conversation. And that is where the huge chasm exists between the teams. But Maye has not performed like an MVP in the postseason.

He has fumbled six times, losing three. He has thrown two interceptions. He has been sacked 10 times. By any objective analysis, Sunday was his worst performance this season, even if it came in a snow globe.

Gush all you want about Maye’s growth, his athleticism, but don’t leave out the facts. It came against the league’s easiest schedule. The Texans represented only the fourth team New England has faced with a winning record. They are 3-2 in those games.

Sunday, the Patriots were ordinary, winning namely because of C.J. Stroud’s philanthropy. If you are one of the few who did not receive an interception or fumble, Amazon should have a package at your door this week.

A month ago, New England figured it could ride Maye to a Super Bowl berth. The defense, though, has been the strength the past two weeks.

And that is tremendous news for the Broncos.

Their best chance of advancing to the franchise’s ninth Super Bowl is a low-scoring game decided by a field goal.

Stidham is 1-3 as an NFL starter, so asking too much of him with a potentially decimated receiving corps — it is uncertain if Troy Franklin (hamstring) and Pat Bryant (concussion protocol) will play — is flawed logic.

The Broncos need Stidham to serve as a game manager, protecting the football like it is the password to his ATM card.

Had he faced Houston, yes, he would have had a problem. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter would have lived in the backfield, speeding up the clock in his head.

The New England defense is terrific, given how the Patriots mauled the Texans while limiting them to 241 yards. And while I might deny I ever wrote this, it is hard to imagine Stidham — or anyone — playing worse than Stroud did.

How many times did ESPN’s Joe Buck say, “It’s up for grabs” on Stroud’s passing attempts? If it were a drinking game, we would have all passed out.

After six quarters of playoff football this winter, Stroud had five fumbles and five interceptions. He was so bad, the Texans gave up, punting when trailing by 12 points with 4:17 remaining.

Were the Patriots in sync? Or the benefactors of facing a quarterback with his wires crossed? New England looked nothing like Old England, with stars everywhere and Tom Brady in the cockpit.

And still …

No matter how many platitudes thrown his way for mental makeup, expert preparation and popularity in the locker room, Stidham faces a daunting challenge.

Like history.

He is the second quarterback to make his first start of the season in a conference championship game. Dallas Cowboys legend Roger Staubach did it in 1972, losing 26-3 to Washington. But he played extensively the previous week.

Stidham has not connected on a pass since Jan. 7, 2024. He has one win as a starter, a shoulder-shrug 16-9 victory over the Chargers in the second-to-last game of the 2023 regular season.

It’s been a while. And there’s not a lot to draw from. Remember, he failed as Brady’s successor in New England. Revenge game, anyone?

But without doing anything on Sunday, Stidham’s chances improved. There is a clear path to an upset. It involves the Broncos’ defense. The group that couldn’t steal candy from a baby suddenly has seven takeaways over the past two games.

And Maye will be making his road playoff debut. Yes, that matters.

Making him miserable is central to a victory. It involves defense coordinator Vance Joseph confusing Maye with matchup zone coverages. It requires Nik Bonitto continuing to go full Von Miller circa 2015.

Turnovers. Short field. Crowd at full throat. Perhaps even the return of J.K. Dobbins to ease the burden on Stidham.

No one outside of Denver believes the Broncos will win. And no one wants them to, dreading a backup quarterback in the Super Bowl.

Neither of these teams was supposed to be here. They are both deserving, but flawed.

And now, anything can happen. Even a win by Jarrett Stidham.

They will play for that — and perhaps a division title, too, depending on this weekendā€™s NFL action ā€” next weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers.

That after an ugly, grind-it-out, 20-13 Christmas night win over Kansas City here.

Denver needed the entire night to fend off a pesky, already eliminated Kansas City team in what many thought would quickly turn into a rout like last yearā€™s 38-0 Week 18 win against the Chiefsā€™ JV squad.

ā€œIt doesnā€™t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective,ā€ head coach Sean Payton said. “Iā€™ve said that before. (The win) is all that¶¶Ņõap important.”

