Darnold, of course, was picked No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets. He flamed out there, then started a journey that featured stops and starts, more downs than ups and, eventually, a fast rise at Minnesota, a $100 million deal in Seattle and, in his first year starting for the Seahawks, a world championship.

Darnold is one of several quarterbacks in the NFL who has had to take the long route to being a coveted starter. Baker Mayfield went through the same thing. Jared Goff nearly won a Super Bowl in Los Angeles only to be dumped by the Rams to Detroit. Daniel Jones was putting together a great year last year — his first in seven seasons — before an injury cut his Indianapolis debut short.

Overall, though, winning a Super Bowl in the past decade-plus in the NFL has been the province of surefire Hall of Famers. Before the Seahawks, nine of the previous 11 Super Bowls had been won by Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Matthew Stafford. The other two belong to the Eagles: The Nick Foles miracle run in 2017 and Jalen Hurts in 2024.

Of course, any team would take a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, but one interesting element here: For as much as the prevailing wisdom is that quarterbacks on a cheap, rookie contract are the key to building a championship-caliber team, the only quarterbacks since 2013 to win a Super Bowl while actually playing on their rookie deal are Russell Wilson (2013 for Seattle) and Mahomes in 2019.

Mahomes’ and Brady’s dominance have a lot to do with that stat, but perhaps it����ap telling nonetheless.

While they haven’t won many titles, rookie-contract quarterbacks still have appeared in the Super Bowl frequently. Wilson made it back in 2014. Since 2018, the losing Super Bowl quarterback has been on his rookie deal six of eight years, with Mahomes holding the two exceptions in 2020 and 2024. Otherwise, the list goes Goff (2018), Jimmy Garoppolo (2019), Joe Burrow (2021), Hurts (2022), Brock Purdy (2023) and Drake Maye last year.

Of the 26 quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl in the past 13 years, 12 have accounted for 5.2% of his team’s cap that year or less. That includes the past two winners in Darnold and Hurts.

Could a quarterback on a rookie deal break through this year and win a Super Bowl? The 2024 draft class, which becomes extension-eligible after this season, looks like a decent bet. After all, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Maye and Denver’s Bo Nix have already won division titles in their first two seasons. Maye’s played in a Super Bowl, while Daniels and Nix have come within a game.

The list of quarterbacks good enough to take up double-digit percentage of a team’s salary cap has been short over the past decade-plus. Mahomes winning two in Kansas City while taking up 17% of the Chiefs’ cap space stands as a substantial outlier.

Of course, teams are adept at suppressing the cap hit for a player long after he signs an extension, but the bill comes due at some point. So, the most efficient way is to strike while the iron is hot and the signal-caller is cheap.

QBs in the Super Bowl since 2013

* Cap data via OvertheCap

The 2024 QB class through two years

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.

Philadelphia Eagles

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 18-1; Over-under win total: 10.5

Strengths: Quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley will always be dangerous, especially operating behind an impenetrable offensive line that features Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata at the tackle spots. New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is bringing fresh ideas to a Philadelphia roster that remains pretty loaded. Even after their Super Bowl title defense ended disappointingly without a playoff win last year, the Eagles have the firepower to maintain their monopoly on this division.

Weaknesses: Safety is easily the weakest position group following the loss of Reed Blankenship to Houston in free agency. Philadelphia’s by-committee approach might include nickel Cooper DeJean getting more safety reps. Linebacker Nakobe Dean and receiver AJ Brown were also key departures this offseason, though trading Brown to New England could turn out to be addition by subtraction after his social media antics developed into a major distraction last year.

Dallas Cowboys

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 25-1; Over-under win total: 9.5

Strengths: George Pickens proved to be one of the best acquisitions of the 2025 offseason. He amassed 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in a breakout year, pairing with CeeDee Lamb to provide Dak Prescott with one of the most impressive receiver corps in the league. This could be Pickens’ last season in Dallas with a potentially lucrative payday waiting for him next year. In the meantime, the Cowboys have a golden opportunity to lead the NFL in passing yards twice in a row.

Weaknesses: One of the league’s worst defenses is desperate for a philosophical overhaul. Can new DC Christian Parker deliver? The secondary was particularly pitiful last season, rarely generating interceptions and consistently making opposing quarterbacks look good. Returning cornerback DaRon Bland and rookie safety Caleb Downs — Dallas traded up to draft him with the 11th pick — are the best hopes to facilitate a turnaround.

Washington Commanders

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 66-1; Over-under win total: 7.5

Strengths: Quarterback, as long as you choose to believe the real Jayden Daniels was the one who appeared on MVP ballots and led an NFC title game run during his historic rookie season, and not the one whose completion rate dropped 9% during an injury-plagued sophomore year in which he missed 10 games.

Weaknesses: The Commanders signed 11 defensive players in free agency, so that unit will look completely different after an atrocious 2025. Offensively, they need the 30-year-old Terry McLaurin to stay healthy, or they’ll be thin on quality pass-catching options for Daniels to target. McLaurin also missed seven games last season.

