So Payton got creative, as multiple people who saw or heard about the meeting recalled, and instead played a clip from the movie “Rudy” as Rothstein’s introduction.

“Ppl (sic) loved it,” one person in the building texted The Post.

Rothstein had no old tape, indeed, because his playing days ended back in Section VIII high school football in Bellmore, N.Y. He pivoted immediately to something different. In 2009, while studying at the State University of New York at Cortland, he asked new offensive line coach Eric Jendryaszek if he could help out as a student assistant. At the same time, SUNY Cortland’s football program was implementing a new technology called

Then-head coach Dan MacNeill told Jendryaszek that he’d learned one of his assistants had already learned the software before even arriving on campus.

“It was frickin’ Evan,” Jendryaszek recalled.

“Frickin’ Evan,” nearly two decades later, exists as a near-invisible public figure around Dove Valley and Empower Field since advancing from Detroit to New England to Denver. He did not want to be interviewed for this story. He has no biography on the Broncos‘ . And yet his mind, as one Broncos source told The Post, was “very impactful” in the team’s sterling 11-2 record in one-score wins in 2025.

Second-year receiver Pat Bryant echoed the sentiment, asked how important Rothstein was in Denver’s close-game run.

“Very, bro,” Bryant told The Post. “When we do two-minute drills, situational, Sean (Payton) kinda steps to the side and lets Evan go to work. He’ll turn around, ask Evan questions. We come in here, we watch film on it, (Evan) will tell us what we did wrong.

“So, he’s basically like another offensive coordinator, for our situational football.”

Three coaches on Denver’s staff spoke to the entire team consistently in 2025. One, of course, was Payton. One was senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt, who speaks on Saturday nights before game day. And the other was Rothstein, who goes in-depth each week on situational and late-game mechanics.

“He’s been a tremendous asset, and almost like an air traffic controller on gameday where — his mind, it����ap racing with timeouts, and clock and situation,” Payton said in late July.

In Denver, Rothstein is indirectly part of a growing fraternity across the NFL, as the league has gradually come to recognize the value of analytically minded coaches who operate in “game-management roles” on game days. Every head coach across the NFL, as Ravens game-management coordinator Charlie Gelman told The Post, has some right-hand resource they trust in such a role. Some are in front-office research departments; most are buried on coaching staffs. All, though, are generally tasked with spitting out algorithmic data that help inform a head coach’s decision-making around fourth downs, two-point conversions, timeouts and beyond.

Rothstein is a unique case in a unique field, a coach who has worked hands-on under Jim Caldwell, Bill Belichick and Payton and who is also a “math wizard,” as Caldwell put it.

“He’s an extremely bright individual,” Jendryaszek said. “If it wasn’t for his passion for football, he could be building rocket ships.”

And before long, Rothstein — or one of these fraternity members across the NFL — could take the analytics revolution from their play-caller’s ear to their own call-sheet.

“I don’t want to speak for Evan, but guys who – I’m assuming like, Evan and myself, and some of these guys that are more on the coaching side, we’d all love to get to that point where we’re calling plays one day,” one NFL game-management specialist, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Post. “I think it’s trending that way. I think we’re getting more and more coaching responsibilities every year. I think it����ap either going to take a special head coach to give that opportunity, or a special ownership.”

“I think one of us just has to find a way to prove it, and get that first job.”

Gelman, who was hired as Baltimore’s game-management coordinator this offseason after spending three years in a similar role in Indianapolis, began experimenting with football analytics in the seventh grade. As a student assistant at Duke from 2018 to 2021, he built a win-probability model that the football program eventually adopted as its own. And after spending a year in Baltimore interfacing with then-Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Colts head coach Shane Steichen called about a job opening.

The problem, of sorts: Gelman was a not-so-grizzled 24-year-old at the time.

“I was scared that they would think I was too young,” Gelman said. “So I grew out a full goatee, just to look older.”

It worked well enough to land him the gig as Steichen’s game-manager in Indianapolis, where Gelman came to understand his job in simple terms: maximize win probability. Utilizing the programming language R, he has built models that use decades of data from NFL games, take commands and output tangible recommendations for late-game situations. On gamedays, Gelman’s program spits out 116 individual sheets of recommended decisions — game managers still need analog charts given the — depending on specific down, yardage and distance.

“I think around the league, we all think very similarly,” Gelman said. “The question is just — how do each of us go about our businesses in our different, unique ways?”

Caldwell, the former and head coach, learned from four years overseeing Rothstein that the game manager has algorithmic processes for late-game decisions that “no one else does,” as Caldwell said. He would not reveal state secrets. But Rothstein’s process dates back to his time at SUNY Cortland, where he used the DVSport film program to create “logic statements” to predict and analyze opponents’ play-calling tendencies based on formation, down and distance.

Jendryaszek explained that Rothstein would present a team’s usage of a “Trips” formation, with three receivers aligned on the same side of the field. Rothstein could explain their tendencies for strong-side runs. Or weak-side runs. Or five-step drops. Or quick-game looks. Or categorize those tendencies by down and distance. And he built this all, Jendryaszek marveled, from scratch.

“He just kinda built that out as an 18-, 19-year-old, which was crazy,” Jendryaszek said. “No one was asking him to do it. He just loved that aspect of it. And he even started to work on his own playbook, back in the day.”

Once Caldwell arrived in Detroit in January 2014, he began to sit down with Rothstein, who had been with the Lions for two previous seasons as a special-teams quality control coach. Every single night, through that winter, spring and summer, Caldwell and Rothstein kicked around potential game situations and ideas for how to approach them. “Go find out why we should make this decision,” Caldwell told him, “instead of this.”

Rothstein would take 10 to 15 years of recent NFL data, Caldwell said, and analyze the correct answer. And he would communicate clearly, in Caldwell’s ear, on Sundays.

“Let me put it this way,” Caldwell said, speaking on Rothstein’s impact. “All you need to do is look at — I think Denver had, how many one-score games they won … a bunch, right? Take a look at us in Detroit.”

The Lions had a .563 win percentage in Caldwell’s tenure with Rothstein from 2014-17 — and a .595 win percentage in one-score games, according to The Post’s research.

“Besides our quarterback, who was great, obviously, Matthew Stafford, it was because of the conserving time, or eating up the clock,” Caldwell said.

