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.

Baltimore Ravens

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 11-1; Over-under win total: 11.5

Strengths: Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP and one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Derrick Henry scoffs at your aging curves and historical data while continuing to run through defenses. Zay Flowers has developed into a No. 1 receiver. Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey anchor one of the best secondaries. The , but Trey Hendrickson was a pretty nice backup plan. The Ravens have won double-digit games in six of the past eight years.

Weaknesses: The John Harbaugh era is over. Baltimore has a first-time NFL head coach (Jesse Minter) and two new coordinators. The offensive line lost center Tyler Linderbaum to free agency and rookie Olaivavega Ioane will likely start at one of the guard spots. The longstanding great defense has slid from first in 2023 to ninth and then 17th in points allowed over the past two seasons.

Cincinnati Bengals

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 22-1; Over-under win total: 9.5

Strengths: Joe Burrow, when healthy, remains an elite NFL quarterback. Ja’Marr Chase is in the conversation for best wide receiver. He and Tee Higgins together might be the best 1-2 punch. Chase Brown topped 1,000 yards rushing for the first time and added 69 receptions. Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen could be one of the best duos on the interior of the defensive line.

Weaknesses: Burrow’s health issues and the offensive line’s struggles are not a coincidence. While the two new guys inside are exciting, Hendrickson, with his 61 sacks over the past five seasons, is now in Baltimore with a division rival. The defense allowed the third-most points in the league last year. It should be better, but it needs to be a lot better if the Bengals are going to be more than just a potential playoff team.

Pittsburgh Steelers

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 80-1; Over-under win total: 8.5

Strengths: T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward still anchor the defense up front, and the supporting cast, with the likes of Derrick Harmon and Alex Highsmith, is stout. The secondary could also be a plus if the top guys stay healthy. Adding Michael Pittman to play next to D.K. Metcalf outside, along with Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington inside, should be the best collection of pass catchers in Pittsburgh in several years.

Weaknesses: Aaron Rodgers was better than the other post-Ben Roethlisberger options the Steelers have tried. Maybe he can find one more vintage season with his old coach Mike McCarthy, now the new guy in charge of the Steelers. The offensive line is a question mark, with Broderick Jones’ health the biggest uncertainty. Mike Tomlin and the Steelers won 10 games and lost the first playoff game by double digits for three straight seasons. They haven’t won a postseason contest since 2016. This group feels … about the same, unless the new coaching staff can squeeze a little more of it.

Cleveland Browns

BetMGM says: Win Super Bowl: 250-1; Over-under win total: 5.5

Strengths: The Browns were 14th in the league in points allowed, which was actually tops in the division. Jared Verse is not Myles Garrett, but he can still be the top pass rusher on a good defense in his third season. Denzel Ward is one of the league’s best cornerbacks. Harold Fannin, Jr., could be one of the top tight ends in short order.

Weaknesses: Is it going to be former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson at quarterback? This offense was a mess last season, and it’s up to new coach Todd Monken to fix it. Maybe the offensive line will be better with some new additions highlighted by No. 9 pick Spencer Fano? Former Broncos wideout Jerry Jeudy is the No. 1 wideout. He caught 50 of 106 targets last year. Garrett had an NFL-record 23 sacks last year, but he’s in Los Angeles now.

This week, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix placed 18th in ESPN’s , compiled from anonymous conversations with various NFL staffers. Indicative, certainly, of league-wide belief that Nix has steps to take entering Year 3: he did finish 26th of 33 qualified quarterbacks in passer rating (87.8) and 28th in yards-per-attempt (6.4) last year, after all. But the mid-tier placement given Nix’s league-leading seven game-winning drives in 2025 and playoff win over Bills star Josh Allen.

Was such a ranking fair? Who knows. Probably a bit low. But we here at The Post are not here to speculate about league-wide hot takes; we �󲹱�����decided to speculate, though, about Broncos-specific hot takes that have been simmering in the back of our minds for an offseason since Denver fell to New England in last year’s AFC Championship.

With that in mind, Broncos beat reporters Parker Gabriel and Luca Evans have assembled individual lists of five sizzling predictions for Denver’s 2026 season (plus one completely off-the-wall take), a couple of short weeks removed from the start of training camp. Time for our own slightly informed think-piece. Let’s dive in.

Disclaimer: We are in no way advocating for these to come true or rooting for these predictions to take place. These are solely opinions and should be viewed as such.

Parker Gabriel’s takes

No. 1. I am less confident in the Broncos making the postseason this year than I was at this time last year.

To be clear, I think the Broncos will make the playoffs and will be surprised if they don’t. But the first-place schedule is no joke. The opening six games are brutal. The stretch run is no joke. Denver has been largely healthy in the regular season since Payton arrived. The changes on defense in both personnel and staff might be a bit underrated. Plus, when a team is so good in one-score games one year, there’s natural wonder about regression the next year. Plus, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson didn’t make the playoff field last year. Teams will beat up on each other, but 10-7 isn’t a sure ticket to the playoffs this fall in the AFC.

No. 2. Que Robinson will finish second on the team in sacks

Part of this, naturally, is because of the uncertainty around Jonathon Cooper’s future as he faces a felony assault charge stemming from June’s domestic violence-related incidents with his former girlfriend. Part of it, though, is because Robinson looks like a true breakout candidate going into his second season. Could Jonah Elliss get to 10 sacks with more playing time? Sure. Might Zach Allen set a new career-high and flirt with double digits? Certainly possible. But Robinson’s explosiveness and his ability to play in any down-and-distance situation make him an intriguing candidate behind clear team sack leader Nik Bonitto.

No. 3. The Broncos won’t trade a player who is slated to have a substantial role this summer, but they should

Nearly every move Denver has made this offseason has been about winning this fall. Certainly, they’ve done some long-range planning in how they structured contract extensions and they opted to let John Franklin-Myers walk even though technically they could have afforded to keep him, but by and large this looks like a team that����ap putting a lot of chips in right now. Makes sense with Bo Nix still on his rookie contract. We also know depth is paramount as seasons grind on. Still, if the Broncos are relatively healthy by the middle of training camp, there’s a decent chance somebody else around the league will want somebody on Denver’s roster. Is that Ben Powers? Riley Moss? Troy Franklin? Jarrett Stidham? The Broncos profited nicely by trading Devaughn Vele last summer. They can afford to do something similar this summer if a team comes calling in a similar fashion, and it’d be good business for the future.