New York Giants

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 66-1; Over-under win total: 7.5

Strengths: John Harbaugh was the flashiest hire of the coaching carousel this offseason. Can he spark an immediate turnaround in his first year away from Baltimore since 2007? At the very least, he has one of the best edge rusher rooms in the league at his disposal, equipped with edge rushers Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns (the NFC leader in sacks last year).

Weaknesses: Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo turned heads last year, but can the young QB-RB tandem elevate to a playoff level under a new coaching regime? Star receiver Malik Nabers also remains an unknown variable coming off a torn ACL. And as good as those edge rushers are, New York’s interior defensive line is nowhere near as complete.

So much for a fresh start for CU coach Deion Sanders in his pivotal fourth year.

In a remarkable show of hubris for a team coming off a 3-9 record, Sanders invited reporters to an open practice Tuesday that was closed to reporting.

You read that right. So strict were the rules, reporters had to turn in their “cell phones, tablets, cameras, video equipment, audio recorders and meta/smart glasses” before entering.

Apparently Sanders believes the Buffs rank in importance with the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift nuptials.

When CU’s sports information department sent out the email with the rules, it was an easy decision not to go. This graph sealed it.

“Nothing observed at practice may be reported, published, posted, broadcast or otherwise shared in any form, on any platform, at any time. If you are uncertain whether something is reportable, the answer is that it is not.”

So, this was a ghost practice? Why not just have reporters sign non-disclosure agreements and be accompanied by legal counsel?

Hyperbole? Maybe.

I chose not to attend for two reasons. First, if I posted something I learned from a source that CU believed was gleaned from an observation during Tuesday’s workout, then what? Is it my word against theirs? Would they ask who I obtained the information from, a detail no upstanding reporter would ever reveal?

Secondly, Sanders stopped taking questions from colleague Sean Keeler two years ago for what CU deemed “a series of sustained, personal attacks.” The ban has not been lifted.

Sanders’s contract contains specific language requiring him to speak only with “mutually agreed upon media” as part of his employment with CU. It is unclear how many coaches around the country enjoy this in-writing power, but as of 2024, no other CU coach did.

When Sean Payton took over the Broncos, he implemented new media policies, the most jarring that nothing could be reported at practice in real time. He also instituted more strict injury rules, among them that it can be reported when a player leaves practice, but speculation as to why is not permitted until Payton addresses it after the workout.

The bulk of the media policies are similar to those across the NFL — you can’t reveal formations, gimmick plays, which players are practicing with the first or second team, etc.

However, when Broncos’ practices are open to fans during training camp, 14 in all, reporters can post live. This is logical.

What Sanders did came across as an unnecessary flex on the press. It feels so heavy-handed, especially for a school that should embrace coverage after losing 11 of its last 14 games.

As it stands, the Buffs are predicted to finish 15th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 Conference.

What’s next? Asking the press only to report after wins?

Take the Fifth: Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has lost the plot. Having a lawyer send a cease and desist to LSU that it can no longer use his name, image and likeness because the school issued his No. 5 to cornerback DJ Pickett is foolish at best and childish at worst. Daniels is in the middle of the most important training camp of his career, and he is picking a fight with his former college? What’s next, banning Tigers players from giving high-fives and preventing anyone on trial in Washington, D.C., from taking the Fifth? The only number that should be on Daniels’ mind is the victories needed to get the Commanders back to the playoffs.

By the Numbers: No professional sport humbles players like baseball. Consider these numbers. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who led the Blue Jays to the World Series last year, has zero home runs at home in 248 plate appearances this season. Worse, Cal Raleigh has 51 hits after hitting 60 homers in 2025.

At Smith’s behest, Perez strapped on a headset and spent hours each day using a pair of virtual-reality goggles. “I was kind of in awe,” Perez recalled. He could turn his head and scan the field inside a living, moving playbook, where a VR program placed his vantage point directly over the shoulder of any quarterback who’d ever played for Smith. He could toggle over to a play-call — “Nebraska,” for example, a concept with a couple in-breaking routes — and evaluate how his reads played out against a variety of coverages.

Cover 2. ���������.��Cover 4. ���������.��Cover 3 Buzz. Click.

“It’s a new thing,” Perez told The Denver Post Wednesday. “But I think it’s something that’s going to be a necessity at some point, once everybody gets their hands on it. Because they’re going to see an advantage. And even at the Division I level, you’re trying to find a 1% advantage.”

Extra reps off the field

In a matter of weeks, the 37-year-old Smith will bring his virtual-reality systems to Boulder to work with CU’s quarterbacks, an under-the-radar analyst hire to Deion Sanders’ staff that could prove consequential for 18-year-old sophomore Julian Lewis. At Big 12 Media Days earlier this week, Lewis set the collegiate football world ablaze by telling ESPN he “wasn’t really looking at defenses as much” and was “free-balling” during the Buffs’ 3-9 season in 2025.