According to The Post’s research of available NFL staff data, 17 of 32 franchises currently have some sort of front-office or coaching staffer in a specific “game-management” role; plenty more employ staffers who handle such responsibilities without an official title. The profession has expanded in the last decade, as Buccaneers director of football research Zach Beistline told The Post. And the effect is plain in 2-point and fourth-down utilization: the number of total league-wide fourth-down tries has nearly doubled from 2016 to 2025, according to The Post’s research.

The “really good game-management teams,” as one NFL game-manager told The Post, have even begun to start throwing challenge flags on previous plays in situations where they’d instead use a timeout — to capitalize on even a minuscule chance that an official might overturn a call.

“I think it����ap definitely shifted to like — every coach has someone they trust with this situation,” Gelman said. “Because it����ap a lot to think about. They need someone to be thinking one step ahead at all times.”

In Denver, Payton has Rothstein, who the Broncos head coach tried to hire in New Orleans in 2021 before Rothstein picked New England. And Rothstein, too, is widely respected across the league’s game-management community — within his own silo in Denver.

On Wednesday nights, a group of game-management coordinators across the NFL holds an informal Zoom call to discuss some of the league’s replay decisions from the previous week. It is done, as multiple game-management staffers told The Post, to help analyze officiating decisions and therefore inform individual challenge-flag decisions. No privileged information is shared. Except sometimes it is, and one NFL game-manager told The Post he likes to log on to “see what people let slip by.”

“Evan,” that game-manager told The Post, “does not make an appearance on those.”

Another smart decision, it seems, in a string of them in Denver.

“There’s probably not anything he can’t do,” Caldwell said of Rothstein. “I mean, I wouldn’t (be surprised) if he becomes a head coach one day. That����ap a possibility. And he’s capable. There’s no question about it.”

Not the Super Bowl champs? Well, the Rams were already loaded. Then they traded for Myles Garrett, too. They should be a freight train.

2. Seattle Seahawks

Mike MacDonald’s team will have a ring ceremony at some point and they might not even be the favorites in their own division. Welcome to the NFC West!

3. Denver Broncos

A lofty position for Sean Payton’s team, but they’ve got continuity, they added Jaylen Waddle and Bo Nix is heading into a critical Year 3.

4. Buffalo Bills

Could this, at long last, finally be Josh Allen’s year? He was foiled at Empower Field back in January, but he’ll have a squad again this fall.

5. New England Patriots

Drake Maye and Co. took full advantage of a strange year and played in a Super Bowl … well, technically. A complete team in Year 2 under coach Mike Vrabel.

6. Baltimore Ravens

The bet here is that former Payton acolyte Declan Doyle will be good for Lamar Jackson, and that Jesse Minter will be an instant success as a head coach. They’ll be fun.

7. Philadelphia Eagles

Starting in 2022, the Eagles have won 14, 11, 14, and 11 games. You know what that means. Fourteen big ones inbound for Nick Sirianni’s team.

8. San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers went from afterthought to nearly capturing the No. 1 seed in the NFC last year. If they can stay healthy, they’ll be a force. Been a big if recently.

9. Los Angeles Chargers

The Mike McDonald and Justin Herbert pairing is one of the NFL’s most fascinating. If Herbert gets comfy, it can be a scary offense.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jags got hot last year and won the division. Imagine how much fun they’d have been with a healthy Travis Hunter. Hopefully 2026 is the year.

11. Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams started to look like a star in the making under coach Ben Johnson. The Bears are really back… and apparently moving to Indiana as well. The only explanation: Duh Bears!

12. Detroit Lions

The Lions went from Johnson to John Morton at OC. It… didn’t work. Drew Petzing should be a good fit for Jared Goff and Co., but Detroit����ap got to play defense, too, in a tough division.

13. Houston Texans

The Texans have perhaps the scariest defense in the NFL. They are an absolute hurricane under DeMeco Ryans. If C.J. Stroud finds his form, this will be an under-ranking.

14. Green Bay Packers

The Packers flamed out again, then extended everybody. At times, Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love look like a Super Bowl waiting to happen. Sometimes.

15. Dallas Cowboys

We know the Cowboys will score with Dak Prescott and those receivers. If former Denver assistant Christian Parker gets the defense straightened out, look out.

16. Kansas City Chiefs

This is destined to be a hilarious under-ranking if Patrick Mahomes quickly returns to form. He probably will. But, for now, questions abound around the all-timer under center.

17. Cincinnati Bengals

Every season Joe Burrow has played 16 or more regular season games, he’s thrown for at least 4,475 yards and 34 touchdowns. Let����ap do that again.

18. Washington Commanders

This team went to the NFC Championship Game in 2024, then Jayden Daniels’ follow-up season was scuttled by injuries. Here’s hoping for a healthy Year 3.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs will get great play from Baker Mayfield, have weeks where they look like one of the best offenses on the planet and somehow end up 7-8 but in the hunt for the NFC South.

20. Carolina Panthers

Basically the same as above, but just not quite as good at quarterback. Bryce Young, though, has a division title under his belt and a chance to repeat.

21. Indianapolis Colts

Daniel Jones is supposedly going to be healthy at the start or early in the season. That����ap good. Probably. This team was so fun for the first half of 2025.

22. Pittsburgh Steelers

If nothing else, the Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers reunion will be tremendous theater. What if they actually make one more run together?

23. Minnesota Vikings

What a calamity for Minnesota to let Sam Darnold go after a terrific 2024. Now they’ve got a Kyler Murray/J.J. McCarthy situation that feels like a Kevin O’Connell cry for help.

24. New Orleans Saints

The Saints can win the NFC South. That����ap in part because it����ap a bad division but also because Tyler Shough has juice and New Orleans was cooking down the stretch last year.

25. New York Giants

John Harbaugh should bring some instant calm and respectability to the Giants. If he can get Jaxson Dart to take another step, the G-Men will have a bright future.

26. Atlanta Falcons

Kevin Stefanski and Matt Ryan are the new braintrust in Atlanta, but the Falcons have questions at QB and around the roster. They’re quite a way away.

27. Tennessee Titans

Titans Cam Ward did some good things as a rookie and clearly has some moxy to his game. Now, can Robert Saleh help build the rest of it around the young QB?