No. 4. The next Broncos assistant to get a head coaching interview is Evan Rothstein and it will happen this winter 

Three Broncos assistant coaches got head coaching interviews this winter: Webb, Joseph and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, so they’re off the board. Rothstein isn’t an on-field coordinator like those three — his title is director of game management and assistant QB coach — but Payton holds him in extremely high regard. He’s instrumental in the building, even if he doesn’t get a ton of public mention by Broncos coaches and staffers. He’ll get some head-coaching buzz and will be a sneaky offensive-coordinator candidate in Denver if Webb gets a head-coaching job.

No. 5. Sam Ehlinger will win the No. 2 quarterback job in training camp 

Stidham has been the No. 2 for each of the past three years and is the favorite to win that job again. Webb, though, was really high on Ehlinger as a free agent last spring and the former Colt and Texas Longhorn impressed coaches in his first season with the Broncos. Let����ap say they’re about even through training camp. Do Payton and Webb carry on with the status quo? Or might a bit of a shakeup — with the possibility that Ehlinger’s mobility might be appealing in a short stint relieving Nix — be in order? In this situation, the Broncos probably keep all three on the 53 unless a trade partner materializes for Stiddy.

And one (crazy) extra: If the Broncos win the Super Bowl, Sean Payton will publicly muse about retirement but find the allure of a potential dynasty too much to pass up

One of the more hilarious nuggets in Seth Wickersham’s opus on the Broncos’ postseason run was Payton saying he wants to outlast NFL commissioner Roger Goodell by at least a year, essentially just so he could say he did. But if Denver wins a Super Bowl, Payton will have little left to prove. His Hall of Fame bona fides will be beyond doubt. There would be a post-Super Bowl Sean McVay-esque ‘will he or won’t he’ period fueled by Payton himself. Ultimately, though, the bet here is he’d decide he was about to win three more in the next four years.

Luca Evans’ takes

No. 1. The Broncos start the season 0-3, Myles Garrett sacks Bo Nix at least twice in Week 3, Sean Payton slowly inserts himself back into play-calling duties, and the Webb-Payton hybrid brain trust rides to a top-10 offensive finish.

Is the 31-year-old Davis Webb built to handle the natural ups and downs of his first full NFL season as a play-caller? Yes, if you ask him. Will the notoriously hyperactive 62-year-old Payton give him the full leeway to work through the bumps, in literally the first time Payton has ever given up play-calling? Hard to see. I keep thinking back to a text I sent former Saints running back Deuce McAllister in February before Webb was officially given the keys, on whether he could actually see Payton making the move.

“Hey Luca nice to meet you,” McAllister wrote back. “Sean’s not giving up play calling.”

Of course, Payton did. That text was still indicative of how tightly the coach has gripped his offense over the years, as central to not only his NFL identity but his identity as a person at large. Payton’s Broncos teams have started the season 0-3, 1-2 and 1-2 in his Denver tenure; these Broncos will now face a healthy Patrick Mahomes at Arrowhead on “Monday Night Football” to start the year, then come home to play a Jacksonville team that outplayed them last season, then play the arguable Super Bowl favorites in the Los Angeles Rams.

In this scenario, I think Payton quietly maneuvers for more play-calling influence after an early-season slump, a combination of tough love and natural acclimation steadies the ship, and a Webb-Payton hybrid attack puts the Broncos back in the playoffs as a middle-ish AFC seed.

No. 2. The Broncos trade Riley Moss by November’s trade deadline, and maybe sooner.

Moss has a near-perfect demeanor as Denver’s CB2 opposite Pat Surtain. But there is a wide set of factors working against his long-term staying power in Denver. Firstly, he’s a proven, productive cornerback who could hit free agency after 2026 and earn a few million more than the Broncos would be willing to pay him. Secondly, the Broncos may need to pick between an extension for him or nickel Ja’Quan McMillian, who’s arguably more valuable to coordinator Vance Joseph’s defensive system. Thirdly, the Broncos have 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron now likely set to compete with Moss at outside cornerback come training camp.

The Broncos are in a tricky spot here. If they start Moss, first-round pick Barron would likely play a reserve, situational role for the second year in a row. If they bench Moss, he will naturally lose trade value over the course of the year. The most logical option for the front office would be to either start Moss with the idea of moving him closer to the deadline or trade him sometime before the start of 2026.

No. 3. Rookie running back Jonah Coleman catches 40-plus passes in 2026. 

This isn’t really that hot of a take. Third-string back Tyler Badie saw 31 targets last season, and Coleman will likely play more than Badie did. He caught a bunch of passes during the Broncos’ summer program and had 31 catches for 354 yards in 12 games at Washington last year. And despite the heavy involvement of RJ Harvey, Payton’s offenses have long featured two running backs in the passing game: think Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in 2013 (77 and 71 catches, respectively).

No. 4. Que Robinson racks up at least eight sacks. 

Robinson is a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and finished with 1.5 sacks combined across the regular season and playoffs. There’s direct precedent here with the name ahead of Robinson on Denver’s depth chart: Nik Bonitto, a high-upside pass-rusher who took time to develop as a rookie and jumped from 1.5 sacks to eight in his second NFL season.

The Broncos already wanted to create more snaps for Robinson in 2026, and now face an uncertain situation at OLB, as starter Jonathon Cooper is facing a felony assault charge in Douglas County District Court that could lead to league discipline. Regardless of how Cooper’s legal process plays out, Robinson will see the field more in his second season and is poised to capitalize on snaps playing alongside Zach Allen and Denver’s interior pass-rushers.

No. 5. Payton convinces Taysom Hill to come out of semi-retirement midseason. 

Payton loves his guys. Hill, a quarterback-turned-���dz���ٳ󾱲Բ���who played a key part in Payton’s offenses late in his time in New Orleans, is one of his guys. He is also currently unsigned, and his NFL career might be over at 35 years old after a season averaging 3.3 yards per offensive touch with the Saints.

At least one interesting name seems to find its way into Payton’s locker room every season with depth necessities, though. Remember Marcedes Lewis last year? I have no idea what role Hill would play, or if he’d even get a snap in 2026. I’m just thinking it’ll happen.

And one crazy extra: Frank Crum accounts for at least three offensive touchdowns.

The world changed on Jan. 17, 2026, the day that reserve tackle Frank Crum became an eligible receiver. Crum’s goal-line touchdown in the Broncos’ wild-card win over the Bills was lost in the immediate emotion of Bo Nix’s season-ending injury, but should not be forgotten.