Now, the former blue-chip recruit will have access to a system that Smith hopes will have a Gladwellian effect — filming every concept called by new OC Brennan Marion during CU’s training camp and immersing Lewis and other quarterbacks in first-person virtual reality playback of the playbook to better read defenses.

“My whole goal is to move you up a class,” Smith told The Post this week. “So what I mean by that is – if you’re a freshman, if I can put you in the system and get you 10,000 reps of our plays before you hit the field, I want you to feel more like a sophomore. Because you’ve gotten things you can’t get without this technology. And so that����ap the growth you’ll see with (Lewis), is the mental side.”

The 31-year-old Perez, for his part, is an old dog who learned this new trick this spring. Such software, Perez told The Post, can be “exponentially better” when applied to, say, an 18-year-old sophomore QB in Lewis who in Georgia.

“You can really break everything down, right?” Perez described, rattling off a list of examples. “The route depth — what are we doing with this dig route? Who are we trying to influence?”

“I think for someone like that,” Perez said of Lewis, a few sentences later, “this will be really beneficial if taught right.”

An innovator in the QB realm

Smith will serve as a teacher, a hyperactive offensive mind who began his coaching career at age 19 in Louisiana high school football and has . A self-described spring football “fanatic,” Smith wandered up to Boulder this winter to interview for a slew of offensive openings at Colorado, and decided to take an assistant quarterbacks role working under Marion. His five-year career in the UFL (formerly XFL and USFL) was done, he decided.

Then St. Louis head coach Ricky Proehl called Smith in December to offer him the Battlehawks’ play-calling job. Smith called Colorado back.

He wound up accepting both.

How, exactly, has he fulfilled separate professional and collegiate coaching jobs at once? Smith argues they don’t overlap. Not exactly. Smith arrived in Colorado Jan. 3, took a week-long came back to Colorado in February, then left before spring ball to coach the 6-4 Battlehawks for four months.

“I just wanted my cake,” Smith said, voice lifting with a smile, “and to eat it too.”

At some point in that winter haze, while under a temporary agreement with CU, Smith installed his virtual-reality software and showed staffers how to film plays — with a camera directly behind the quarterback — during spring ball to upload into the program. Back in 2010, while serving as the youngest offensive coordinator , Smith began to realize that a younger generation wasn’t so much interested in physical playbooks as in interactive screens. So he taught himself to code and built an initial rough virtual-reality film system that he called a “super-Madden” while .

Smith kept adding with yearly advancements in virtual-reality software and artificial intelligence, while . Over the past decade, software has become a crucial tool for quarterbacks to learn their own offensive systems.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Battlehawks quarterback Michael Pratt, a former seventh-round NFL draft pick, in an April video from St. Louis’s X account.

extra reps off the field

AJ Smith and Michael Pratt explain the VR technology used to give Battlehawks quarterbacks an edge.

— St. Louis Battlehawks (@BattlehawksUFL)

Others have. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, the NFL’s 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year, . The next level of such software, which Daniels reps and Smith’s hand-built program includes, is the ability to speed up practice clips inside the headset to accelerate mental processing.

“Cognitively, you see guys running so fast that when we go, ‘OK, now make the read in real time,’ real time seems slow,” Smith said. “So if we’ve slowed the game down, we’ve accomplished something.”

Can that slow the game down for Lewis, who said point-blank this week that he was still taking a high school approach to a collegiate offense last year? In his first two starts at the end of a lost season in 2025, Lewis completed 56.1% of his passes for 460 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Solid — but Marion’s new offense will need more explosiveness after CU finished 15th in the Big 12 in scoring offense last year.

Smith is betting he can help.

“I’ve yet to find a quarterback,” Smith said, “that really doesn’t gravitate to this.”

Take a peek at any sportsbook, and the Broncos’ over-under for victories floats around 9.5 games, which would leave them trailing the Los Angeles Chargers (understandable) and Kansas City Chiefs (unbelievable).

The lack of confidence in the Broncos to repeat their success traces back to Bo Nix.

He is compromised after multiple ankle surgeries.

He is a slow starter in games — six touchdowns, six interceptions in the first quarter.

He is a slow starter in seasons — 4-4 record in September, compared to 20-6 in every other month.

He is not elite against zone defenses — ranking 33rd among 45 quarterback qualifiers in success rate, per Sumersports.com.

The Broncos are about to fall from grace from a thud, if you believe wise guys and critics, and Nix does not give a (bleep).

Among the reasons that he can lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl, place his mentality at the top of the list.

“He does not care what people think. That is a superpower in this league. And he has it,” veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It gives him the ability to go out there and play free, play loose. He cherishes it. On top of the maturity and knowledge he has gained over the last two years, he is made of the right stuff. That’s why I believe he’s the guy.”

The Broncos are five weeks from beginning one of the most scrutinized training camps in franchise history, and they appear ready because their quarterback will be.

Nix understands injuries are inevitable, but he has twice recovered from ankle surgeries in high school and college and played better. He is confident he will do so again.