Here are seven thoughts from Denverā€™s latest victory.

1. The Broncosā€™ best play call of the night — ā€œHarrisburgā€ ā€” is literally not a play at all. It earned Denver five critical yards on fourth-and-2 and set up Bo Nixā€™s game-winning touchdown pass.

Quinn Meinerz felt a little salty. His feelings were a bit hurt, his ego slightly bruised.

A few weeks back, during a run-of-the-mill practice, head coach Sean Payton installed a play ā€” or, well, not really a play but a call ā€” that he thought the Broncos might need in a clutch situation somewhere down the stretch of the season.

The goal: Get a defensive lineman to jump offsides and pick up a free first down.

Hereā€™s how the Broncos set it up: Get in a weird formation without a play actually called. On the road, Denver regularly uses a silent count in which Meinerz, the right guard, signals to the center with an arm motion to snap the ball.

This time, the center would look back between his legs at the quarterback — or, in this situation, running back RJ Harvey lined up as a Wildcat quarterback ā€” and then look back up. After that bob, Meinerz would hard count.

Except Meinerz didnā€™t have enough verve the first time he tried it in practice.

ā€œThe first time I did it, Sean gave me (crap) for not doing it loud enough,ā€ the All-Pro right guard told The Post on Thursday night. ā€œI got kinda sensitive about it and I was like, ā€˜how loud do you want it, then?ā€™ He just said ā€˜louder.ā€™

ā€œSo we re-ran the play, I did it louder and it was kind of a funny moment.ā€

That was earlier this month.

The moment of truth arrived Christmas night at Arrowhead as Denver tried to close out an already eliminated but tough-to-kill Chiefs team.

Chiefs called for offsides here

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs)

Fourth-and-2 at the Kansas City 9-yard line. Game tied at 13. The Broncos had the two-minute warning to talk through their plan.

They did not intend to run a play. In fact, they didnā€™t have one called. They were going to try to draw Kansas City offsides with a call Payton dubbed “Harrisburg.”

ā€œIt¶¶Ņõap a no-brainer ā€˜freeze,ā€™ but out of a different formation — one weā€™ve never shown,ā€ Payton said. ā€œWe were going to take the delay of game. We didnā€™t have a play. We called it Harrisburg because it looks like a play we had called Pittsburgh and because nobody moves in Harrisburg.

ā€¦ It¶¶Ņõap a unique one. Youā€™re on the road, so it involves a heel (raise) and Meinerz is barking the cadence out. So hat off to him.ā€

Did Broncos players know why Payton named the call for a town in central Pennsylvania?

ā€œI guess,ā€ right tackle Mike McGlinchey said with a laugh. ā€œI didnā€™t know that¶¶Ņõap where it came from, but that¶¶Ņõap the call.ā€

Theyā€™d run the clock down, take a delay of game and kick the field goal to take a 16-13 lead. Unless, of course, a Chiefs defender jumped.

This is a no-lose situation in Meinerzā€™ mind. Any flinch from any defender and heā€™d roar off the line of scrimmage, trying to draw a penalty on the defense.

ā€œBecause at that point, if youā€™re wrong, it¶¶Ņõap just the five yards back and we were already going to take the delay of game,ā€ Meinerz said. ā€œSo, any movement, go. I think I just barely got enough of it because he almost got re-set.ā€

The Broncos got to the line of scrimmage and split quarterback Bo Nix out to the right. Harvey lifted his leg like he was ready for the snap —Ā ā€an oddball formation,ā€ Payton called it. Forsyth bobbed back from looking in the backfield to his normal stance. Meinerz barked.

ā€œWe go through the process,ā€ Payton said. ā€œ(Forsyth goes) head up, head down. Meinerz goes ā€˜Set. Hut.ā€™ It¶¶Ņõap timed up with the heel coming down and theyā€™re all looking at the center. They did it.ā€

Indeed, All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones flinched.

ā€œIt¶¶Ņõap really good situational football,ā€ McGlinchey said. ā€œWell, good for us, not so good for the other team. Weā€™ve had it up for a couple weeks now and saved it for a crucial situation to where we were able to get a big first down there and milk a little more clock.