28. Las Vegas Raiders

No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza (eventually) has fun weapons in Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. Klint Kubiak is a talented offensive coach. It����ap going to take longer than a year.

29. New York Jets

Former Broncos asst. GM Darren Mougey has been wheeling and dealing. They’ve got troves of premium picks the next couple years. It’ll be fun. But those picks can’t play in 2026.

30. Cleveland Browns

Deshaun Watson said recently he’d be open to an extension in Cleveland. That����ap nice. Here’s betting the Browns think $230 million for nine wins (so far) will have been plenty.

31. Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals all the way through the coaching carousel this winter felt a bit like they had nowhere to turn. Eventually it was to Dial-A-McVay Assistant. Or, er, Mike LaFleur.

32. Miami Dolphins

Give the Dolphins credit for going all in on the teardown. But they’re paying $112 million to players on the team and charging $179 million in cap space to players who aren’t.

The Broncos tight end is the first one fans see on the grass every day at training camp. He loves the fans, but he does it for himself.

Fifteen or so minutes before any other Bronco jogs out from the locker room, the tight end goes through his routine — the stretch before the stretch. Engram bends deep. He hops for a few yards. He drives his hand into the ground in a blocking stance and smacks a dummy pad.

In September, longtime trainer Drew Lieberman will move with his wife to Denver to a house just down the street from Engram, another step in a precise routine. It’s an arrangement they’ve had since Engram entered his second year in Jacksonville back in 2023. Lieberman and was trying to determine which of his clients — a group that’s included NFL receivers Mohamed Sanu and Olamide Zaccheaus — demanded the most attention.

Engram craved it. The first season Lieberman rented a property near him in Jacksonville, Engram caught a career-best 114 passes. Now Lieberman spends half his years living essentially with Engram, the two breaking down tape and the tight end’s psyche.

“He’s becoming the sensei,” Lieberman said, “of this whole (thing).”

When they first began working together before his last year with the Giants in 2021, Engram told Lieberman his primary career goal was to win a Super Bowl MVP.�� Lieberman’s response was simple: That’s BS.��

“How is that the judgment of your career?” Lieberman recalled saying. “Pick better goals.”

It was an arbitrary trophy, based on factors largely out of Engram’s control. So later on in their relationship, as they spent time discussing books like sports psychologist Bob Rotella’s Engram came back with a new proclamation.

“He’s like, ‘When I really think about it, I know if I really get everything out of my talent, I can be one of the best tight ends that ever lived,’ ” Lieberman said.

That one was better.

A few years and a rebirth in Jacksonville later, the 30-year-old is still far away in that chase. He is, however, one of the best tight ends currently playing in the NFL.

He signed with Denver this offseason to embed himself in an offense that won’t put guardrails on his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame.

“I think the important thing for players like this,” former Giants tight ends coach Derek Dooley said, “is to get within systems that have flexibility to do different things outside of the traditional NFL way, so to speak.”

There is no traditional NFL position for the moniker that’s been bestowed on Engram in Denver: “Joker.”

Head coach Sean Payton coined the term over the years. It applies to unconventionally gifted receivers who thrive underneath in his offenses. It doesn’t exactly pop up in meeting rooms. Fans and reporters, Engram smiled, “have a lot more fun with it” than actual coaches.

The “AI” definition, as Payton put it, is a tight end or running back who’s a rare pass-catcher. This concept has long existed in the NFL, of course, outside of Payton’s “Joker” favorites like tight end Jimmy Graham or running back Darren Sproles in New Orleans. A player like Engram, as NFL vet Sanu explained, forces defenses to choose whether to play in base or in nickel (extra defensive back) to account for his ability to burn a linebacker in coverage.

“When the defense puts an umbrella on the deep ball or they’re clouding to the outside — they force you to work inside sometimes,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said in camp. “And having guys that have the talent to get open underneath, but also the feel — a lot of those routes are feel routes. A lot of them have options to them.

“So having guys that have the ability to do it and then the feel and the instincts to do the right things, it����ap huge.”

It’s easy to take away a wide receiver in the pass game in the NFL, Payton explained. It’s less easy to take away a halfback or tight end. With Engram’s arrival, the Broncos now have multiple pieces — receiver Marvin Mims Jr. and running back RJ Harvey are others — who can move across formations and veer in and out of the flat on choice routes.

Engram has been particularly focused on developing as a blocker since arriving in Denver — a role he’s filled on roughly a third of the snaps in his eight-year NFL career. That, too, forces opposing coordinators to adjust. If Engram can stay on the field as a run-blocker, defenses can’t just game-plan against the pass and always shadow him with an extra defensive back.

“He sticks his nose in there,” Lombardi said. “Complete tight end, and a guy who’s been really showing up here in camp.”

The “Joker” label is fun. It means little to Engram, though, until he earns it.

“I just see that as being reliable, being clutch, making plays … run-game, it����ap pass-game, in the locker room, in the weight room, just doing my job at the highest level,” Engram said. “With doing that, and the work, the results will come.

“And then, the fun — we can have more fun with it as we go.”

Broncos TEs vs. Evan Engram

The Broncos tight ends were far from productive during Sean Payton’s first two seasons as head coach in Denver. The addition of Evan Engram through free agency should change that this fall. Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

Source: .

Most will even say that if they’re getting talked about too much during a game week or broadcast, it����ap probably because something bad happened.

Nonetheless, the Broncos have a high-profile offensive line group, at least relatively speaking.

Four of their five starters are either considered among the best in football at their position or are among the game’s highest-paid.

On the left side, tackle Garett Bolles and guard Ben Powers check in at $20.5 million and $13 million per season, respectively. Those are both top-10 numbers, and they are each arguably top-10 performers, too. At right guard, Quinn Meinerz is an All-Pro and contender for best interior offensive lineman in football. He’s No. 5 on the pay list at $18 million per season. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey submitted maybe the best overall year of his career in 2024, and his $17.5 million per season ranks 10th at his position.

They all flank the least-known, lowest-paid, most-under-the-radar player of the group: Center Luke Wattenberg.