There is no limp, no change in his throwing mechanics, no reason to think he will be anything but 100 percent when Denver travels to Kansas City for the season opener. When I asked him if he had concerns about his mobility, he said he was concerned he might run too much.

Nix is not shying from goals associated with franchise quarterbacks — win a Super Bowl, win MVP. If he did not think that way, why bother paying him $60 million a year after this season?

It is not a slam dunk that the Broncos repeat as AFC West champs. And it is even less likely that they secure the No. 1 seed with an opening schedule that features a six-pack nastier than Milwaukee’s Best.

But viewing Nix as a reason for regression? That is laughable.

He finished last season with 30 total touchdowns — rushing and passing — ranking ninth, ahead of Justin Herbert (28) and Patrick Mahomes (27)

He ranked seventh in 2024 with 34, including a receiving score, placing him above Jalen Hurts (32) and Jayden Daniels (31).

And no quarterback was better in the clutch than Nix last year.

He did this without a dynamic weapon. In his third year, we can finally get a better grip on his ceiling with the addition of Jaylen Waddle.

No longer will third-down calls be: “Hey, Courtland, get open.” Waddle will pair with Sutton, forcing teams to make tough decisions in man coverage — where Nix excels.

Conclusions should never be drawn in June without pads on. But it is obvious why the Broncos added Waddle.

He stops, starts, and changes directions seamlessly in traffic. Imagine Frogger as a receiver.

“There’s an element of explosiveness that I think as an offense we’ve lacked for a couple years,” Nix admitted.

While Waddle will make Nix better, the onus is on Davis Webb to help him reach his potential.

Webb will call plays through the lens of a former NFL quarterback. He will simplify the verbiage to give Nix more time at the line of scrimmage. As in years past, the Broncos will use a variety of tempos. Webb, however, provides an opportunity to throttle up and down on the same possession.

It is hard to imagine Webb not getting Nix into a rhythm more quickly in first drives, first quarters and first halves.

The Broncos know they are not going to win 11 one-score games again, a feat that tied an NFL record. They were 1-6 in 2024. So that means we should expect them to go 6-6 in 2026.

Nix can help them avoid this scenario by playing fewer close games. Starting on Oct. 25 at Arizona, the Broncos should be favored in eight straight.

This is where Nix can flex his muscles, not lose his fingernails over worst-case scenarios — ankle issues, failing to click with Waddle and Webb experiencing growing pains.

If Nix regresses, it will be on him. But serious question: When has he ever given us a reason not to trust him?

He has clumsy moments — the Broncos had the third most punts last season. Yet, he boasts 10 career game-winning drives. Wait, what was the score in the fourth quarter against Buffalo? Make it 11.

He relishes competition.

“A coach told me a long time ago that you have to be a little screwed up to be good at this and we all are in some shape and form. You look at Bo in the huddle, you see that fire in his eyes and you know this guy has got something special to him,” McGlinchey said. “You could feel it the first time he stepped on the field as a rookie. And all it has done is grow. It’s not even the comebacks that we all know about. It is just the way he has developed and trusts everyone around him.”

For the third straight season, the Broncos will be overlooked. Critics see imposters.

If the expectations of chasing a championship were too much, if the pressure was too suffocating, I would be the first to call them out.

But doubt is not a problem. With Sean Payton, it is a motivation.

Nix is not a question, his ankle be damned. He is the solution.

The Timberwolves lobbed verbal molotov cocktails at the Nuggets. Jaden McDaniels called them “horrible” defenders. Coach Chris Finch labeled their stars “floppers.”

Through the first two games, there was only one conclusion to draw: the Timberwolves view the Nuggets as soft. An NBA version of Charmin.

Thursday offered a chance for the Nuggets’ to punch back, find redemption.

Instead, the Timberwolves wiped their you know what with the Nuggets, taking control of a series with an 113-96 blowout at Target Center.

Once again, the Nuggets failed to match the Timberwolves’ intensity. Once again, they were out of sync offensively. Once again, they could not get stops, falling behind by 23 points in the first half.

With a rebuilt bench, this season started with such hope. Now, the Nuggets seem like a promise broken.

They trail 2-1 in the series, but they don’t look good enough, especially with Aaron Gordon (calf) hurt again, to regain control. The embarrassment of a first-round exit looms as an uncomfortable possibility.

The Nuggets have lost plenty of playoff games the past two springs, but few have stung like this. McDaniels punked them. Flicked spitwads off the back of their heads. The Nuggets refused to engage, declining to respond on the off day.

This was a mistake. They had an opportunity to stick up for themselves, suggesting that McDaniels is a Gucci-knockoff version of Jayden Daniels, and that Finch is acting desperate with his mind games.

Instead, they took the high road. Right off a cliff.

For all those who insisted the players were preserving their energy for the court, the Nuggets responded with one of the worst playoff quarters in franchise history. They scored 11 points in the opening period, shooting 3-for-21, while missing 16 of their first 18 attempts.