ā€œIt was really well executed.ā€

Meinerz is one of the best guards in football. Heā€™s known for mauling defenders in the run game and heā€™s turned himself into one of the best pass-protecting interior players on the planet, too.

Turns out, heā€™s also got a good hard count.

ā€œFourth-and-2, game on the line, gotta have it, that¶¶Ņõap top tier from Quinn Meinerz,ā€ McGlinchey said.

Meinerz said the play is a good encapsulation of what Denverā€™s offensive line room as turned into over the past three years under coach Zach Strief.

ā€œIt comes down to the mental toughness that we prepare for in this o-line room and the foundation that was built when Strief first got here,ā€ Meinerz said. ā€œThat¶¶Ņõap what weā€™ve been building. ā€¦

ā€œThat¶¶Ņõap a gotta-have-it situation. Fourth-and-1 or whatever it was. Needed to score that touchdown, not three points. You give the Chiefs time in that situation, two-minute drill, you donā€™t want them to need a field goal. You want to really put stress on them to need that touchdown.

ā€œIt was a gotta-have-it situation, we were ready and it worked.

Plus, such exploits on the field come with a reward.

ā€œWhen you get a d-lineman to jump offsides, everybody gets Jordans,ā€ Forsyth said.

A bountiful Christmas across the board, then, for Denverā€™s front line.

2. The Broncos got their normal, rousing speech from senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt on Wednesday night in the team hotel. There was just one, small problem. ā€¦

Senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt speaks to the team during a team meeting at the hotel the night before every game. It¶¶Ņõap a staple.

ā€œJoe Vitt, heā€™s our guy,ā€ McGlinchey said. ā€œHeā€™s been Seanā€™s guy for I donā€™t even know how many years. Heā€™s one of the heartbeats of this team and we love him.ā€

Each week, McGlinchey explained, Vitt¶¶Ņõap address to the team is ā€œon point.ā€

ā€œTies it into the keys to victory, ties it into the themes of the week and all that kind of stuff,ā€ McGlinchey said. ā€œHeā€™s the best.ā€

There was just one, small issue with Vitt¶¶Ņõap speech to the team on Wednesday night in downtown Kansas City: The entire premise of it was wrong.

Vitt launched into a passionate talk about how the Broncos had a chance to do something special. They could clinch the division championship. At Arrowhead Stadium. Against a Chiefs team that, sure, is already eliminated this season and not playing for much besides Grinch status on Christmas night, but was still the reigning defending AFC West champions. Theyā€™d won the division nine straight years.

ā€œYouā€™re playing the heart of a champion. Andy (Reid) and this team, I donā€™t care who comes out of that locker room,ā€ Payton said. ā€œThis is a team that has been at the top of our league for the better part of the century.

ā€œThere is a ton of respect we have for what they have been able to accomplish.ā€

This was Denverā€™s chance to take the crown. On the Chiefsā€™ home field.

Except, well, it wasnā€™t.

Denver could and ultimately did put itself on the doorstep of a division title Thursday night, but they couldnā€™t clinch. They will have to wait until at least Saturday when Houston and the Los Angeles Chargers play. If the Chargers win, then next weekendā€™s game between L.A. and Denver at Empower Field will be for the division and, in Denverā€™s case, for the No. 1 seed, too.

ā€œHe spoke to the team last night and he went on and on about clinching tonight and no one said anything,ā€ Payton recalled after the game. And Iā€™m just thinking, ā€˜Come on, Joe.ā€™ā€

McGlinchey watched with confusion that turned to humor.

ā€œI thought I was wrong,ā€ he said of his first impressions while listening to Vitt. ā€œI was under the impression that we could not do it tonight. Which, I was correct and Joe was not. But nobody has more passion for what weā€™re doing than Joe Vitt. It came off like a great, motivating speech like it always does.

ā€œIt was a very funny moment for sure.ā€

When the Broncos got to the locker room to celebrate their Christmas Night victory, players were ready. They had a hat made and a toy trophy that they presented to Vitt. They sprayed him with a mini bottle of champagne in a mock division title celebration, too.

