“I think (Stidham) had a tough go in there, but the elements (in the AFC Championship loss to New England) weren’t in his favor,” Ward, the Broncos’ legendary No Fly Zone enforcer who helped win Super Bowl 50, told me Monday by phone.

“You know, it was a tight game. The starting quarterback for the Patriots (Drake Maye), and didn’t play well. So I think (Stidham) gets a little pass for that, coming in for his first start.”

Actually, a few more little passes back in January would’ve gone a long way. Still, by all visual and whispered accounts, Nix and his ankle are good to go for the start of training camp next week. It’s just that “snow” and “Stiddy” still gives us night sweats. When last we saw Stidham leading a Broncos offense, he looked like a lifetime backup, an understudy corpsing on center stage — completing 17 of 31 throws for just 131 yards during a frustrating, frosty 10-7 defeat in front of a snowy, flustered Empower Field. If the worst would ever happen again …

“Is Stiddy still your guy?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Ward replied.

No. 43 in orange and blue is a NorCal dude based in SoCal these days. Ward still gets back to the Front Range four or five times a year, though. And, at age 39, he’s still got his finger on several pulses in the gridiron game, from preps to the pros.

In addition to hosting , the three-time Pro Bowler and former Broncos Super Bowl 50 champion safety is hosting . It’s the second camp in consecutive weekends for Ward, who on July 18 held a youth camp for players 8-15 last weekend at his old high school, De La Salle, in Concord, Calif., as part of the nonprofit founded by the ex-Broncos star and his brother Terron a few years back.

Saturday’s event, presented by Exos Sports and the Ward’s new management agency, kicks off with almost 300 prep prospects from Colorado and surrounding states at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus’ Campers will undergo official combine-style tests; position-specific drills and instruction; performance evaluations by Exos; and coaching on leadership and mentorship from Ward himself.

“That way they can take these measurements home, just like they would do at something like a combine,” Ward explained, “(and can) share with colleges and GMs and coaches to say, ‘Hey, these were my numbers. This is comparable to this player. And this is why you should give me a scholarship. (And) a salary.’ Now they’re giving (those players) a salary.”

Everybody gets a little something out of the moment. It’s a chance for Ward and his partners to be in front of local high-schoolers who want Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) guidance. And a window, in turn, for prospective college players to soak up advice from sage veterans such as Ward and polish skills in scenarios that replicate an NFL combine experience.

“I just love being around the kids,” Ward said. “I love being around and working with athletes, inquisitive athletes who want to learn and get better and understand the process …

“I tell them all the time, ‘Just because you’re here right now, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to stay in this position.’ And that goes negatively and positively. You could be playing terribly right now and in a few years, not be so good. You could be hurt right now and never get hurt again, right? You could never be hurt and then get hurt later.”

In a perfect world, that ‘hurt later’ part never comes for Nix, who boasts a 24-10 regular-season record in two seasons as the Broncos’ QB1 and was just voted as the No. 59 player in the league by his NFL peers.

“I think this year we’re going to see a free, an uncaged Bo,” Ward said.

“A lot of people talk about, ‘Oh, Bo had the most passing chances, but they were mostly check-downs or whatnot.’ And I think we’re going to see a lot more down-the-field passes, obviously, with (Jaylen) Waddle in there now. It’s going to clear the way for (Courtland) Sutton, and now we have a deep-ball threat. Really, two deep-ball threats.”

The only question is whether there’s a Plan B in the QB room, if pressed into duty again, who can get them the rock consistently. Unlike the tight margins the Avalanche are navigating, or the uncomfortable conversations in the Nuggets front office at the moment, the Broncos have some wiggle room to spend on improvement around the margins.

, the Broncos had $29.487 million in cap space to play with as of Monday — and after handing out a boatload of extensions to core pieces of AFC’s best regular-season team last fall.

If you’re curious about the market rate, Justin Fields is slated to get $11 million from the Chiefs this fall. Davis Mills is on track to make $7 million with the Texans, with geriatric Joe Flacco getting $6 million with the Bengals.

Stidham will make $6 million in 2026 while the camp’s presumed No. 3 QB, Sam Ehlinger, is slated to make $2 million. And he does things with his feet, even Bo-esque things, that Stiddy can’t.

“Well, it’s always a competition,” Ward mused. “No one’s job is safe, even the backup. I guess we’ll see this preseason, right?”