An anomaly? Hardly. Denver finished 28 of 82 from the field, the 34% mark their lowest of the season.

“When we got sped up by pressure, that led to some unorganized possessions. Everybody struggled from the field,” coach David Adelman told reporters in Minnesota. “That is not who we have been throughout the season.”

Nikola Jokic went 1-for-7 in the first quarter, remaining knee-deep in a 3-point shooting slump since the All-Star break (29.7% compared to 42 % in the season’s first half).

“This guy has played a million playoff games. There are nights that are poor,” Adelman said. “He will bounce back.”

Jamal Murray had no rhythm, forced to create off the dribble through sticky defenders, most notably McDaniels. It was left for Zeke Nnaji — yes, you read that correctly — to provide a brief spark.

There is struggling. And there is dissolving.

The Timberwolves ballooned their lead to 52-30 with 4:21 remaining in the half with a bucket by — who else? — McDaniels. He nearly outscored Jokic and Murray over the first 24 minutes, dropping 13 points.

“I talked with him a little bit (before the game),” Finch said. “Now you gotta back it up.”

His play cashed the check his mouth wrote. McDaniels delivered 20 points, converting 9 of 13 shots, and added 10 rebounds.

Given a chance to deliver a hard foul on him early in the game, the Nuggets chose the velvet glove. McDaniels did what he wanted without consequence, saying afterward that he was merely playing team ball in pursuit of a win.

His teammates knew better.

“He is our brother,” said Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu in an on-court TV interview. “We had his back.”

This is what they call getting your nose rubbed in it on the playground. Just when it looked like things could not get worse, Bones Hyland, who quit on the Nuggets before getting traded three years ago, put Spencer Jones in a blender and sank a 3-pointer from St. Paul.

That made it 80-56 late in the third.

The first three games have brought a revelation. It is clear the Timberwolves were bored by the regular season. They have lost in the Western Conference Finals the past two years, and apparently needed the higher stakes to become engaged.

In the Nuggets, they found a willing victim, a team that foolishly tries to convince itself that it can flip the switch defensively in the playoffs. Miss me with the rating over the first two games in this series.

Trust your eyes. The Nuggets give up too many blow-bys, too many uncontested shots, and the next time a Denver player takes a charge, it will be from a credit card.

The fourth quarter provided a snapshot of what separates these two teams. Down 20, Murray brought the ball over halfcourt, looking for space. McDaniels guarded him tighter than SaranWrap for 15 seconds, forcing an off-balance 3-pointer.

Typically, Jokic is the default answer when the fire alarm blares. Post him up, and let him go to work. He has toasted Rudy Gobert for years. Perhaps peeved by the lack of respect for his defense, Gobert has flipped the script.

In the first half, Jokic was minus-22 when the gangly center was on the court, continuing an alarming trend in the series.

Jokic has been unable to deliver easy buckets near the rim or get Gobert into foul trouble. The Timberwolves willingly left Jokic open behind the arc. And Jokic could not make it hurt. He is 5 for 24 on 3s in the series.

Jokic finished with 27 points on 26 shots. Murray went 5-for-17, and for the second time in the series, failed to make a 3.

For those who want to provide cover for the Nuggets because of Gordon’s late scratch, just understand it comes off as an excuse. Even with Gordon, the Nuggets lost Game 2 because the Timberwolves did everything they couldn’t — like win in the paint and on the boards.

The Nuggets find themselves in this hole because the Timberwolves have made life miserable for Jokic and Murray. They are winning in the margins. They are physical, intentional.

Go ahead, tell yourself the Nuggets are better.

But one thing is clear through three games. They are definitely not tougher.

Denver has interviewed Commanders offensive passing-game coordinator Brian Johnson for their open OC job, a source confirmed to The Denver Post Friday. With the Broncos’ previous interview of Bills quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry, Denver can now move forward with hiring any candidate under the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which mandates teams must interview at least two minority coaching candidates for coordinator roles.

Broncos passing-game coordinator Davis Webb still stands as the clear favorite to take over in Denver’s top offensive role. Johnson, though, presents an interesting option, after working closely with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels in his Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2024.

Previously, Johnson worked as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022, where he helped develop Super Bowl winner Jalen Hurts. Johnson also worked with Dak Prescott during his collegiate career at Mississippi State, where he was the Bulldogs’ QBs coach from 2014 to 2016.

The Broncos’ offensive staff has undergone rapid change across the past week, as head coach Sean Payton fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and receivers coach Keary Colbert Tuesday. Senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael Jr. — a Payton loyalist dating back to New Orleans — is also leaving Denver to take the Bills’ offensive-coordinator job.

Johnson’s interview is notable, too, in that he’s had no shared-staff overlap with Payton at any previous stop. And Denver now has two potential candidates for a role as a quarterbacks coach, if they do indeed promote Webb to offensive coordinator.

Would you report on win/loss records of sophomore NFL quarterbacks?

— Jim Taylor, Littleton

What’s the fun in just talking win-loss record?