Denver certainly hopes it gets to celebrate the real thing soon.

3. The Broncos will watch intently Saturday, then, as the Texans and Chargers play. Houston can deliver Denver a division title.

Teams sometimes rebuff the idea of scoreboard watching late in the season.

The Broncos? Theyā€™ll be glued to the television Saturday afternoon.

ā€œYeah, I wonā€™t be watching the other games,ā€ Payton said.

Denver hasnā€™t won a division title since 2015. Wouldnā€™t it feel weird to clinch one while watching on the couch this weekend?

ā€œHowever it happens, I donā€™t give a (crap),ā€ McGlinchey said. ā€œIā€™m happy to do it either way.ā€

Added Meinerz, ā€œI donā€™t care, man. However weā€™ve got to get it done. The feet will be up.ā€

Of course, a division title game Week 18 would come with high drama.

Payton is 0-3 so far against Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh since they each returned to NFL sidelines. Harbaugh was a finalist for Denverā€™s vacancy before the 2023 season. He ultimately decided to return to Michigan for one more year, where he went undefeated and won a national title. The Broncos hired Payton. A year later, Harbaugh went to Los Angeles. Theyā€™ve each built programs to rival and — this year at least ā€” surpass the Chiefs in the division.

L.A. is on quite a run, too. Quarterback Justin Herbert is getting hit and battered constantly behind a makeshift offensive line playing without two All-Pro caliber tackles. Yet he keeps making plays and keeps delivering in the clutch. The Chargers have won four straight and seven of their past eight.

Houston will be no walk in the park given its ferocious pass-rush and overall top-flight defense.

If L.A. finds a way, then next weekend is for all the marbles at Empower Field. The NFL will set the schedule for the weekend once Week 17 action is complete, but that matchup would be a strong candidate for Sunday Night Football if it¶¶Ņõap for the division.

Denver also kept itself firmly entrenched as the favorite for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Win against the Chargers and it¶¶Ņõap theirs.

Five teams are technically still alive for the No. 1 seed going into the weekend, though Buffaloā€™s chances are down to 1%, according to the New York Timesā€™ playoff prediction model.

That race looks like this, with Denver 16 games in and everybody else 15.

Denver (13-3): 57%

New England (12-3): 29%

Jacksonville (11-4): 8%

L.A. Chargers (11-4): 3%

Buffalo: (11-4): 1%

Of course, the Chargers can make the Week 18 stakes massive with a Saturday win.

In that circumstance, Denver would capture the No. 1 seed with a win but could end up as low as the No. 6 seed with a loss.

4. The Broncos set the franchise record for sacks in a season with 64, breaking last yearā€™s record. That means theyā€™ve got 127 in the past 33 games.

On paper, Denver had one of its least efficient nights rushing the passer against the Chiefs. Their lone sack came in the second half when Dondrea Tillman and Jonah Elliss sacked quarterback Chris Oladokun for an 11-yard loss. That proved critical in its own right because it helped drive Kansas City from prime scoring territory to a long Harrison Butker field goal attempt, though he converted from 53 yards to push the Chiefs’ lead to 10-6.

That one sack also had season-long implications. It was Denverā€™s 64th on the season, officially breaking lastĀ  yearā€™s franchise record of 63.

With just one game left, the Broncos are unlikely to really threaten Chicagoā€™s 1985 single-season mark of 72, which they spent much of the season on or near pace to break.

Denverā€™s recorded at least one sack in every game this season and had multiple in all but one game before Thursday.

Even with a relatively paltry outing, Payton said he was happy with what his group did against Oladokun.

ā€œHereā€™s the thing: I love the sack, but we couldnā€™t be rushing for sacks tonight,ā€ Payton said. ā€œWe had to cage and keep him in the pocket. He can run. The worst place you can be in football is behind the quarterback. So I thought right after that first series we did a great job of keeping him in the pocket.