The fourth-year player out of Washington stepped into the starting lineup last fall to replace departed free agent Lloyd Cushenberry. He not only held his own, but he cemented himself as a player head coach Sean Payton, offensive line coach Zach Strief and the rest of the offense could rely on.

Asked during training camp whether his vision for Wattenberg had changed over the past year, Payton quickly acknowledged it had.

“It����ap a lot different,” he said. “A starter. Asset starter. Smart. He played really well last year for us in his first year as a starter.”

Wattenberg doesn’t pop up on many lists of the best centers in football. He’s set to make $1.1 million in the final year of his rookie contract.

And yet he turned himself into a reliable starter while helping smooth the road for rookie quarterback Bo Nix a year ago. Now, as they head into their second year as starters together, they’ve got plenty of reason for confidence.

“It����ap a big deal,” Wattenberg said. “Just more time together, the more it feels natural. We’ve gotten a lot of those reps together, so it����ap starting to feel seamless.”

Wattenberg is quick to say that, as well as he played last season, it makes a big difference being sandwiched between a pair of guards like Powers and Meinerz. He does have the occasional assignment of blocking an interior defensive lineman one-on-one, but the nature of the position means he often either has help from the left or right, or he’s tasked with working in tandem with one of the guards.

“It goes back to my confidence,” Wattenberg said. “Being around the four guys around me brings my confidence up. We play so well together. They’re fantastic players, and I couldn’t ask to be on a better OL.”

The Broncos considered stretching their budget after the 2023 season to keep Cushenberry on the roster. Eventually, though, he signed a four-year, $50 million deal with Tennessee. Two rounds of free agency later, he’s still the No. 5-paid center in football. Part of Denver’s calculus in letting ‘Cush’ get away was the cautious optimism they had in Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth. Wattenberg won the job during training camp last summer and hasn’t looked back.

The only hiccup during his first season starting: An injury Week 5 against Las Vegas landed him on injured reserve and cost him four games. Aside from that, he put together a steady, productive season during which he not only held his own but showed he could be an asset in his own right.

Now the 2022 fifth-round pick is aiming to take another big step forward.

“I really want to take the next step in the run game and running off the ball. (New assistant offensive line coach) Chris Morgan has been helping me a lot with that and taking the next step in my run game. Playing fast, playing with my hat and getting my backside hand in have all been a point of emphasis for me, and he’s been helping me a lot with that.”

Another quality season for Wattenberg would further solidify the Broncos offensive line as one of the best in the business. It would also set Wattenberg up for a sizable second contract and cast a question as to whether the Broncos can retain all five starters — he’s the only one not currently under contract for 2026 — at substantial salaries.

That����ap all for the future.

“I think we just have to keep focusing on the details and take it one step at a time,” Wattenberg said. “We just have to focus on what we want to get better at the next day. That will take us to where we want to go.”

Snap decision

With expensive pieces scattered about their offensive line, the Broncos relied on inexperienced center Luke Wattenberg to take the reins in the middle last fall. And of the 23 centers in the NFL who played more than 800 snaps in 2024, Wattenberg was among the best bargains of the bunch. That could be the case again this season. Here’s a look at the lowest 2025 cap hits for returning centers who made 800-plus snaps last year.

Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

Source:

Big Play Dre was born, for one date, on Sept. 13, 2014, when 17-year-old Dre Greenlaw went rogue in Arkansas. Darryl Patton’s Fayetteville High School juggernaut was locked in a battle with familiar rival Jefferson City. As the huddles broke on one play, Patton’s star defensive back was supposed to be covering Jeff City’s No. 3 receiver. Except he wasn’t.

Patton barked at his assistants, bewildered.

Hey, guy’s uncovered! Guy’s uncovered!

On the snap, the quarterback pivoted and fired a hot route to his seemingly wide-open target. Except Greenlaw shot out of a chamber, and somehow beat the receiver to the spot. Seconds later, he pulled into the end zone with a pick-six.

How Broncos DT Zach Allen’s insistence on innovation powered rise, set stage for another leap this fall

Later, he told his coaches he'd studied Jeff City's tape enough to know he could bait that play.

"You’ll see him sometimes be out of position, but he’ll end up with the ball, by the ball," Patton recalled. "And it����ap one of those things you’re going, ‘Oh, crap, Dre, Dre, no ... good play, Dre! Great play.’

"It was, Big Play Dre."

Big Play Dre was NFL-made, for another date, on Nov. 11, 2019, when Greenlaw started his fourth game with the San Francisco 49ers. He'd begun the year battling for reps with Kwon Alexander, who'd just signed a four-year deal that offseason. But Alexander was placed on IR after the previous game, and so the rookie Greenlaw found himself in the middle of a primetime game against the division-rival Seahawks -- and promptly picked off Russell Wilson in overtime of an eventual loss.

As Greenlaw tucked the interception and ran it back 47 yards, fellow 49ers linebacker marveled how natural the kid looked with the ball in his hands.

“In that moment," Warner recalled, "it����ap like, ‘Dang, this really is Big Play Dre.’”

Denver Post sports staff predictions for 2025 NFL season

In March this offseason, the Broncos shelled out $11.5 million guaranteed for that. For Big Play Dre, the ballhawk ILB. The only soft spot of a third-ranked Denver defense in 2024 was up the middle, where the Broncos' linebackers delivered largely mediocre marks in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus grades.

The 28-year-old Greenlaw, one of the heartbeats of a San Francisco defense that made two Super Bowls in five years, is an instant upgrade. In 2023, he allowed the , according to NFL's Next Gen Stats. The Broncos wanted him. And Greenlaw wanted to be wanted, a former foster kid who still craves feeling accepted.

His three-year deal in free agency is no sure thing. Greenlaw played all of two games in 2024 after a freak torn Achilles in 2023's Super Bowl. He has been set back by quad troubles all through the offseason and training camp. But if healthy, he gives the Broncos a playmaking element at inside linebacker that they haven't had since the days of Danny Trevathan.

"There’s an intensity to how he plays," Broncos head coach Sean Payton said in late July. "And it����ap just -- he’s one of those players that, if you put the film on and didn’t say anything, at some point early you would ask, ‘Who’s this guy?’”

His sideline-to-sideline intensity as a 230-pound tank of a tackler drew Payton's eyes.