Payton loves gadget players, and the 6-foot-7-plus Crum is agile and versatile enough to legitimately handle a handful of short-yardage touches. Plus, longtime Payton ally John Morton gave him the idea for that Crum play, and Morton is now back permanently on staff. The cards are perfectly aligned for some Crum-mania.

Throughout a 16-minute news conference at Dove Valley under a sun so sweltering that it actually shut down some reporters’ smart phones, Nix was careful. With his thoughts, mostly. With his answers, certainly. But also by not appearing to put too much pressure on that surgically-repaired right ankle, the joint that’s bent so much of ����apountry out of shape.

After all, isn’t $60 million pressure enough?

Because that’s what’s at stake.

For Nix. For the Broncos. For an NFL orange-and-blueblood at the apex of a Super Bowl window, wondering if the thing that had eluded them for nearly a decade, a franchise quarterback, has a second act after January surgery.

“Well, my concern is, they say it’s back, healthy, as good as new, and I hadn’t really been like that in a couple years,” the Broncos’ recovering signal-caller told us after Day 1 of mini-camp. “So my concern is, (I) may move around a little bit better.”

Nix smiled.

We laughed.

Meanwhile, the building going up at Bo’s eyeline, over on the other side of the practice fields, is part of a $175-million facelift of the Broncos’ training facilities.

If No. 10 lands a long-term deal at the market rate for an NFL QB1, his next contract could be valued at twice that.

Spotrac.com’s “Calculated Market Value”

Is Bo worth that?

This is the season we find out.

Is the mobility there? The speed? The mojo? The comfort? Nix’s rookie deal is up after 2027, which means if the clock on negotiations for Bo’s second NFL contract isn’t seriously underway, it will be soon.

Broncos coach Sean Payton is signed through 2030. Kansas City reportedly just gave Patrick Mahomes a new eight-year deal that runs through the 2033 season.

Burnham Yard is slated to open in 2031. Are you the guy, I asked Nix Tuesday, who leads that roster out onto the field, five years and several miles down the road?

“Yeah, I think that question sort of answers itself,” Nix replied. “I think everybody that’s in the league wants that long-term extension, wants to play for their home team.

“And for me — I love being here. I love where I’m at. I love this team. And, you know, I’ll play as long as they want to have me.”

Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow in 2023 signed an extension worth $275 million over five years, at $55 million per season. Mahomes’ new pact in Kansas City is worth $504.75 million — or $63.1 million per year.

If you’re the Walton-Penner Group, you’re not paying that kind of money for a “mobile” QB who can’t run and plant and cut anymore. Not after the Russell Wilson Experience.

Or for a signal-caller who loses the clutch and swagger genes that helped the Broncos post a 24-10 record over the last two regular seasons.

“I’m pleased with his ability to lead our team,” coach Sean Payton said. “I’m super excited. I think I mentioned this last week, and I think this is important. I don’t think when he’s fully recovered and he’s out here participating, (that) you’re going to see someone that doesn’t move. All of that, some of his superpowers, his ability to move and not get sacked, find throws — I don’t think any of that will be impacted at all. I think he’s working extremely hard on this recovery. I think he’s more than ahead of schedule.”

Nix doesn’t have to be Superman. . But this Broncos’ offense will only fly as far and as fast as Bo can carry it.

“Win a playoff game (this past season), and it sort of allows you to go into the next season, really; the whole entire season led us up to this,” Nix said. “But once you win a playoff game, you really feel like you can do sort of anything. Especially with the team that we have coming back, we feel very confident that we can start winning these playoff games and host (postseason games) for longer.

“So it builds your confidence in a way that you can’t get anywhere else. And so just from my experience to be able to play in a game like that … it’s a challenge, but like I said, the pressure, it’s a privilege. And I just really enjoy it. And I really enjoy being in those positions. And I really enjoy having the football at the end of the game.”

Few NFL QBs evade pressure the way a healthy Nix does. But a $300 million future hanging over your head, and the questions over the next six months as to whether you’re worth it, will be hard for anybody to escape.

Or else why would the NFL bank on its most bankable quarterback, who tore his ACL last December, being ready for one of its most bankable windows (“Monday Night Football”) on one of its most bankable weeks (Week 1) and in one of its most bankable matchups (Broncos-Chiefs)?

Let’s get this out of the way first: The Grading The Week staff thinks the NFL is a giant, soulless, monolithic, cash-grabbing kaiju. But dang it, NFL officials sure know how to market and brand the living heck out of the most inane stuff. And at the most inane times of the year.

Fans can watch rookies run drills and pump iron at the scouting combine at Indy in February. The draft now looks (and sounds) like a football version of Lollapalooza. And the schedule release has somehow turned into one of the showcase events of the spring, elbowing its way onto the stage in the middle of the NBA and NHL’s postseasons with a mix of everything to

Speaking of fun, how about Rehab Bowl I? Between the Broncos and Chiefs, the best sports science staff wins. It’ll be like the pit crew competition during Indianapolis 500 weekend — only the wheels in this case are Bo Nix’s surgically-repaired right ankle and Mahomes’ new left knee.

Broncos getting Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 — B

Yes, the Broncos’ 2026 schedule is about 17 levels of pure brutality, especially before Halloween. So is it better for the Broncos to get the Chiefs out of the way early? And get Mahomes on the road out of the way early?

Well, historically, that glass is either half full or half empty, depending on which precedent you want to cherry-pick.

Good: Denver is 5-2 against the Chiefs in September since 2000. Less good: The Broncos went 1-1 when those matchups were played in KC.

Good: Mahomes has dropped two of his last three Week 1 contests. Less good: He’s 6-2 lifetime in openers as the Chiefs’ QB1, and 3-1 at home.

Good: Deshaun Watson and Robert Griffin III lost their debuts in the season immediately after they’d undergone major knee surgery. Less good: Tom Brady, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow all won their “comeback” appearances.

Burrow’s 2020 season ended with damage to his ACL, MCL and PCL. In his first start of 2021, Cincy Joe completed 20 of 27 throws for two scores in an overtime win over Minnesota.

Murray blew out his knee in Week 14 of the ’22 season. During his ’23 debut, Murray beat Atlanta at home.

Brady tore his ACL early in 2008. In his 2009 lid-lifter, he rallied the Pats to a 25-24 win over Buffalo on “Monday Night football,” throwing for two scores over the game’s final 2:10.

OK, so that last one wouldn’t be a particularly good omen.