ā€œI donā€™t think anyoneā€™s focused on records right now. It¶¶Ņõap fabulous for our defense, but it¶¶Ņõap how you win each game.ā€

The translation there: Oladokun is a good athlete and a capable runner but he came into the game with 11 career completions — all of them last week after Chiefs No. 2 Gardner Minshew tore his ACL. The Broncos were set on making him play from the pocket and win as a passer.

His final line on Christmas: 13 of 22 for 66 yards.

Denver now has 127 sacks in 33 games since the start of the 2023 season. That¶¶Ņõap an average of 3.8 per game.

In that span, perhaps not surprisingly, the Broncos are 23-10.

5. One question still hanging out there for Vance Josephā€™s defense even after a mostly dominant performance: Are the takeaways ever going to show up?

Only four teams in football have fewer takeaways than the Broncosā€™ 11. They intercepted Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love twice in Week 15 and havenā€™t forced a turnover in either of their two games since.

Denver is minus-5 in turnover differential on the season.

Coordinator Vance Josephā€™s group is clearly talented and has played at a high level most of the season, but they are likely going to have to take the ball away at some point to mount a deep playoff run.

ā€œI donā€™t think it¶¶Ņõap luck. We have to take the ball away,ā€ Joseph said earlier in the week. ā€œThat¶¶Ņõap one thing we havenā€™t done this year. Weā€™ve got a ton of sacks. It¶¶Ņõap rare you have that many sacks and no forced fumbles. Weā€™ve got to focus on those things. That¶¶Ņõap part of the processā€¦

ā€œWeā€™ve got to fix that. Weā€™ve got time to fix that.ā€

There are some logical explanations. For example, teams that play more man defense tend to end up with fewer interceptions because defensive players are not always so focused on the quarterbackā€™s eyes or in position to try to jump routes. The Broncos have also been, with a couple of games excluded, a sound tackling team but not one that rips the ball out frequently.

ā€œIt¶¶Ņõap not just luck. It¶¶Ņõap not just luck,ā€ Payton said. ā€œIt¶¶Ņõap a byproduct of pass-rush, a byproduct of punch-outs. Iā€™d say it¶¶Ņõap anything but (luck). Now sometimes you recover your own fumble maybe that is, but that¶¶Ņõap something weā€™re working on.ā€

To Josephā€™s point, it is odd to hit the quarterback as much as Denver does without turning teams over more.

Joseph said the Broncos teach rushers to try to aim for the quarterbackā€™s elbow, but that hasnā€™t shown up much on tape so far this season.

“We teach that from Day 1,” Joseph said. … “Our focus when we win as a pass-rusher is to attack the elbow. They give you the sack and the quarterback hit and you get the ball. That¶¶Ņõap our focus and that hasnā€™t got done this year. It has to get better.ā€

6. For quite a while Thursday, it seemed possible this game would join an infamous cadre of ghosts of recent Christmas (and Christmas Eve) past for the Broncos.

Ugly or not, Thursdayā€™s win felt like something of a full-circle moment. Three years to the day prior, the Broncos got entirely embarrassed by the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. The Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group watched from a suite with Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who is family by marriage. Theyā€™d owned the team for all of four months.

By the time the beatdown ended, offensive lineman Dalton Risner had shoeved backup quarterback Brett Rypien on the sideline. Randy Gregory, mad that he was in the lineup and asked to play after a knee injury that cost him 10 games, swung at Rams wildly during his limited playing time and then threw a punch after the game. Coach Nathaniel Hackett walked out of his postgame news conference with his head down and his hands stuffed in his pocket. He likely knew by then what came next.

The next morning, Dec. 26, he was fired. Within a couple of weeks Denverā€™s ownership group had already had preliminary conversations with Payton.

Now, three years after that debacle, here the Broncos are.

Payton, though, also had a tough primetime outing of his own this time of year. That came Christmas Eve 2023 when Denver lost at home to a terrible New England team. Bill Belichick was angling to play for overtime late in the game until Payton got aggressive and used his timeouts. Belichick finally had his offense kick it into gear and the Patriots won on a long, late field goal.

As it turned out, even a win on that night wouldnā€™t have changed Denverā€™s playoff fortunes.