Matter of fact, we wrote a while back about the impressive seasons several of the quarterbacks from the 2024 class have engineered and, more broadly, how impressive the group has been through two seasons.

Consider that three of the top four seeds in the playoffs are led by 2024 QBs — No. 1 Denver (Bo Nix) and No. 2 New England (Drake Maye) in the AFC and No. 2 Chicago (Caleb Williams) in the NFC.

Let����ap start by pointing out that wins are a team stat, not a quarterback stat. A quarterback can play magnificently in a loss and horrendously in a win. Nix is no exception. The Broncos have lost four games in which he posted a quarterback rating above 106 and won six times when he sported a quarterback rating below 70.

One of the great things about this class is that nobody’s path has been entirely linear. Nix clearly walked into the most stable situation and he’s taken advantage of it, helping the Broncos qualify for the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. That includes a 14-3 regular season and the No. 1 seed this year. He also didn’t take a big statistical leap in his second season, whereas Williams and Maye each did.

Maye has by far the best single season of the class so far. He could well win the MVP this year. Williams took a massive leap in Year 2 and forms a formidable long-term pairing with coach Ben Johnson. Daniels had a Year 2 to forget due to injury, but he looked like a star as a rookie and helped lead Washington to the NFC Championship Game.

The jury is out on Michael Penix and J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy was the youngest of the group to begin with and then lost his rookie season to injury, but 2025 provided reason for concern. Penix now will have a new head coach and, presumably, coordinator going forward after Raheem Morris was fired this week. He’s already the third quarterback in the class to experience a head coaching change and you can throw Daniels in the mix, too, because offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is leaving the Commanders.

Change worked wonders for Williams and Maye. We’ll see with Penix.

Here’s a chart with several stats, though obviously not an entire encapsulation, for the 2024 class so far. Judge for yourself. If the draft were held again tomorrow, a lot of folks around the league would bet Maye, Daniels and Williams all still get picked before Nix. But Nix isn’t going sixth again, either.

Bottom line: Four of the six teams that took quarterbacks in 2024 are very happy with their guy through two seasons. That’s already a heck of a class.

Class of 2024 QBs

Hello Parker. Whew, it’s been an amazing ride when one recalls where ����apountry stood four years ago. Heading to the playoffs, I can’t help but wonder if giving more touches (and more consecutive touches) to Jaleel McLaughlin would help improve our running game production. For several games now, he seems to be able to pick up more yards in tight spaces than we’re seeing from RJ Harvey.

— Ted Loehr, Montrose

I wrote about this some after the game, so I won’t spend a whole lot of time on it, but the bottom line is I agree with you.

McLaughlin’s up to 5.1 yards per carry and the Broncos coaching staff on a near weekly basis comments on how good he’s been since J.K. Dobbins’ injury. You lose a bit of the homerun threat when he’s in the game compared to Harvey, but right now McLaughlin’s getting the yards that are there to be had in the run game at a more efficient clip.

Here’s the trick, though: Harvey is really good with the ball in space. So can Denver dial up McLaughlin’s usage in the run game, continue to get Harvey some touches out of the backfield and in the passing game and find the balance without being predictable? That����ap the question.

While RJ Harvey has had a productive rookie season, it seems to me he is not a No. 1 back who can carry the load, primarily, I believe, because of his size. It’s been more obvious since he’s become the primary back that when he gets to the second level, he gets absolutely hammered by LBs, and stopped dead or knocked backward. He’s not a pile mover. So, while he clearly has a lot of value in the Payton system, don’t the Broncos still need a true No. 1 back with more tackle-breaking ability?

— Dave, Charlotte, N.C.

Completely agree that Harvey is not a finished product, but have to disagree with you on the rationale.

In fact, I’d say Harvey has the most make-you-miss ability among Denver backs in at least in the past handful of seasons. He’s also forceful and violent when he’s decisive. Decision-making, though, is where the rookie still has a lot of developing to do. Nearly every time the Broncos get him the ball out in space, he delivers a hit or makes somebody miss and collects extra yardage. But when he’s asked to make the run-game reads in the backfield, it����ap hit and miss. If you’re in the wrong gap or hesitating, yeah, you’re going to get thumped.

Payton’s scouting on running backs is interesting but it makes sense to me. He differentiates between short and small. Harvey is short, but he ain’t small.

Another way Payton puts it: You’ve got to have mass and, uh, rump. Harvey’s built that way. He’s explosive. He’s just not efficient in the whole spectrum of the running game yet.

Whether he’s a true lead back, capable of playing on all three downs, is still an open question. He’s talented, though, that����ap for sure.

Everyone always says how difficult Sean Payton offense is, but yet how come Bo Nix doesn’t need to wear a cheat sheet on his wrist like most QBs do? Is Bo Nix that smart that he has memorized the plays that he hears in the helmet from Sean Payton?

— Mike, St. Louis, Mo.

Hey Mike, good question. Nix wore a wrist band last year, though he had it attached to his belt rather than actually wearing it on his wrist. He had it for the season opener back in September, too, but doesn’t appear to have used it since.