Although this nugget is: Before 2026, the last time the Broncos had to travel to Kansas City for a road opener was … 2015. Just sayin’.

Antonio Senzatela’s rebound  — A-minus

The Rockies wrapped up their Keystone State road trip with a 2-4 record. Chase Dollander hurt his arm just as he was turning a corner. Michael Lorenzen and Coors Field look like a match made in Hades.

But, in the spirit of the Avs channeling all those 2022 vibes again, the baseball guys on the GTW crew are trying to keep it light and sunny when it comes to the news at 20th & Bleak.

After all, when wins are scarce, you celebrate the small ones, right? Mickey Moniak’s making a whale of an All-Star case, although catcher Hunter Goodman may pip him for that token Colorado spot. Starter Tomoyuki Sugano is keeping his walks down and some hopes high. And yet one of the most pleasant surprises of early May is how a guy the GTW kids had given up on — Antonio Senzatela — suddenly looks like the Rox’s most interesting potential deadline asset.

Colorado’s once-struggling righty is turning heads as a lockdown bullpen option. Heading into this weekend’s homestand, the 31-year-old had posted a 2,38 ERA over 11 1/3 innings at home this season, which is strong. He’d put up a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings on the road, which is even stronger. And, more to the point of a rebuild, tradeable.

This is not the weekend for the Broncos’ front office to be sensible with its Walmart money. Oh, no. The 2026 NFL Draft is a free hit. An open goal. A chance to patch holes on a good roster by taking some chances.

Denver was an ankle away from the Super Bowl last season. A freak injury from waving high enough for everybody in Kansas to see.

Act like it.

Be bold.

Be brave.

Please don’t be an inside linebacker.

We’re wringing our hands about pick No. 62, of course, a second-round selection that, as of Monday, is the Broncos’ first — and maybe only — chance to make a draft weekend splash.

Six of the Broncos’ seven picks are slated to fall on Day 3 (rounds four-seven), and three of those six currently lie in the final round. History says Paton and Payton will move around some if they see someone specific they like. But a class this small needs to be about quality — not quantity. So as the weekend approaches, here are five things you’d hope general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton keep in mind as they shop for depth:

1. If Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers is available at No. 62, or close, move Heaven and Earth to make him yours

Linebacker or tight end? Defensive lineman or slot weapon? You nuts? Did you watch the Commodores? Don’t overthink this. Stowers is a tight end who looks like a wide receiver (6-foot-3, 239 pounds), runs like a wide receiver (4.51 in the 40) and jumps like a wide receiver (45.5-inch vertical).

He’s a matchup nightmare, the kind of target who leaves linebackers eating his dust and safeties flailing to reach jump balls they can’t touch. Stowers the draft epitome of a “Joker,” the TE/WR/inside triangle hybrid that Payton spoke about so lustily in January 2025. He’s Evan Engram. Only younger. Sure, Stowers doesn’t grade out well as a blocker. Guess what? You’ve got plenty of “blocking” tight ends on hand already.

2. Grab a contributor Friday — save your projects for Saturday

Could you find a starting-caliber linebacker late in the second round, too? Sure. Assuming Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez is still on the board, he’d make a perfect understudy for Alex Singleton, who’ll turn 33 in December. Or Justin Strnad, who turns 30 in August.

But with only seven picks, and a ton of contracts slated to end after the 2027 season, isn’t time of the essence? Shouldn’t you be saving the understudies for Saturday?

This is a back-filling draft, not the foundational one that 2024 turned out to be, thanks largely to Bo Nix. But winning now means getting guys who can play, and contribute, from the jump. Ideally, that means finding someone in Round 2 who could start for you in a pinch as soon as Week 1. Nail that, and the rest is gravy. Because if you don’t …

3. Don’t fall in love with BPA if that BPA has nowhere to play

See: Barron, Jahdae. Paton’s 2025 BPA with selection No. 20 a year ago. As in, “Best Player Available.” Or is it, Best Pick Again?

You can never have too much of a good thing in this league, given the volatility and injuries. Unless, of course, it’s nickel backs, especially when you’ve already developed an undrafted one (Ja’Quan McMillian) into one of the best in the AFC. At the time of Paton and Payton picked Barron, last spring’s first-round selection, folks didn’t whoop and holler. Barron, a speedster who raised Cain at the University of Texas, made folks sort of shrug and go, ‘Yeah, well, makes sense.’

The Broncos late in 2024 got badly exposed along the perimeter in the passing game — that Cleveland game on Monday Night Football was wild — while Pat Surtain II was out and a still-young Riley Moss was forced to cover more WR1s.

Fast forward to the fall of ’25, where Moss improved and cut down on his penalties. McMillian upped his game another level and rarely left the field on passing downs.

Before last spring’s draft, pundits and fans pleaded for the Broncos to add more help at running back, tight end and wide receiver. By and large, they’re making the same pleas in 2026 — which doesn’t exactly speak well for the early returns on Barron in the first round or for RJ Harvey in the second.

There’s time. But 2027, when so many of the contracts for this current core are slated to run out, gets closer by the day.

4. Remember Bo Nix — and Nix’s costs down the road

If someone offers you picks — even late ones — for the 2027, 2028 or 2029 drafts, you’d be wise to listen. Nix’s four-year rookie deal The Bo Show is slated for a $5.08-million cap hit this fall, and a $5.92-million hit in two seasons. Justin Herbert’s first post-rookie-contract extension had an average annual value of $52.5 million. Joe Burrow’s post-rookie extension featured an AAV of $55 million.

That raise is coming. More rookies will need to be coming, too.

5. Secure a RB you can trust in January

Here’s an idea. Actually, think of it as an exercise. At some point on Saturday, or before, look at the tailbacks most likely to be on the board after Round 2 or Round 3. Ask yourself, very simply, one question: Which one would I feel good about starting, at home, in late January, come rain, sleet or shine?

Because, presuming that J.K. Dobbins is going to be there is pure hubris. Or ignorance. Or both. Presume he’s not. Presume the rest of your options are still best used as pass-catchers in space (Harvey) or as special-teamers (Badie). Which of these prospects can pound the rock between the tackles 12-15 times per game against a salty defense? Which one could help grind me to a Super Bowl?

I’m partial to Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson, a workhorse for the Cornhuskers last year, a volume carrier with power who recorded just three fumbles over 550 touches as a collegian. A born closer. Johnson averaged 6.7 yards from scrimmage last November every time he saw the ball, scoring five times on 120 touches that month. Sounds like the perfect fit, on paper, for a franchise that won’t just be judged on how it finishes next season. But where.