Speaking of the preseason, Ward’s trying to get back this way soon to check out the Broncos’ swanky new training digs in Dove Valley. Not that he’s jealous.

“Not at all,” Ward laughed. “Those guys (now) are going to be jealous of somebody else. What I’ve learned coming up in football (is), ‘The class behind you always gets more.’ We got more than the guys before us. And the guys after us are going to get more than us. And the guys after them are going to get more than them.

“When I went to Oregon, we had the best in the world. Three years later, they built on top of it. And now they’re building another one. Just when you think it can’t get any better, it keeps getting better. As long as I get to come back and do a few workouts, I’ll be all right.”

Pretty sure they can make that work, yeah. In the meantime, Stiddy as you go, man. Stiddy as you go.

“But I definitely think that (Jarrett) is a great backup for us,” Ward continued. “He knows the system. He’s been there. And he’s playing well. We’ve seen him play well. Yeah, give him another opportunity.”

With that, 43 laughed.

“Hopefully,” he chuckled softly, “he doesn’t get one.”

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Peyton Manning is more organized than Kim Kardashian’s closet. His life operates on routines, consistency. Complete the task. Move on.

So after several weeks of rehabbing a plantar fasciitis foot injury that season, throwing to Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse, Manning was ready to return.

Feeling like he was being spied on, Manning delivered a message to coach Gary Kubiak.

“When you are hurt, you feel left out. Like the kid that doesn’t get to go on the playground. I felt like I was throwing the ball well,” Manning said. “I wanted to see if someone was really watching.”

Turns out, Kubiak was indeed checking on the former MVP. What he saw surprised him. And more than a decade later, it still does.

“The first video I saw, it only had one barrel (flipping him off),” Kubiak said with a laugh. “I knew he was mad. Really he was saying, ‘Hey, dumb (bleep), are you going to put me in?’^”

Wednesday night provided a reminder of how it turned out when Manning returned to the lineup. Joined by five teammates and Kubiak, the 2015 Broncos celebrated the Night of Champions at the Paramount Theatre.

The bulk of the team came together last fall for a 10-year reunion and the induction of the late Demaryius Thomas into the Ring of Fame.

But this was different, more personal, more laughs, showing why Manning decided to hold live events honoring the 2006 Colts, 1989 San Francisco 49ers and Pat Summitt����ap legacy at the University of Tennessee.

“It was special (in October), but we didn’t have the MVP of the team there, Von Miller, because he is still out there playing. So we felt like it was missing something,” Manning said. “This was a chance for the fans to go behind the ropes. When you have a team honored in a stadium it is not the most intimate. This event was all about the fans.”

Based on the reaction of the orange bleached crowd, it is clear Manning read the room like he did defenses for 18 seasons. Manning received a standing ovation. And the roar that greeted Von Miller pierced ears down the 16th Street Mall.

There is a common refrain about seasons that end in rings. The players, it is said, walk together forever as champions.

But the fans become part of the connective tissue as well.

“Why come here? Why wouldn’t I? This was such a special team. This gives us a chance to hear the stories and relive it,” said Leroy Garcia from Colorado Springs, before posing with a replica of the Super Bowl 50 trophy. “There was no way I was going to miss this.”

Manning brought together a cross-section of players whose stories highlighted the special talent and personalities on the Super Bowl 50 team. DeMarcus Ware and Manning are football immortals, enshrined in the Hall of Fame. If Miller ever retires, he will join them.

Star power was required, but unselfishness defined the locker room. Kubiak spoke of the importance of everybody contributing, of playing for the person next to you in the locker room.

The Broncos knew during minicamp that something different was percolating. The offensive had weapons and the defense boasted two fang-bearing edge rushers and a No Fly Zone secondary that humbled All-Pros, MVPs and journeymen without remorse.

“I remember when I joined the team, I thought I was going to be The Man. Then we went through a walk-through and I was like, ‘(Bleep) I am not going to be The Man,’^” Talib said. “We didn’t have one hole. Not one.”

The Broncos opened the season with seven straight wins. The confidence was tangible. Denver believed they could beat anyone because of a defense that closed better than the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera.

“Legendary. The D-line, they had their own special relationship. Our linebackers (Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall) were two of the best in the league, straight ballers. And obviously we knew as a secondary we were always going to do what we needed to,” Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward said. “When you perform the way we did, that’s how you become legendary.”

The way sports operate, however, titles are required to bring people together years later. Greatness is measured in championships.