Greenlaw began his career as a rangy safety playing on instincts. Patton has long been close with then-Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, and he begged him to recruit Greenlaw.

Bielema hemmed. Bielema hawed. He didn't know if Greenlaw was fast enough or big enough. He didn't know if Greenlaw was a safety or a linebacker.

Eventually, Bielema agreed to send defensive coordinator Robb Smith down to Fayetteville High one Friday night in October. Greenlaw, Patton remembered, had three picks. After the Fayetteville win, Smith walked off the field with Patton.

"Why in the hell," Patton remembered Smith asking, "have we not offered this kid?"

The defensive-back gene never died, even after Greenlaw arrived at Arkansas and converted to linebacker. Bielema put stripes on players' helmets at practices at Arkansas, to see where their eyes tracked. Greenlaw's eyes were always in the right place, Bielema remembered. Eventually, he told his defensive coaches to not slow Greenlaw down.

"He’s going to see things and play things at a higher level easier than other players," Bielema remembered saying. "Let����ap not make him overthink.”

Greenlaw moved his family to a permanent residence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, simply because it's a main hub for offseason training. He has two gyms in that house.

For dominant Broncos defensive line, it’s not whether they’ll all get paid — it’s where

This offseason, agent J.R. Carroll asked Greenlaw if he'd help review some pre-draft film of another client, Ole Miss linebacker Chris Paul Jr. Carroll was hoping he'd offer feedback on a few plays. Greenlaw downloaded Paul's entire season.

"He enjoys watching film," Carroll said, "like any other person would enjoy watching a sitcom."

Greenlaw "loved" defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's scheme in evaluating teams in free agency, Carroll said. And the safety-turned-linebacker's mind will now make up the central nervous system of Denver's defense.

"I don't think people understand," Warner said, "how intelligent of a football player Dre is."

Fewest receptions over expected in coverage, linebackers, 2023 NFL season

Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

Source:

Not only did Aaron Glenn, a former defensive back and assistant coach for Payton, land the New York Jets’ head coaching job, but he did so after a terrific run as the defensive coordinator in Detroit. There, he coached for head man Dan Campbell, himself a Payton disciple.

“I spoke to him the night before he took that job, and I could feel his excitement,” the Broncos head coach said earlier this year. “I go all the way back when he was a player for us in Dallas, and then had the chance to hire him. He was a scout, I think, when we hired him and he first got into coaching. He was one of the best — I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of great assistants work for me, and Aaron was right there at the top.”

Glenn and Campbell represent the only Payton proteges who are head coaches in the NFL this year, and there’s a growing set of coordinators around the league, too. Take Chicago, which will feature Dennis Allen — fired as New Orleans’ head coach last year — as defensive coordinator and 28-year-old former Broncos tight end coach Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator for Ben Johnson.

“I counted on Declan Doyle for another three years at least,” Payton said recently. “At least until he starts shaving. But you’re happy for him.”

Campbell hired John Morton as offensive coordinator, and Glenn hired Chris Banjo as his special teams coordinator. The wheel keeps spinning.

And yet, Payton believes he’s got considerable talent on his 2025 Broncos coaching staff and several coaches who may one day stand in front of their own teams in the NFL.

“Sometimes it would be the presence in front of a room when they present their knowledge and work ethic,” Payton said of identifying head coaching traits in assistants. “It����ap hard to predict. And I would say it����ap not just offense, defense or special teams. Future head coaches can come from any one of those areas. …  There’s a communication skillset. There are a number of things that give them a chance. And ultimately, you’ve got to be in a place where you’re winning.

“If you’re in a program where you’re having success, generally, your coaches are going to get taken from that program.”

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph got interviews this past winter, and if Denver’s defense lives up to expectations this fall, he should be in demand once again. Younger coaches like quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, secondary coach Jim Leonhard and offensive line coach Zach Strief all got coordinator titles this offseason — a reflection of the work Payton had to put in to keep them from exploring other opportunities around the league.

“This is an attractive spot, so you can win a lot of the jump balls if you’re competing against two different teams,” Payton said. “I think ownership has a lot to do with that. Stability has a lot to do with that. … (On) the procurement of those coaches, you rely on that and then the interview. You do a lot of research.

“It����ap easy to hire a coach. It����ap not easy to hire an exceptional one.”

The Broncos’ corps of potential future head coaches has traveled all kinds of paths. Joseph got the Denver head coaching job but was fired after just two seasons. He’s going into his seventh as a defensive coordinator since then, four in Arizona and now three back in Denver.

One player who’s been on every one of those teams: Defensive tackle Zach Allen.

“The X’s and O’s, everybody knows he’s incredible at that,” Allen told The Denver Post. “But he’s a leader of men, and he’s really good at understanding each player and building a relationship with each player.

“But he’s not a softie. He holds us to a very high standard. If we’re not doing something right, those defensive meetings are tough. He coaches you hard, and he loves you hard, too. I think any player would love to have that.”

Webb jumped into coaching directly after playing, while Strief spent just two seasons between retiring from the Saints and getting into coaching offensive line with Payton in the Bayou.

“For my sake, I hope he doesn’t leave,” swing tackle Alex Palczewski said of Strief. “… He wasn’t a top-10 pick where he just naturally had it. He was a seventh-round pick. He had to learn how to make it happen. … A big part of what he coaches is mental, putting yourself in the right state. It’s helped so much, and just the way he’s able to convey that, it’s unbelievable.”

Leonhard had a long playing career in the NFL, but coached seven years in college at Wisconsin before eventually landing in Denver after getting passed over for the head job at UW in 2022.

“You have to sometimes be willing to accept that they’re at the college level and they’re going to become this (in the future),” said Payton, speaking generally about coaches. He tried to hire Leonhard for his 2023 staff but ended up having to wait until 2024 as Leonhard took a year away from coaching and served as an analyst at Illinois.

“I’ve had a lot of success and been fortunate to have gotten a number of guys that went on to be really good NFL coaches.”

Payton’s NFL head coaching tree

It may not be robust, but Sean Payton’s coaching tree includes a pair of current head coaches, one of whom has turned the Detroit Lions into NFC contenders in short order. Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

He knows, better than most, that this is a cold business. He went undrafted in 2020 out of Texas, somehow played himself into a roster spot in a season without any preseason games — and was left “so upset” when New Orleans opted not to re-sign him in 2024.