Full disclosure: The basketball wonks in the Grading The Week (GTW) offices were fans of the Michael Porter Jr.-for-Cam trade last summer. Again, not because it was a fair swap of talents. It wasn’t — the Nets got the guy with the bigger frame and far sexier upside. It was a “win” because it got MPJ’s bloated contract off the books and enabled the Nuggets to grab the cap space to land three more veteran players (Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valanciunas) in the process.

But what’s often said about Christian Braun applies to Johnson, too — he’s got to show up offensively within the flow of the offense, not get down when the shots aren’t falling, and find ways to contribute when the moment finds him. Because it inevitably will.

Cam Johnson’s rebound — B

From last Saturday through Friday, the up-and-down In three games prior to the Nuggets’ visit to the Lakers on Saturday night, Cam was averaging 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 3-point makes per contest. He put up 17 points and three treys in a rout of Houston and added another 15 points in a huge win at San Antonio late Thursday night.

Here’s why that matters, and why coach David Adelman has remained in Johnson’s corner through thick and thin this season: The Nuggets look like a title contender when Johnson contributes offensively — and are more of a play-in level team when he doesn’t.

Heading into Friday night, when Johnson scored at least 11 points in a game, the Nuggets were 15-4 (78.9% win percentage), and 26-22 when Cam was 10 points or less.

When Johnson made at least five field goals in a game, the Nuggets were 13-4 (76.4% win percentage), 28-24 when it was four makes or fewer.

When Johnson drained at least two treys, they were 13-6 (68.4% win percentage), 28-20 otherwise.

“It����ap been a tough year for the Nuggets in the clutch, which is something that we’re not used to seeing.” former Nuggets coach Michael Malone, now an ESPN analyst, offered up on the “NBA On ESPN” halftime show Wednesday. “And they’ve got 17 games to go to try to figure it out.”

They figured it out in San Antonio. If they can get Johnson figured out for the stretch run and the postseason that follows, hold on tight.

Broncos’ free agency start — D

Oh, we’ve heard all the caveats by now. There’s time. You just went 14-3. The selection wasn’t that great. The locker room is full of good players and good guys who get what Sean Payton, Davis Webb, Vance Joseph and Darren Rizzi are all trying to do. And we get all that. And we get that, as of last Friday afternoon, per OverTheCap.com, the Broncos still had $22.3 million cap room for ’26 to play with — even after bringing almost everybody back.

Yet there are good reasons why ����apountry was more than a little alarmed at the alacrity with which GM George Paton and coach Sean Payton seemed to sit on their respective hands during the opening  days of the NFL’s free-agent signing period.

Why? Two words: Rookie contract.

QB Bo Nix has a cap hit of $5.1 million in ’26 and $5.9 million slated for ’27. That’s going to change. Joe Burrow had a $9.87-million cap hit in 2022, the third of his four-year rookie deal. On Burrow’s second deal, If Nix continues to trend upward, and health permitting, he should, the Broncos are going to have another Russell Wilson-sized cap number to deal with in a few years.

Which is why they may regret not spending while they were in a period of flexibility “between” big-time/franchise-level QB cap numbers. Especially when you’ve got a Super-Bowl-worthy roster that’s, quite literally, only one or two playmakers away from winning it all — and only one or two offensive playmakers in particular. But, hey, we can get admittedly panicky in the GTW offices, so maybe that’s just us. Although based on our emails and social media exchanges since Monday night, it’s definitely not just us. At all.

Josh Bulla has known Stidham since elementary school in Stephensville, Texas, when a young Bulla first noticed the kid who was a foot taller than everyone else. From that point, Bulla said, Stidham always knew he was headed for some greater destiny. Milestones came and went: he played college football at Baylor and Auburn, where he was a two-year starter , and got drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round in 2019. The final goal — become an NFL starting quarterback — came again on the night of Jan. 18, 2026.

Just not like this, Stidham told Bulla.

He’d gotten his chances before. Two starts in 2022, when the Raiders benched Derek Carr. Two starts in 2023, when the Broncos benched Russell Wilson. Those were exciting. But Bo Nix breaking his ankle Saturday night, as Stidham told Bulla, was “gutting.”

“The first thing that came to mind,” Stidham said, as Bulla recalled, “was, ‘No.'”

“Like, this is Bo’s show.”

Over the past two years, Bo and Izzy Nix have become “like family” to Stidham and his wife, Kennedy, Bulla said. Nix’s second-year run ended shockingly after a divisional-round win over the Bills, and the emotions Stidham felt extend much deeper than his mentorship in Denver. In Stidham’s two years starting at Auburn, from 2017-18, .

It began as simple program ambassadorship, then-Auburn OC Chip Lindsay remembered. Stidham would talk to Nix and host him on visits. Eventually, though, Stidham started asking Lindsay how Nix did in his high school games. He knew that Nix was his successor, former Auburn wideout Ryan Davis recalled.

“Jarrett was basically, like, giving him the keys,” Davis said.

Seven years later, Nix is giving them back. — Nix’s first public statement since breaking his ankle — the Broncos’ starting QB offered a hat-tip, saying he “couldn’t be more confident in Jarrett.” Denver’s season now lies in the hands of Stidham, a career backup who has started four career games in six NFL seasons and hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass in two years.

Across this week’s preparation for the Patriots in Sunday’s AFC championship, Denver’s locker room has heaped praise on Stidham to anyone with a microphone. They have no other choice.

“He’s going to rip it,” head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “And that will be our approach.”

In Year 2 in Denver, Nix and Payton found synergy as the second-year quarterback praised Payton for letting him be his “authentic self.” These Broncos formed an identity around Nix, a fiery 25-year-old whose white-hot competitiveness fueled a season of second-half comebacks. They are now rallying around Stidham, a cool 29-year-old whose serenity masks his own fire.

Stidham has kept the same routine for three years in Denver, left tackle Garett Bolles said. He eats the same food. He drinks the same water. He hits the steam room at the same time. He listens to the same music, on a Turtlebox waterproof speaker that he affectionately refers to as “Mr. Turtle.”

Nothing has changed in this week of madness. Stidham is who he is because he knows who he is. That is comfort, as these Broncos head into a war.

“He got some swag,” Bolles said Thursday. “He got some swag to him. So, that fuels us all.”

…
In 2023, 6-foot-4 safety JL Skinner arrived in Denver as a raw sixth-round pick out of Boise State. He took plenty of flak from Stidham, who’d just signed as a free agent and who had no more experience in Denver than Skinner.