Miller and Ware wrote a diary of havoc in the postseason. And the offense did just enough, squeaking past the Steelers and Patriots. The New England game remains the loudest the new stadium has ever been. The victory required noise and faith.

“I played for (defensive coordinator) Wade Phillips for like 10 years. And he dedicated one game every season to his dad (Bum Phillips). We won all of them,” said Ware. “I am tearing up thinking about it. We couldn’t let him down.”

As the confetti fell, the gravity of what was ahead took shape. Owner Pat Bowlen wanted a third Super Bowl crown. The players wanted one for Ware, who was ringless, and Manning, who was expected to retire. And, they did not know it then, they needed it as a touchstone memory to honor Thomas.

“If there was a Hall of Fame for teammates, he would be in it,” Miller said. “When I had my first child, he was the first person I called and Face-timed. He was one of one.”

The Broncos thrashed the Carolina Panthers, turning regular season MVP Cam Newton into a Fig Newton. That game is remembered in photos of the defense pouncing, taunting, finger-wagging. All of the swag came together in one night.

It took a coach with patience, who was honest and stern. It required role players willing to sacrifice. And it demanded stars meet the moment, no matter how bright the glare and long the odds.

As the calendar has flipped, as the years have passed, the narrative of those Broncos has changed, filling in the gaps. They were characters. But they won because of character.

“Everybody that wins a Super Bowl, they all say it was a unique team. But I am telling you that the word team could not be more personified than with that Super Bowl 50 group,” Manning said. “Everybody had a job. Everybody was completely unselfish. We never argued. It was really special.”

On April 22, the Night of Champions series comes to Denver featuring the Broncos’ 2015 Super Bowl 50 team at the historic Paramount Theatre.

Hosted by Omaha Productions, the event will include Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware, future Canton inductee Von Miller, former Pro Bowl receiver Emmanuel Sanders and the soundtrack of the No Fly Zone, cornerback Aqib Talib and .

Coach Gary Kubiak will join the players for what is likely to be a raucous discussion moderated by CBS NFL sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. The event is designed to give fans all-access insight into the Broncos’ third and most recent Super Bowl title season, which culminated with a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium.

Tickets can be purchased at beginning at 10 a.m. on March 31.

Kubiak and the aforementioned players gathered with their coaches and teammates last October when the Broncos unveiled Demaryius Thomas’ Ring of Fame bust and celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Super Bowl 50 team and Thomas at halftime of the New York Giants game.

Anyone who is familiar with Manning’s humor and Talib’s candor knows the April stroll down memory lane will be entertaining.

From the ESPN “Manningcast” with brother Eli to launching Omaha Productions, Manning has become a media mogul.

Night of Champions is his latest idea, launched last February when he brought together the 2006 Indianapolis Colts championship team. The most recent event honored the 1989 San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl week.

The Colorado Avalanche staged something similar last December at the Paramount, reuniting players for the 30th anniversary of the organization’s first championship in Denver.

You are welcome, Broncos. This is your free agent wish list. Your offseason orange and blueprint.

Enough with starter by committee.

Enough with sacrificing games to develop a prospect.

Enough with a screen game that should be a drinking scream game.

Enough with under 4 yards per carry.

The Broncos have sprung to life over the past three years under coach Sean Payton. But when it comes to their offense, enough is enough. Payton surrendered play-calling to Davis Webb — it is in name only until evidence arrives in games — but that cannot suffice.

For the Broncos to reach the Super Bowl and win it — the last two steps on this remarkable climb back to relevancy — they have to go for it. Sign free agent running back Travis Etienne Jr.

Take cues from the Avs. No team understands the urgency of operating in a championship window like the local hockey club. The Nazem Kadri trade is a sensational move by an organization that cares about one thing — winning a championship.

Payton deserves praise for his work. As does general manager George Paton for creating a sturdy foundation through the draft.

But there is no longer room for patience. Be proactive, not reactive.

The NFL roster narrative is simple to follow. Construction hinges on having a franchise quarterback, as the Broncos have in Bo Nix.

And when you have one on a rookie contract, it provides an opportunity to take big swings at other positions. The Broncos are good at the most important: edge rusher, cornerback and left tackle.

They are not paying big money to a receiver or a tight end. And this is not the March to max out the credit card on those positions when reinforcements can be added in the draft.

That is not the case at running back. Once Jeremiyah Love comes off the board — possibly in the top five — the infatuation ends.