A year later, he’s the self-dubbed “Sixth Man of the Year” for a dominant Broncos defensive line. But he could find himself in the same position five months from now. There are many mouths to feed in his position room — all chomping for extensions.

D.J. Jones got his last March. Zach Allen‘s came in August. Now, Roach needs one. And so does John Franklin-Myers.

They all have come to an implicit understanding, though: They �ɾ�������get paid, if they keep the standard the same as last fall. Maybe in Denver. Maybe somewhere else. The where isn’t important right now.

“We don’t really think about it that much,” Roach said at the start of August. “At the end goal, we think about stopping this run and getting to the quarterback.

“And we do that at a high level — we all have a lot of money.”

It’s largely impossible for this Broncos interior defensive line to make another massive jump after a season collapsing pockets and leading the NFL in sacks last season.

Allen had a career year in 2024, making second-team All-Pro and joining J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa and Aaron Donald as the only players to record 40 quarterback hits in a year since 2006. Jones played well enough at nose tackle to earn himself a hearty three-year extension. Roach continued to do “Sixth Man” things. And after coming over in a trade with the Jets, Franklin-Myers was “the last piece of the puzzle,” as Jones said during camp.

The question, now, is how the Broncos preserve their dominance in years to come. Not a day after Roach’s “lot of money” comments, Denver shelled out $102 million over four years to extend Allen. The payday recognized Allen as one of the best interior defensive pieces in the league. It also might have constricted the pot for everyone else.

Come 2026, Allen’s cap number will balloon to $28.6 million, the highest figure on the Broncos’ current roster. Denver is also working toward an extension with edge rusher Nik Bonitto that could extend to the range of $25 million to $30 million a year. And franchise quarterback Bo Nix will become extension-eligible before the 2027 season.

Roach and Franklin-Myers, for the moment, may find themselves on the outside looking in.

“I was in that position in Arizona where it’s like, you know what, you’re going to get it one way or another, and at the end of the day it’s just about performing,” Allen said when asked about Franklin-Myers and Roach waiting for deals. “They’re awesome people, awesome guys, and I’m just really blessed to play with them. I root for the best for them.”

Roach, for one, has largely shrugged off the money: He’ll be happy, he told reporters during camp, whether the Broncos re-sign him or not. Franklin-Myers, though, has been vocal on social media all offseason about his desire for a new deal, despite not creating much actual fuss at camp.

“Under appreciated & Underpaid, but numbers won’t lie!” Franklin-Myers . “I’d bet my money too if I were you!”

To Franklin-Myers’ point, the veteran has racked up 50-plus pressures for five straight NFL seasons, according to Pro Football Focus’s metrics. But Bonitto is higher on Denver’s list of extension priorities. After the Patriots gave $26 million a year to former Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams, Franklin-Myers could reasonably ask for upwards of $20 million a year. The Broncos, especially after taking rookie Sai’vion Jones in the third round in April, may not be willing to spend that capital.

But they may need him, too, to stay at their current bar. After Franklin-Myers left the Jets last season, New York’s Quinnen Williams dropped from 70 pressures in 2023 to 54 in 2024. After Franklin-Myers arrived in Denver, Allen jumped from 60 pressures in 2023 to 81 in 2024.

“He’s very important for us because of who Zach is, right … to have two inside rushers does balance out things for us,” Joseph said of Franklin-Myers. “So, someone’s getting a one-on-one. It����ap just math, right?

“If he gets it, he wins it. If Zach gets it, he wins. So, for offenses, it����ap got to be a choice each week: Who gets the double-team, who gets a single?”

Franklin-Myers, then, is a natural ceiling-raiser. So is Roach, as a ready-made rotational substitute for Jones and others.

But the Broncos, soon, will be forced to weigh the height of that ceiling against several tens of millions.

It took 14 attempts for the Broncos to find his long-term replacement.

The Broncos knew it would never be the same when Manning left the building, but they had no idea his exit would become the curse of incompetence.

As awful as those eight years were in cementing a sobering reality, it only took one season for a new truth to become evident.

Bo Nix is the best Broncos quarterback since Peyton Manning. And no one is happier about this than, well, Manning.

“Bo is made of the right stuff. He’s a little bit older, carries himself the right way. And all of it should help as he moves forward in his career,” Manning said. “I am just happy that Bo is the established starter. For a number of years, they had quarterback competitions. That����ap hard on the receivers, the coaches, the play-caller, and the quarterback. Now, they’ve got their guy.”

As impressive as Nix was as a rookie, throwing for 29 touchdowns and leading the Broncos to their first playoff berth since You Know Who, now comes the hard part.

Doing it again.

The sophomore slump remains part of the American lexicon, with examples scattered across sports, music and cinema.

When Nix disappointed in the exhibition opener at San Francisco, it fed into the narrative that his follow-up will rival Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Fairweather Johnson.”

Manning knows the challenge of living up to lofty expectations, but from what he has seen of Nix, he is not buying a regression.

“I just don’t see that as being a big factor for him. Rookie quarterbacks are supposed to struggle, and then the game slows down. But, it sure looked like it slowed down a lot for him last year,” Manning said. “Like with C.J. Stroud, Bo didn’t play like a rookie. … I believe experience is the best teacher, and he got great experience last year.”

Manning struggled in his rookie season, setting the record with 28 interceptions, before finishing second in the MVP voting in his sophomore year. His situation was worse because his team was.

But he identified the most important similarity in his shared experience with Nix.

“The continuity, more than anything else. There are times when guys go into their second year, and they are going on their third coordinator,” Manning said. “.. He has an experienced head coach in Sean, who is his play-caller. Having that same voice and verbiage is so critical. We expect Sean to be here for a long time, so Bo will use that to his advantage.”

Reflecting on his years with offensive coordinator Tom Moore, Manning explained how they could fix things quickly and seamlessly add new wrinkles. He has watched Patrick Mahomes progress in a similar fashion with Andy Reid, while others like Alex Smith and Baker Mayfield bounced from team to team and system to system.

“When you look around the league at guys who play well, they often have the same coordinator. It is not automatic, but it makes a difference,” Manning said. “Learning the language of a new playbook and getting on the same page with a new coach is hard.”