Stidham wanted Skinner to be better. And he let him know about it. The QB chirped at him in practice.

“JL, what are you doing? What are you doing?”

“I’m like, ‘Man, (expletive) this guy,'” Skinner said Thursday.

“And then in my head,I’m like, (expletive), he’s actually throwing that ball right over my head, too. I gotta do something about it.”

He was born with that. The now 6-foot-3 Stidham played offensive line in Pee Wee football in Weatherford, Texas, because he was tall. Future high school coach Joe Gillespie introduced him to former SMU quarterback Kelan Luker for some training in middle school. The first time Luker worked with Stidham, he walked out to a field, saw him throw a few balls, and noticed the kid never missed.

Stidham had never played quarterback before. To this day, Luker maintains he never really taught him anything over the course of a few years.

“I think what really happened – he was so talented, he could just watch what I did,” Luker said, “and he could imitate.”

In Denver, QB3-turned-QB2 Sam Ehlinger notes that Stidham’s ball “spins really pretty.” The RPMs came naturally. So did unassuming athleticism, a trait that most every teammate or coach notes about Stidham.  Underneath six years of backup life in the NFL is years of life as a five-star gem, the No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015 (above Kyler Murray, Sam Bradford and Joe Burrow).

“He’s just one of those West Texas boys who grew up spinnin’ it,” said Jordan Palmer, a former NFL quarterback who’s long worked with Stidham and .

After two years at Auburn, Stidham arrived in New England in 2019. It was Tom Brady’s last year; the Patriots were treating Stidham as “the next guy,” as Davis said, a former Auburn receiver who spent six months in New England’s training camp in 2019. Stidham picked Brady’s brain, and Brady once left three of his custom hoodies as a gift in Stidham’s locker. But the Patriots brought in former MVP Cam Newton two weeks before training camp the next year in 2020, and drafted Mac Jones in the first round in 2021, and shipped Stidham to Las Vegas in 2022 without ever starting him in a game.

Old habits die hard, Bulla recalled. Stidham grew up as the guy. He never stopped believing he could be. After signing in Denver, he got a taste of it late in 2023, when the Broncos benched Wilson. He lost the starting job to rookie Nix in 2024. Bulla asked Stidham how he was feeling heading into training camp this past summer, wedged squarely behind a young franchise face.

“He’s like, ‘It����ap the NFL,'” Bulla said . “‘Everyone’s talented. Crazy things can happen. And I still have to act the way I always have, and that I want to be the starter.'”

…
In December 2017, Carson Wentz tore his ACL, and the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles had to recalibrate around backup quarterback Nick Foles. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich set about watching the “Foles highlight reel,” as he dubbed it — cut-ups of every single Foles completion from five previous NFL seasons. He sat with Foles and had the quarterback walk him through some preferred concepts: a few post routes here, a deep ball there.

Outside the Xs and Os, though, Reich and the rest of the Eagles’ staff didn’t do much to try to control messaging to the team. They let Foles roam free as a personality. And Foles — whose confidence earned him a provocative — became legend across a Super Bowl run in the weeks to follow.

“If you’re trying to cover up what you perceive as some weakness, some leadership weakness of the backup quarterback, then you’re in trouble,” Reich said.

Reich, a former quarterback himself who once stepped in as a backup to Jim Kelly for multiple Buffalo Bills playoff runs in the 1990s, has taken an interest in Stidham’s particular situation in Denver. He’s watched clips of his interviews. He’s detected moxie.

“It seems like the kid’s a winner,” Reich said. “Like, he’s a winner. And everybody knows it.”

Emotion crested and fell in Denver in the span of a single hour after the Broncos’ 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo. Sean Payton went to a podium in street clothes, told reporters Nix was out for the season with a fractured ankle, and the Broncos’ locker room came away as stunned as the rest of the world. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi found out from his son, driving home from the stadium. Receiver Courtland Sutton literally didn’t believe it was true.

Utter chaos has swirled around Stidham in the days since. The Copelands were deep in the woods of West Texas on a hunting trip, cracking open a few Coors Originals and playing cards, when they got the news he was starting. Friends have let Stidham know they’ll make it to Denver in any way possible for Sunday’s game. An entire fanbase has turned its social-media avatars to pictures of Stidham in a strange form of solidarity. This shot is “everything he’s ever dreamed for,” Bulla said.

Stidham has yet to flinch, in public or private.

“Is he getting sleep this week? I don’t know,” said Brian Hoyer, a longtime NFL backup who was with Stidham in New England in 2020 and 2021. “I talked to him (Tuesday). And either it hasn’t hit him yet and he doesn’t have any words, or he hid it really well.”

There is a “calmness” about Stidham, Payton said on Wednesday. There always has been. The most worked-up Bulla has ever seen Stidham — in a circumstance not involving family or football — was when Bulla pranked Stidham in high school by hotwiring his beat-up 1995 Chevy Silverado and hiding it in a different parking lot. On-field mistakes have always brought the same reaction, Palmer described: Aw, shucks, and move on.

These days, Stidham carries that “Mr. Turtle” speaker into the team shower on the daily, blasting an assortment of Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac and country tunes. He has a rookie football card of cornerback Riley Moss pinned to the front of his locker, for some reason. He wore a full-body lion costume to the Broncos’ Halloween party in October.

“Every time I see him,” practice-squad receiver Elijah Moore said, “he’s playing music. I guess he’s just got the vibes on him. I love that.”

Stidham did not always present this way. Take it from Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, who coached New England’s quarterbacks in 2020.

“Really?” Fisch said, told the tale of Mr. Turtle. “He wasn’t like that. Yeah, I don’t remember. Maybe it����ap because we were in the middle of COVID … I would not have guessed that one.”

The years have brought Stidham’s self-awareness outward, as he’s moved into a comfortable stage of life. Stidham and wife, Kennedy, welcomed their third child in October. When he and Bulla catch up these days, they spend roughly two minutes talking football and the rest figuring out “what the hell” to do in fatherhood, as Bulla put it.

“I see a direct correlation,” Palmer said. “When people have their personal lives figured out and then get put into the spotlight on a big stage, I see that go better for the guys that have their lives figured out …. I would say Jarrett’s about as stable as it gets, for a guy his age.

“There’s no reason to change,” Palmer continued. “There’s no reason to do it different. So I’m sure that Jarrett is going into this weekend with a lot of confidence that – he is enough.”