So pick up the phone and go big.

Etienne checks the boxes. He is dynamic. He is fast, capable of accelerating through the hole and shifting into third gear in the open field. He has soft hands and is better in space than an astronaut.

In many ways, he is a more available version of J.K. Dobbins. Dobbins was a terrific fit, but he played in only 10 games, unable to run away from his injury history.

Etienne, 27, has missed six games in four seasons. Durability is a skill. He has it. And he has also improved as a pass protector, meaning there should be no concern about leaving him in the game on third down.

It is a must to have a player like this. An obvious starter. And upgrade. R.J. Harvey boasts Joker traits in the passing game. He will not be forgotten. But context matters. The Broncos possess a championship-caliber defense. They are close.

This is not the platform to let a second-year player figure it out as he goes.

Enough.

The Broncos must address this position in a meaningful way. It feels like ����apountry would rather step in front of a moving bus than add someone like Rico Dowdle or Kenneth Gainwell.

Kenneth Walker III? Sure. He is coming off the best game of his career. In the biggest game of his life. That requires paying showroom floor prices.

It is not my money, so the $14.6 million annually he will command — using Breece Hall’s franchise tag as the floor — does not bother me.

The issue? It does not make as much sense since Walker is not an every-down back. Even after Zach Charbonnet tore up his knee, Walker still yielded snaps to the backup.

Let the Chiefs set the market. It is clear they will add a runner to take the pressure off Patrick Mahomes as he recovers from knee surgery.

His patience as a runner is the most appealing characteristic, a style that could finally marry the solid blocking metrics with results.

It has been an uncomfortable question after the past two seasons. The Broncos’ offensive line ranks near the top of the pack, and somehow the run game remains mediocre or, as in the case of a huge fourth down in the AFC Championship, unreliable.

Payton and Paton have earned the benefit of the doubt in the way they have built this team. But goodwill will get siphoned without a big splash.

The external and internal expectations should intersect this week.

Last year was different. Objectively, the Broncos were a year ahead of schedule. So they can be forgiven for trying to get by without explosive weapons. Their one stab at it did not work as Evan Engram morphed into a platoon player.

The Broncos cannot afford to try to live on that margin again. The Rams are going for it, acquiring star cornerback Trent McDuffie. The Bills are making a strong push, acquiring receiver D.J. Moore. The Ravens are shipping off two first-round picks for edge rusher Maxx Crosby. And the Seahawks, even if Walker signs somewhere else, are not going anywhere.

This is the type of approach required in Denver. It is easy to argue that this is the most important offseason since the Broncos added DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Emmanuel Sanders in 2014. That was back when John Elway was acting like George Steinbrenner.

This time around, the Broncos are only a fraction of that daring. A dash of that bold.

The Broncos have a problem. Their offense is not good enough for a championship. So, fix it.

Go to the ATM and sign Etienne.

It will be money well spent.

It is difficult to describe something that could not happen, should not happen, not even in this town with this team.

The mouth-agape comebacks of John Elway define this franchise. Peyton Manning had a night in San Diego that remains hard to wrap one’s head around. And to this day, no one can properly articulate how Tim Tebow was able to suspend belief for two months in 2011.

What happened Sunday has entered the group chat.

The 2025 Broncos have officially become easier to appreciate than explain. They crawled on their bellies out of a 19-point ditch in the fourth quarter to win one of the wildest games in franchise history. It might be fleeting, but it sure felt like the ghosts of the past.

Broncos score franchise-record 33 fourth-quarter points, storm to walk-off win vs. Giants

"This was a great win for this state, ����apountry, this team," bellowed left tackle Garett Bolles after the 33-32 victory over the New York Giants. "We are for real. This is who we are."

As reporters waited for coach Sean Payton, the screams of joy from the locker room seeped through the walls. These Broncos were jubilant. They are 5-2, a contender, if by record only, in the AFC.

But for the longest time on a gorgeous fall afternoon, they were not. And it hurt. All teams have bad games. Given the time and the place, the first 50 minutes were embarrassing.

A record number of alumni returned to Empower Field for Demaryius Thomas' induction into the Ring of Fame, to honor the Super Bowl 50 team.

Was it too much to ask the current squad to beat the sorry Giants?

For three quarters, yes.

The Broncos seemed determined to splatter Ragu on Mona Lisa. They punted, stumbled, botched plays, blew assignments. They were booed as they entered the locker room at halftime. Appropriately so. They stunk, firmly in danger of getting blanked at home for the first time ever.