This season represents the first time since 2016 that the Broncos have had the same starting quarterback and play-caller in back-to-back seasons. Comfort matters. So does “Bo having more weapons in the run game and at tight end,” Manning said. It also helps that the 25-year-old Nix gets it.

Just as Manning accelerated his growth through obsessive attention to detail, studying defenses and the sleight of hand of play-action artists like Boomer Esiason, Nix is more than willing to get bleary-eyed in the film room or pick the brain of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.

“For him to spend time with Brees makes a lot of sense as far as learning Sean’s offense and the mental side of things. That is an example of him not being satisfied,” Manning said.

Manning and Nix hoped to talk over rounds of golf before training camp, but scheduling conflicts arose. But Manning knows Nix. They met at the Manning Passing Academy a few years ago as Nix was preparing to transfer to Oregon. And Peyton’s two-time Super Bowl champion brother, Eli, hung out with Bo and his father, Patrick, this summer. Nix and Eli helped set a Guinness World Record alongside Auburn fans as they tossed more than 7,000 rolls of toilet paper into the trees at Toomer’s Corner.

“Eli talked about how they are great guys. I know Bo was great at the (passing academy). You spend three days with them. He was so mature,” Peyton Manning said. “Eventually, we will get together. But I have told Bo, I am always around as a resource whenever he needs me.”

As the unofficial ambassador of football, Manning is often diplomatic. But he doesn’t provide his stamp of approval to just anyone. He knows Nix is different and recognizes that this season feels special in Denver.

Sophomore slump? Quite the opposite. Manning cannot wait to see what Nix does next.

“I signed in Denver as a free agent after playing for 14 years. Being drafted here, that’s an even different kind of pressure. I was certainly aware of the responsibility that comes with it, and I believe Bo is as well. It is important. People care so much, and you feel that,” Manning said. “That’s the kind of environment you want, where they talk about your team during the season, free agency and the draft. It’s an unbelievable place to play. I believe Bo understands it and embraces it. I only see him getting better.”

We don’t talk about Pat Surtain II’s vision nearly enough. Great cornerbacks are football’s the biggest of the big-game hunters, dogging prey through darkness and chaos. PSII spies where a ball is headed seconds before it leaves the station. Talent borrows. Genius steals.

And as Champ Bailey, one of the best corners of all time, reminded me the other day, you can’t catch what you don’t see first. So when I asked Champ what Surtain, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, could do for an encore in 2025, Bailey hit it right on the nose.

Actually, right above the nose.

“(PSII) is probably smarter than he’s been throughout his career,” Bailey, the NFL’s all-time leader in pass break-ups and a Broncos cornerback from 2004-2013, told me by phone earlier this month.��“But the only way you utilize that is by seeing what’s going on, seeing the plays develop, the route concepts, and having a better understanding of your role in the defense.

“… I’m sure (defensive coordinator) Vance Joseph is thinking about this: How do you put him in position to make plays? The best way to make plays is to allow him to see the ball.”

There’s just one problem: The better you are at cornerback, the fewer balls actually come your way. And Surtain is the best cornerback on the planet.

He was charted with 60 targets in 2024. That was after 91 in ’23 and 70 in ’22. Unofficially.

“We know this dude competes every play, whether the ball’s coming at him or not,” Bailey, the Pro Football Hall of Famer and analyst with Warner Bros. Discovery/TNT, said of Surtain. “And it’s going to come less and less the better he gets.”

The larger the legend, the smaller the windows. Yet the greats also have the vision — and foresight — to impact the action that’s actively avoiding them. In 2005, Bailey recorded eight interceptions, returning two for scores, and defended 23 passes.

The next year, he was thrown at just 35 times all season. Bailey wound up deflecting 21 throws and picking off 10 others. His 98 tackles, 84 of them solo, ranked third on a defense that had Al Wilson (113 stops) and Ian Gold (101) at linebacker.

Last winter, PSII became just the seventh cornerback to ever take home NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press. No CB1 has ever won the award twice.

Bailey wouldn’t be shocked if Surtain, who turned 25 in April, became the first. So long as he follows two sage pieces of advice. 1.) Fight the boredom, kid. 2.) Then get out there and fight for the blankety-blank tackle.

“You could (be bored) if you allow it,” Bailey said. “But there are so many aspects of the game that are important.

“Like tackling, making sure you don’t miss tackles. You don’t want to ever be that guy that (they say), ‘He’s great, he’s going to shut his guy down, but he’s going to miss a tackle.’ You never want to be that guy with chinks like that.

“And (Surtain) is not that. He’s big. He has the size. I look forward to seeing him mix it up a lot more this year.”

Wideouts? Yeah, not so much.

PSII is 6-foot-2 with an 80-foot game, a 202-pound cudgel and the wingspan — and eyes — to erase half a football field. Box girders have more fat on them than

“(Pat) had such a great year. How do you build on that? I think that����ap focus,” Broncos general manager George Paton told The Post recently. “He wants to be Defensive Player of the Year again, I’m sure, but he just wants to win. So (that means) helping his teammates get better and prepare. Pat doesn’t say a lot, but he’s a great leader and they follow him. Winning. That����ap how his (2025) gets better.”

PSII is entering the prime of his career as the bulwark and apex to one of the fastest, frenetic, pocket-crunching, QB-mashing defenses in Broncos history.

Of the eight players who’ve won multiple NFL DPOY honors, seven did so a second time for a team with a winning record. When it comes to the postseason, legends make sure to see that train right through to the end.

“You can’t make a play on something you don’t see,” Bailey said. “Think about the picks (Surtain) had last year. Every time he got an interception, he was in a position where he could see what was coming.. He just saw the ball coming. And he’s an exceptional athlete.

“When you can anticipate, see what����ap happening, and then react the way he does, he’s going to make a significant amount of plays. I’m looking forward to (2025).”

Turns out that kind of vision goes both ways. When it comes to PSII, Bailey can see something else off in the distance, just past the horizon: Dominion. Domination. Clear as day.

Week 1

Pittsburgh at New York Jets

Sunday, Sept. 7, 11 a.m., CBS

Tempting as it is to go with the Chiefs and Chargers on Friday, Sept. 5, in Sao Paulo, we can’t resist QB Aaron Rodgers’ return to the Meadowlands for a matchup against former Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.