…
Sean Payton, Skinner said, does not keep “bums” on his roster. Backups. Practice squad. Doesn’t matter.

Stidham was one of Payton’s first signings upon arriving in Denver in 2023, even as the Broncos already had Wilson. The organization made it a priority to bring Stidham back this past free agency, on a two-year deal worth $12 million. The money signals trust around the league. Moore — a 25-year-old receiver who’s now been on four NFL teams — said he’s heard of Stidham’s reputation in the past, before signing with the Broncos a month ago.

“Stiddy got signed back-to-back-to-back for a long time now,” Skinner said at his locker Thursday. “And nobody knows why, from the outside. But we know why, from the inside. Because that mother(expletive) can throw that goddamn rock.”

Payton believes Stidham’s inside the 32 best quarterbacks in the NFL. So does Patriots defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr, that Stidham “could be a starter for a number of teams.” Stidham’s arm talent and sneaky mobility aren’t in question: quietly, he ran for a combined 84 yards in two starts for the Raiders in 2022.

Sean Payton called Jarrett Stidham a "real good foot athlete" today. Of note: Stidham ran for a combined 84 yards in the first two starts of his career with Las Vegas in '22.

Here's a first-down scramble against a top defense in the 49ers in '22. Plus a ball-flick celebration.

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans)

The major issue, heading into Sunday’s conference championship, is whether Stidham has enough between the ears to handle the “kitchen sink” that the Patriots’ defense throws at opposing quarterbacks, as Hoyer described. Under Kuhr, a swarming New England attack stumped Los Angeles’s Justin Herbert in the wild-card round and picked off Houston’s C.J. Stroud four times in the divisional round.

“They’re going to bring a lot of (expletive), and that����ap where he has to rely on Sean Payton, and the preparation, and I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of checks and – ‘When you see this look, you gotta get into this play or change the protection,’” Hoyer said.

The counter-move is that New England has no shred of Broncos tape on hand to prepare for Stidham. So, how does Denver design a gameplan around him in the span of a week?

Payton has made clear he sees Nix and Stidham as two different styles of quarterbacks. Others disagree. Stidham spent much of 2020 with Fisch studying tape of Jared Goff, and San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, and quarterbacks in West Coast systems with plenty of under-center looks. This Denver offense has shifted more in that direction across the second half of 2025, and Palmer and Hoyer don’t see Payton’s established system needing to change much from Nix to Stidham.

“When they can run the ball and throw the play-action game, he can reach anywhere on the field with the ball,” former Auburn OC Lindsey said. “And try to create some explosives off play-action – that would be the first thing that would come to my mind.”

On one hand, Stidham’s in a position where three weeks and a Super Bowl ring would forever change his life, Bulla said. On the other hand, friends and confidants don’t see Stidham stretching himself much for Sunday. Quarterbacks who finally receive their shot, as Palmer said, generally fall into one of two mental buckets. Some hope it’ll go well. Some think it should go well.

Stidham feels, Palmer said, that he should play well.

“When we win that game,” Skinner said, “what they gon’ say now? What they’ gon say now, you know what I mean. They gon’ say — ‘Stiddy this. Stiddy that.’

“Stiddy gon’ get a brand-new contract off this, bro,” he continued. “That����ap how I’m looking at it, man. We riding out with Stiddy.”

Don’t let him be John Elway in John Elway’s house. It’s bad enough that Allen comes into Denver with Disney dropping rose petals at his feet and the NFL blowing sweet kisses at his back.

He’s the best player left in the postseason. He’s the last generational quarterback standing in the AFC. He’s the only sexy name still swinging at a party that usually has Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow waiting to break his heart.

It’s his turn, they say.

Fine. Make him earn it.

Make him throw.

into Peyton Manning.

Take away the feet.

Score enough points to force the arm.

Allen’s got an 8-6 lifetime record in the NFL playoffs. He’s also 2-5 when he’s had to pass it more than 36 times in a game. Allen’s 0-3 when he’s chucked it 40 or more times.

The talking heads want to make Saturday’s AFC Divisional tussle at Empower Field complicated. It isn’t.

Want to beat the Bills? Don’t let him run. Don’t let them run.

“Yeah, I think, with him, it’s just understanding the type of player he is,” Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, who saw plenty of Allen as a member of the New York Jets, told me earlier this week. “That’s a physical football team. That’s a physical player. (He’s) a big guy also — you’re talking about a guy that’s 6-foot-5 and 250 (pounds), so he’s bigger than every linebacker in the NFL and half of the ends in the NFL.

“So you understand that the brand of football they’re going to play. And you have to match it. You have to be willing to match it.”

It was too easy for him last January. Too easy for all of them. The Bills brought baseball bats and two-by-fours to last January’s AFC wild-card tussle. The Broncos brought a happy stare.

James Cook’s first carry went for 16 yards around his right tackle, the Broncos were gashed, Bills Mafia smelled blood, and the tone was set. Buffalo ran it 17 times on first down in a 31-7 rout a year ago before their game-ending kneels. The Bills averaged an unsightly 6.5 yards per carry on those first-down runs. In terms of execution and physicality, it was like watching the JV tackle the varsity.

Allen did the rest. On third-down-and-3-yards-or-fewer, he converted all five of the chances he faced vs. Denver — four of them on QB runs. The Bills’ signal-caller was 2 for 2 on fourth-down-and-2-or-less, with one conversion turning into a 24-yard touchdown.

“He’s a special player, obviously,” Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph noted earlier this week. “(There are) certain guys in this league that can take over games, and (Allen is) one of those guys. But we knew to win the championship here, it was going to go through Patrick (Mahomes) and Lamar (Jackson) and Josh and Joe Burrow. I mean, that����ap the AFC side. Unfortunately, that����ap where we live. So we knew we (had) to face one of those guys eventually.”

In hindsight, maybe we should be a little thankful. Allen and the Bills reminded the Broncos of what they weren’t. What they lacked. So coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton went out and added steel to the spine last spring, signing away safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw from the 49ers.

Hufanga was a heat-seeking missile who came exactly as advertised. Even though Greenlaw was hurt much of the year, Denver allowed the fourth-fewest average rush yards on first down (3.91 per carry) in the NFL during the regular season. (The Bills’ offense, meanwhile, ranked sixth in yards per rush — 4.84 — on first down.)