Then, in ways that conjured memories of a decade ago when the Broncos won a staggering 11 one-score games, they found themselves in the final breaths of the fight.

Inside linebacker Justin Strnad delivered the team's first interception since Week 3. Aqib Talib had a similar pick at Kansas City and at home against the Ravens. Marvin Mims Jr. caught a pass not intended for him. Man, that jolt felt like Emmanuel Sanders streaking down the sidelines at Cleveland. Courtland Sutton caught a pass when it mattered most because that is what DT always did, and Sutton is DT in this offense.

The Broncos are clearly not as good as they should be or need to be. But watching them overcome a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit that 1,602 straight NFL teams could not, they might just be tougher than any of us could have ever imagined.

"Never seen anything like it," ex-defensive end Derek Wolfe said, shaking his head. "Crazy."

These Broncos have made history in two of their five wins with fourth-quarter magic. First when trailing by 14 in the final 15 minutes at Philadelphia. Then on Sunday.

BoBot Nix became UnBolieveable, the first player in NFL history to rush for two touchdowns and pass for two scores in any quarter.

"I don't even know how we scored 33 points,” Nix said. “That's kind of insane.”

Payton mercifully went uptempo, allowing an offense that had failed to score a touchdown on 16 straight possessions over six quarters to awake from hibernation.

"It's like we had to clean up our own mess," said Payton, whose offense was so bad for so long even former Broncos quarterback Ben DiNucci asked on Twitter if Davis Webb should be calling plays.

Hard to blame him when the Broncos were down 26-8 with 6:38 remaining. Cornerback Pat Surtain II admitted he "lost hope."

Then Nix scooted in for a 7-yard score (why he doesn't run more is one of the most frustrating things about this underwhelming attack). He found R.J. Harvey for a 2-yard touchdown. Then Nix showed why he ran the 400 meters in high school, racing in from 18 yards out.

"I was riding down the elevator and talking with (receiver) Bubba Caldwell about this. That ending reminded me of our Super Bowl team. Somehow finding a way to win," former running back C.J. Anderson said. "You only win games like that in Denver. You get teams in this altitude, wild things happen."

But on a footprint where Elway has taken souls, this defined imagination.

"Straight (B.S.)," Talib said. Teammate T.J. Ward scowled, "(Bleep) no that wasn't P.I. They were trying to give the game to them." Or as Chris Harris Jr. put it, "Just terrible."

The Broncos, however, caught a break with the ball at the 1-yard line. Dart scored on the first play, leaving 37 seconds on the clock, and then the Giants missed the PAT.

You knew what was going to happen next. Nix to Mims for 29 yards. "When I saw Courtland go past me, I was like (bleep) that ball wasn't for me." Nix to Sutton for 22 yards on a play the Broncos added on Saturday. Wil Lutz jogged onto the field and the Broncos walked off with the most improbable win.

They had two eight-point scoring drives in the fourth quarter. Thomas wore jersey No. 88. They scored 33 points in the fourth quarter, Thomas' age when he passed away.

Maybe it was a coincidence. Probably not.

For a glorious final quarter,  it was 2015 again.

"That is what championship teams do. That is what they do," Talib said as the Super Bowl 50 players exited the stadium. "We were always going to remember this weekend for D.T. and our team. But, it definitely makes it a (heck) of a lot more special to get the 'Dub.'"

From the moment he juked with his right shoulder and ran around helpless right tackle Mike Remmers in the first quarter, it was destined.

When he slipped under a block and stripped the ball from Cam Newton in the fourth quarter, it happened.

The Broncos won Super Bowl 50, their Orange Rush punctuating one of the most impressive defensive seasons in NFL history. As the players performed snow angels in the confetti on the Levi’s Stadium field, the prevailing thought was there would never be another Von or a Denver D like this.

Well …

“(Nik) Bonitto and (Jonathon) Cooper are doing an amazing job. Zach Allen is the catalyst inside. V.J. (Vance Joseph) has been incredible. And it’s not just up front. They are rushing well from all over the place,” Von Miller said at his locker this week as a member of the Washington Commanders. “Rush and coverage go together. Patrick Surtain (II), everybody knows how I feel about him. Riley Moss on the other side. (Brandon Jones) and (Talanoa) Hufanga — their secondary is the reincarnation of the defense we had in 2015.”