Quarterbacks and play callers use those wristbands for all kinds of reasons. With Payton and Nix, in particular, part of the rationale was to get some of Payton’s most wordy calls on the band so the coach could give short-hand to Nix, creating a couple of extra seconds for the quarterback to spit out a call that might be15 or 20 words long.

That only works, though, if the play-caller and the QB are both comfortable with it. If it����ap easier to repeat the words as you hear them in the headset or if it����ap easier for the coach to feel a rhythm by saying all the words, that just might work better.

Certainly, Nix’s command of the offense has grown, too.

This a follow-up question about the hit on Pat Bryant in the Jags game.  Your answer about the defenseless player rule was appreciated.  However, following the hit, I wondered about whether there are unwritten rules of football.  Down 14 points with 30 seconds left, the viciousness of the hit seemed more about injuring than winning a game that was already settled.  We regularly hear about the unwritten rules of baseball, hockey and basketball.  Do the Broncos owe Montaric Brown or another Jag at the next meeting?

— Shawn Thompson, Denver

Yeah, you could make that argument. But you could just as easily use the same rationale to argue that there’s no reason to put Bryant in that position in the first place. I’m not going to sit here and crush Nix after the fact — he was emotional on the field and said after the game that he felt like he was responsible. And while the sequence was not all on him, if you want to make an argument that the hit was unnecessary because of the game situation (and strip away the rulebook part of the conversation), then it����ap fair to wonder what good was going to come from throwing back across the middle under the same conditions.

At this point, chalk it up to a bad deal all around that Bryant was fortunate to come out the other side of in fairly good shape.

Now, as for the Broncos and Jaguars, between that hit, the “small market” stuff, Jacksonville being the lone team to win in Denver this year and the fact that both teams have been terrific overall, you don’t need to convince me that it would be one heck of an AFC Championship Game at Empower Field.

I don’t want to take away from Matthew Stafford or Drake Maye, but I think Justin Herbert should be getting a lot more consideration as MVP. After all, what would the Chargers be without him, and isn’t that the definition of MVP?

— Mark, Centennial

I hear what you’re saying but I’m not sure Herbert����ap numbers stack up with Stafford and Maye this year.

That takes nothing away, though, from the epic job Herbert did dragging the Chargers through the second half of the season. Their offensive line was battered and he got it, too. He got hit more than any quarterback in football. Broke his left hand. Just kept on playing and winning until Week 17 against Houston.

It����ap a heck of a season. Not many quarterbacks could have done what he did. But it wasn’t MVP-level.

Josh Allen had a similar Superman run in Buffalo down the stretch. There were some incredible individual seasons across positions like San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey, Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cleveland DE Myles Garrett. You could make an argument in absentia for Green Bay edge Micah Parsons, whose torn ACL against Denver marked the exact moment at which the Packers’ defense went from among the league’s best to getting regularly shredded.

It����ap going to be Maye or Stafford. Give me Maye by a hair.

Who do you think is the worst opponent for the Broncos in the divisional round? Personally, I’d hate to see Houston. They’re scorching hot right now. I really don’t want to see them.

— Max, Colorado Springs

Good question and a totally fair place to land on it yourself. The Texans haven’t lost since the last time they played Denver. That����ap nine straight since early November. The Texans’ defense is ferocious. They have offensive weapons, too, though their production on that side of the ball has been hit and miss, particularly situationally. Houston is 23rd in the NFL on third down and 30th in the red zone.

I know I just got done saying Herbert isn’t an MVP candidate, but I’d put the Chargers at the top of the list of tough matchups.

Consider this: Nix was pressured just 27.7% of the time last year. Houston got to him 38% of his drop-backs. That was third-most in a game on the season.

The most: Week 3 at the Chargers (43.8%). Second-most: 40.6% Week 18 against, you guessed it, the Chargers and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Khalil Mack didn’t play in either game. The Chargers sat OLB Tuli Tuipulotu (13 sacks) and S Derwin James — who made play after play in Week 3 — this past weekend.

And Herbert will be coming off a week’s rest.

There’s no such thing as an easy divisional round matchup, typically, but I agree with Post columnists Troy Renck and Sean Keeler that Pittsburgh looks like the most favorable matchup. After that, in order, let����ap go Houston, Buffalo and the Chargers

Is there a source to listen to a replay of the radio broadcast of Dave Logan’s Broncos gameday play-by-play?

— Mike, Arvada

The NFL doesn’t allow local radio broadcasters to repurpose full game replays, so unfortunately the answer is no. There are usually some clips floating around on the team’s social media and website.

Patriots, Jaguars vying for top seed. The Broncos received a massive belated Christmas gift on Monday courtesy of Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who relinquished all gamesmanship and said point-blank that Los Angeles would rest star quarterback Justin Herbert. Denver would have to absolutely implode to lose Sunday’s matchup. In such an event, though, New England (13-3) and Jacksonville (12-4) would be set up to seize that vaunted No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Patriots are playing a 7-9 Dolphins team that’s been mathematically eliminated; the Jaguars face 3-13 Tennessee, one of the worst teams in the NFL. Denver can’t afford to get too cute here.