Baltimore at Buffalo

Sunday, Sept. 7, 6:20 p.m., NBC

Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens counterpart Lamar Jackson split the NFL’s MVP awards last fall, marking the first time that’s happened in 21 years. The winner here gets an early leg up — in both the MVP race and the race for the AFC’s top seed.

Week 2

Philadelphia at Kansas City

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2:25 p.m., FOX

Did the Eagles put an end to the Chiefs’ dynasty with last February’s 40-22 beatdown in Super Bowl LIX? This game could provide an early clue as to how sturdy quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ squad truly is after five Super Bowl trips in six seasons.

Las Vegas at Los Angeles Chargers

Monday, Sept. 15, 8 p.m., ESPN

There’s no better coaching rivalry in football than Pete Carroll vs. Jim Harbaugh. It began in the Pac-12 with USC vs. Stanford, moved to the NFC West with Seattle vs. San Francisco, and now it comes to the AFC West. So, of course, the NFL buries it at 8 p.m. on a Monday.

Week 3

Houston at Jacksonville

Sunday, Sept. 21, 11 a.m., CBS

A relatively tepid Week 3 slate is saved by the presence of CU Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who could spend half his day trying to shake free of All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and the other half locking down Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins.

Week 4

Cincinnati at Denver

Monday, Sept. 29, 6:15 p.m., ABC

If this is anything like last December’s instant classic at Paycor Stadium — an overtime thriller that included a Bo Nix-to-Marvin Mims Jr. heave at the end of regulation and walk-off TD pass from Joe Burrow to Tee Higgins — then we’re in for a treat.

Week 5

San Francisco at Los Angeles Rams

Thursday, Oct. 2, 6:15 p.m., Amazon Prime

Plagued by injuries, Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers went from Super Bowl LIV to a disappointing 6-11 campaign in 2024. After an exodus of talent in free agency, their hopes of returning to contention with a healthy Christian McCaffrey may very well hinge on this divisional matchup.

Week 6

Chicago at Washington

Monday, Oct. 13, 6:15 p.m., ABC

The top two picks in the 2024 draft meet again, with Chicago QB Caleb Williams looking to avenge last year’s Hail Mary heartbreaker. Jayden Daniels-to-Noah Brown ignited a 10-game Bears losing streak that led to the end of the Matt Eberflus era in Chicago.

Week 7

New York Giants at Denver

Sunday, Oct. 19, 2:05 p.m., CBS

An early-season Russell Wilson injury denied Broncos fans a true Russ Bowl when the Steelers came calling last fall. But good things come to those who wait … unless first-round pick Jaxson Dart has already taken Wilson’s job at this point. Another “petty game ball,” anyone?

Week 8

Green Bay at Pittsburgh

Sunday, Oct. 26, 6:20 p.m., NBC

If only this were at Lambeau Field. Alas, we must settle for Aaron Rodgers facing his former team — the one he quarterbacked to 11 playoff bids and a Super Bowl title, not the one currently digging itself out from his disastrous two-year tenure — in the Steel City.

Week 9

Kansas City at Buffalo

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2:25 p.m., CBS

Sign us up for any meeting between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Mahomes holds the head-to-head edge at 5-4 after winning January’s AFC title game, but Allen has won four straight regular-season meetings. Add a dash of snow and this is must-see TV.

Week 10

Atlanta vs. Indianapolis at Olympic Stadium, Berlin

Sunday, Nov. 9, 7:30 a.m., NFL

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. made his bones in the Crossroads of America, but his first game against an Indiana team will be in … Germany? The 2024 first-round pick showed flashes at the end of last season. Take another step, and Atlanta will contend in a winnable NFC South.

Week 11

Detroit at Philadelphia

Sunday, Nov. 16, 6:20 p.m., NBC

Washington’s playoff upset of Detroit robbed us of what could’ve been an epic NFC title game between the Lions and Eagles. Will Dan Campbell’s club remain explosive with former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson off to Chicago? A matchup against Philly’s D should reveal plenty.

Week 12

Tampa Bay at Los Angeles Rams

Sunday, Nov. 23, 6:20 p.m., NBC

Sean McVay and the Rams resurrected Baker Mayfield’s career with a brief cup of coffee at the end of the 2022 season. They’ll meet for the first time since, with the Heisman Trophy-winning QB now the leader of a Bucs franchise that’s won the NFC South four years in a row.

Week 13

Minnesota at Seattle

Sunday, Nov. 30, 2:05 p.m., FOX

QB Sam Darnold led Minnesota to 14 wins and a playoff berth, then the Vikings said “thanks, but no thanks” to offering him another contract with 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings. Here’s guessing Darnold’s had this one circled for a while.

Week 14

Tennessee at Cleveland

Sunday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m., FOX

Consider this a bet that Shedeur Sanders will be taking snaps for the Browns … and ready to prove his father and CU Buffs head coach Deion Sanders right by taking down No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward in a battle of Class of 2025 quarterbacks.

Week 15

Miami at Pittsburgh

Monday, Dec. 15, 6:15 p.m., ESPN

Head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t had a losing record once in 18 seasons in Pittsburgh. Aurora native Mike McDaniel has won eight games or more in each of his three seasons as head coach in Miami. Both may need a big year to hold on to their jobs.

Week 16

Green Bay at Chicago

Saturday, Dec. 20, TBD, FOX

The best rivalry in football is also among the most one-sided, with the Packers holding a 26-5 edge in the series since 2010. If former Lions OC Ben Johnson is going to win over the Midway as the Bears’ new head coach, he must start beating the Pack first.

Week 17

Dallas at Washington

Thursday, Dec. 25, 11 a.m., Netflix

The league’s holiday gift to football fans? Three spectacular divisional matchups on Christmas Day… that will all be broadcast on either Netflix or Amazon Prime. Because nothing says happy holidays quite like making fans pay for two different streaming services.

Week 18

Indianapolis at Houston

Jan. 6 or 7, TBD, TBD

The AFC South is the early front-runner for the weakest division in the NFL. It stands to reason that one of the two games involving teams from that division will decide a playoff spot on the final weekend of the season. Here’s guessing it’s this one.