As it turns out, that was the last game Russell Wilson started for the Broncos. Payton benched him for the seasonā€™s final two games. Denver finished 8-9, a Week 18 loss at Las Vegas moved the team up to the No. 12 spot in the draft, the club selected Nix and the rest is history.

Those kind of games, though, can leave a mark.

Meinerz, for example, said he ā€œwas almost anxious playing on Christmas because last time we played on Christmas it was not a very fun game.ā€

7a. The Broncos defense got back on track against the depleted Chiefs and snuffed out Kansas Cityā€™s offense.

The Broncos surrendered just 139 yards to Kansas City on Thursday night, the third-lowest total of the season. They allowed just 82 rushing yards and 57 net passing yards on the night to the Chiefs and third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun.

The last possession Josephā€™s group defended was the best the Chiefs put together — it went 39 yards before a turnover on downs that ended the game.

Reidā€™s offense clearly played short-handed with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes having torn his ACL earlier this month and several offensive weapons, including top receiver Rashee Rice, out with other injuries, but the performance was still an impressive one for Josephā€™s group.

Only the New York Jets and Tennessee mustered fewer total yards and fewer passing yards against the Broncos this year.

7b. Nix had an up-and-down game overall but made plays when his team needed them.

Quarterback Bo Nix had something of a strange Christmas night at the office. On one hand, he played one of his worst statistical games of the season in the passing game, mustering just 182 yards on 38 passing attempts and throwing an interception along with a touchdown. On the other, he helped engineer four 14-plus play drives, rushed for 43 yards and a 9-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw and threw the go-ahead touchdown to running back RJ Harvey with 1:45 remaining in the game. Overall, a game without a ton of efficiency but a heaping dose of clutch for Denverā€™s second-year quarterback.

7c. With the win, Payton became just the second coach in NFL history to oversee five different 13-win seasons. The other, of course, is Belichick.

ā€œIā€™ve been fortunate to have really good players and really good coaches,ā€ Payton said. ā€œSome of them who are right here have been part of all of those wins or some of those wins. Obviously, Bill is good company. Let¶¶Ņõap keep it rolling.ā€

Heā€™s just not entirely sold on the notion that Belichick is done coaching in the NFL.

ā€œIā€™ll be honest with you, I miss him not being in the league,ā€ Payton said Wednesday, . ā€œI miss him not being in the league and I wouldnā€™t be surprised —Ā and I would be somewhat hopeful that he ends up back in the league. Weā€™d all be better for it. Heā€™s somethinā€™.ā€

Belichick, of course, is a six-time Super Bowl champion in New England and just finished his first season as the head coach at the University of North Carolina.

Belichick got the nod over former Broncos coaches Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves, former Seattle and Green Bay head coach Mike Holmgren and several others.

ā€œI didnā€™t realize that coaches didnā€™t have to wait five years,ā€ Payton said. ā€œThereā€™s a few planes right out here on the runway. One of them is Belichick, the other oneā€™s Shanahan. Thereā€™s Holmgren. And it¶¶Ņõap just a matter of when they take off.ā€

Shanahan has made it deep into the process each of the past four years but has not yet been advanced as a finalist for consideration by the full Hall of Fame committee. Last year, a blue ribbon committee selected Holmgren as its coaching finalist, but Holmgren did not get enough support from the full body for enshrinement.

Payton has often called a week-plus coaching the NFC Pro Bowl team after his first year as a head coach a formative experience because Belichick was coaching the AFC team and he had a chance to pick the veteranā€™s brain.

ā€œThe timing was perfect,ā€ Payton said. ā€œI was in the NFC, he was in the AFC, and he was very gracious.ā€

The pair hosted a series of joint practices over the years and Payton always thought highly of how Belichickā€™s teams comported themselves.

ā€œHonestly, if we at that time werenā€™t paying attention to what they were doing (in New England) — we looked closely at it,ā€ Payton said. ā€œSmart, tough, reliable football players. ā€¦ Iā€™d consider him a close coaching friend whoā€™s had an impact on how we look at building a roster.ā€