The Broncos had the NFL’s No. 3 defense in average rush yards allowed on third-and-3-or-less (2.75 per carry). Denver allowed just one 100-yard rusher all year (Jonathan Taylor, back in Week 2). That hadn’t happened since 2015. The Broncos’ defense had allowed an average of five 100-yard rushers over the previous three regular seasons.

“We were watching that (31-7) game, seeing how (the Bills) played us last year and all that different stuff,” wideout/returner Marvin Mims told me. “But so many different pieces (are gone) that you don’t even think about. It’s like, ‘Dang, he’s not here anymore … we’re not doing this as much anymore.’ So it was kind of weird, looking back at it.

“But at the end of the day, (it was) a learning experience, for sure, for the guys that are still here and for everyone that was a part of it. And just kind of knowing (that) those dudes (in Buffalo) know what they’re doing. They’ve been in this stage multiple times, within all their careers, their core  — and so (it’s about) just going out there and just trying to do the best we can and knock them off.”

You can’t let up, either. Since the ’20-21 postseason, Allen has led the Bills on 10 playoff drives in the final 8:30 of the fourth quarter while Buffalo was trailing. His numbers:

• 36 completions on 59 pass attempts (61%)

• 14 rushes, 78 yards, 5.6 yards per carry

• 3.8 points per Allen possession

“And that truly is the tough part,” Franklin-Myers continued, “is that you have to be willing to play (all the way). If it’s 60 minutes, if it’s 100 minutes — you have to be willing to play every second, because that’s what they’re going to do.

“And at the same time, no lead is big enough for them. You can be up 30 points on them. That’s a smart team. One play sparks them and they come back. So, man, you’ve got to be physical.”

You’ve got to take away the lower body. You’ve got to force Allen to play to your strengths — not his. You’ve got to make him test Patrick Surtain II, Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian.

When Allen has had to throw it 41 times or more in the regular season, he’s 10-13. The dude’s 1-3 in postseason games when he commits a turnover. He’s 7-3 when he doesn’t. To win in January, it’s about making the finest miss on the finest of margins.

“I mean, it truly is,” Franklin-Myers stressed. “It’s about who’s going to make the most mistakes. But, I mean, Sean (Payton) says it all the time: ‘It’s the turnovers.’

“You have everybody’s hopes and dreams in your hands when you have the ball in your hands. You only hope that, as a home defense, every chance we get, we punch it out. And on offense, that we protect as much as possible. In the playoffs, these games are close, and teams are either taking care of the ball or making awful mistakes. And that’s how you see some of these games getting out of hand, too.”

Don’t sweat the narrative. You’ve already lost it. Sweat the small stuff. Make Allen throw. If the Winter Soldier is one-dimensional, it won’t be long before everybody in ����apountry eats.

“Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are going to the Super Bowl,” ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Ryan Clark declared on “First Take” on Monday. “Josh Allen showed us once again (against Jacksonville) that he’s Superman.

“Superman is a metahuman. There are no more metahumans in the AFC (bracket). Patrick Mahomes ain’t there. Lamar Jackson ain’t there. Joe Burrow is not there … What we saw from (Allen) in the fourth quarter (Sunday) is what the Buffalo Bills should be thinking every single game. ‘If it’s close and it’s late, we have the best player left playing.'”

They do. And if I’m Sean Payton, I’ve got that quote playing on a loop all week at Dove Valley. I’m plastering it on signs that get hung up all over Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit. Where everybody can read it. So everyone can feel it.

The best coaches play the underdog card the way . Any sound bite is a potential weapon. Any pithy comment could be turned into a rallying cry or rocket fuel. Context? Ha. Doesn’t matter. It’s just gotta stick.

Michael Malone, during his Nuggets days, was a genius at creating enemies, of underlining slights that may or may not have ever been real. Liam Coen’s use of Payton’s “small market” comment about Jacksonville last month was a great example of crafting something completely innocuous into an aluminum bat — then handing it to your guys to go bash the speaker’s team in the ankles with it.

Payton should’ve known better, in hindsight. But now it’s his turn. See that rusty knife lying over there in the corner? Shouldn’t even be that hard to sharpen the blasted thing, let alone twist it.

The Broncos are the Jan Brady of AFC story arcs. Bills this. Bills that.

As far as the national sports networks are concerned this week, Payton and his players might as well be extras in their own movie.

Remember the 2023 Nuggets postseason? Just replace “LeBron James” with “Josh Allen,” and you’ll have a pretty good idea of where the noise is going. Which means, until Saturday, you might want to keep the earmuffs within arm’s reach. Earmuffs and a stiff drink.

By Monday, ����apountry’s biggest week in 10 years had already jumped feet-first into ludicrous — especially on the respect front. Get this: The Bills opened the week as a 1.5-point favorite for Saturday’s Divisional Round game. On the road. Against the AFC’s top seed. In January. At altitude.

If that struck you as unusual, that’s because it is. According to YahooSports.com, Denver is just the third No. 1 seed since

The 2017 Eagles were the last ‘1’ seed to make that list. They won their postseason home opener and rolled all the way to a Super Bowl title. The 1971 Vikings were the other team, and Minnesota wound up falling at home to Dallas in its initial playoff contest.

So the Broncos are the rubber game in NFL history. Precedent says Payton has Allen and the Bills right where he wants them.

The Broncos are 4-1, straight up, as a Vegas underdog this season. We remember the 2025 team as one that constantly seemed to play down to its competition. But we’re forgetting the team that, more often than not, met the moment.

Philly on the road. Dallas at home. Kansas City at home. The Packers at home. Before Monday night, the last team to beat the Texans was Denver, in Houston, all the way back on Nov. 2.

And did you notice how every one of those wacky wild-card games Saturday and Sunday felt so darn familiar? That’s because, for the most part, they looked exactly like the ones the Broncos have been playing all year long. And winning.

They’re built for this. They have been from Week 1.

Now? Now the Broncos are a No. 1 seed in name only, as far as the cognoscenti are concerned, a team of wallflowers standing in the way of the narrative. The coasts have decided it’s Josh Allen’s turn. It’s ����apountry against the world. And the world’s favored by a safety.

“If Cam Newton and John Elway walked into that little machine they had , it would come out as Josh Allen,” Clark continued Monday.

“When you are that talented, when you can run that way, when you are powerful that way, when you can throw the football and place it anywhere on the field — and there is no Kryptonite in the form of Patrick Mahomes, you have to go do it. And this is the year Josh Allen gets it done.”

You don’t have to be taking Bozempic to get fired up for this one after that. If Payton’s keeping receipts, Superman is about to enter a no-fly zone.