Fernando-mania. The Raiders are the NFL’s hottest current mess. They’ve lost 10 straight. The Pete Carroll experiment seems all but destined to end after one unceremonious year. 48-year-old minority owner Tom Brady was captured by TMZ getting a little close with 25-year-old influencer Alix Earle on New Year’s Eve. Las Vegas continues to be in the news for plenty of reasons beyond the actual on-field product. The good news? Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is only solidifying his case as a legitimate No. 1 pick, with a 14-of-16 line for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a drubbing of Alabama at the Rose Bowl on Thursday. Raiders general manager John Spytek has to be licking his chops.

Rivers done, again. The great season-saving Philip Rivers Experiment is over, as the 44-year-old will now step back into retirement after three losses in Indianapolis. What a valiant effort it was, though: Rivers has a higher QBR (39.3) in three starts in 2025 than the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa or the Raiders’ Geno Smith have this season. The Colts announced rookie QB Riley Leonard will start in Week 18, with Indianapolis (8-8) removed from playoff contention. Rivers, though, expressed nothing but gratitude for the opportunity.

“I got three bonus games that I never saw coming,” , “and couldn’t be more thankful that I got an opportunity.”

Around the NFC

Teach me how to Purdy. It’s time to officially crown San Francisco as serious NFC contenders. The 49ers were a distant afterthought in their own division a couple months back, floating at 6-4 behind Seattle and the Rams. Suddenly, the Niners have ripped off six wins in a row with the return of starting quarterback Brock Purdy, who’s playing with rarely-before-seen levels of confidence. Case in point: hitting a nasty Dougie after a touchdown against the Bears last Sunday in a 24-of-33, 303-yard, five-total-TD performance. As , heaven “forbid a white guy has a little bit of motion.”

Packers get secondary help. Green Bay’s seen an unexpected influx of Cowboys into their building in 2025. First came Micah Parsons. Now, former All-Pro Trevon Diggs is joining the fray after Dallas cut bait and waived him this week. The cornerback is far from the same player who led the NFL with 11 interceptions in 2021, torched for four touchdowns and a 157.2 quarterback rating in eight games this season. But there’s still talent in there, and perhaps Diggs will be motivated by a fresh start.

Can Stafford seize an MVP? The race for the league’s top award is still wide-open entering Week 18. Support for the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, long the season favorite, has faltered significantly after he threw three interceptions in Monday’s 27-24 loss to the Falcons. The stats don’t lie, though: Stafford’s 42 touchdown passes are nine more than any other NFL quarterback entering the final regular-season game of the year. If Stafford gets back on track against the 3-13 Cardinals Sunday, consider the Most Valuable Player discussion wrapped up.

Game of the Week

Baltimore at Pittsburgh

It’s a Sunday Night doozy. Lamar Jackson vs. Aaron Rodgers for sole possession of an AFC North title — and a playoff berth. Loser’s bounced out of the bracket entirely. Jackson confirmed this week he’ll play after missing last Saturday’s win with a back contusion, in what’s been an overall-frustrating year for the MVP due to injuries and roster instability.

There could be major long-term ramifications on the line for both organizations in Pittsburgh on Sunday.  A Ravens loss could bring an end of an era to the John Harbaugh-Jackson partnership in Baltimore, with trade rumors swirling around Jackson for the better part of a strange season. A Steelers loss could bring an end to the Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh, with rampant speculation (okay, there’s speculation literally every year) around Tomlin’s job security. Sunday should, in general, bring a unique new chapter in a historic NFL rivalry.

Baltimore 24, Pittsburgh 20

Lock of the Week

Tennessee at Jacksonville

There aren’t a ton of playoff teams with a ton left to play for in Week 18. The Jaguars are one of them. And they just so happen to be facing the 3-13 Titans. Tennessee’s been playing much-improved offensive ball across the last month, as rookie Cam Ward has six touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last three starts. Still, the Jaguars should be motivated to put this one to bed early to preserve a shot at the one-seed and get their starters some second-half rest.

Jaguars 31, Titans 20

Upset of the Week

Washington at Philadelphia

Don’t look now, but the reigning champs should be squarely back in the thick of the Super Bowl discussion. Philadelphia’s offense is still a sludge. But Vic Fangio’s defense is playing as well as any unit in the league: the Eagles have surrendered just 14.5 points a game across their last eight weeks.

That being said, this could be a classic end-of-year stunner. Philadelphia’s resting quarterback Jalen Hurts against the Commanders, despite a shot at the No. 2 seed if they’d beat Washington. That’d signal the Eagles will sit other key starters; Washington’s suffered through a brutal season with Jayden Daniels banged up, but backup Marcus Mariota has done some solid work at times. This could be an ugly, meaningless upset.

Commanders 16, Eagles 13