The answer required several rewinds and replays to make sure it was heard correctly. Did the centerpiece of the greatest Broncos’ defense suggest that a replica has formed a decade later?

“They have been so good,” Miller said. “They are not hard to pay attention to.”

As the Broncos attempt to secure the top record in the AFC West this weekend, they are wandering closer to their past. They will host the New York Giants with a personality and team strength that gives off 2015 vibes. Through six games, the current Broncos have given up fewer points, yards and red zone touchdowns than their Super Bowl-winning predecessors. And they have four more sacks — 30 to 26.

“It kind of gives a great feel of what we did in Super Bowl 50, right? You have to win the tough ones, you have to win the ugly ones,” said David Bruton Jr., a safety on the 2015 team. “And more times than not, the defense is the one doing it.”

The similarities are striking, especially for ����apountry, a fanbase longing for the franchise’s first playoff victory since Super Bowl 50. That team will be honored at halftime, a few hours after Demaryius Thomas goes into the Ring of Fame.

“They were the standard for a long time,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said. “I told our defense, ‘Let����ap put our best foot forward for these guys.’”

The comparisons are flattering and understandable. But they are not accurate.

What could be better than the 2015 defense? Nothing. Who could possibly top the diary of havoc written in Santa Clara? Not a thing.

At least not yet.

Do not confuse this as a lack of appreciation for what the current defenders have done. Just understand, more is required to be mentioned in the same breath as the 2015 unit.

Two things, specifically. Even if they break the single-season sack total — they are on pace for an NFL-record 85 — the Broncos need a playoff win to make it resonate for decades. And the defense has to do it against better quarterbacks.

It is not the Broncos’ fault they have yet to face a string of All-Pros, but history is not moved by mauling Cam Ward, Jake Browning, Justin Fields and Jalen Hurts, a former Super Bowl MVP who has lost his way this season.

Consider those pop quizzes. The test is coming against Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels and Justin Herbert, who beat them earlier this season with some late-game magic. Want to be discussed in the same vein as 2015, then you have to ace this exam.

“They are supposed to dominate Ward, Fields, guys like that. They have done a great job and boosted their stats,” said Chris Harris Jr., a former Pro Bowl cornerback on the Super Bowl team. “And they have another game like that this week against the Giants. But eventually, when you look at everything, it matters who you beat.”

The 2015 defense pales to no one. They posted victories against Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers, all first-ballot Hall of Famers. Philip Rivers, who has a case for Canton, and Newton, who won MVP honors that season, were also victims of that defense. What they did to Rodgers remains illegal in most states.

In a matchup of 6-0 teams on Sunday Night Football, the Broncos held him to 77 yards passing and sacked him three times.

“I knew we were really good, but you never know what they can do until you do it. We had so much confidence going in,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said earlier this week. “It was a reminder of how great players and great teams get up for big games.”

The edge rushers and secondary made the 2015 defense special, and the current group has no one like linebacker Danny Trevathan until Dre Greenlaw returns from injury completely healthy. Von will be a Hall of Famer. DeMarcus Ware already is. The pressure blended well with sticky man coverage from corners Harris, Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby, and the violent nature of safeties T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart.

“Normally, you only rush one of the edge guys, and the other drops. We could rush them both to cause problems,” Phillips said. “The talent was there. And the togetherness and intelligence made them different. They were as smart a group as I have ever been around.”

They hung out off the field. They ate together. Set up early morning film sessions. The 2025 group shares some of those same traits. They are unselfish. They know if they do their jobs, everyone will eat. Phillips is enjoying the Broncos’ success, following closely as Joseph, a former young assistant under him, continues to dial up eye-opening blitzes and confusing coverages.

“Because of Vance, I watch the games. I see what they are doing. It’s impressive,” Phillips said. “I didn’t know who some of those guys were, like Bonitto and Cooper. But I do now.”

What makes the current defense different is that pressure comes from everywhere. Bonitto leads the league with eight sacks. Cooper boasts 4.5. But inside linebacker Justin Strnad has 3.5. And cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian has two.

This greatness is following a path carved by the 2015 defense, but has yet to add the element of havoc. The elder Broncos did not just steal the souls of opposing quarterbacks. They swiped the ball. Through six games, Denver had 17 takeaways. The current Broncos have four.

It was a testament to the technique of Miller and Ware. And a secondary that realistically believed it could score every game.

“Oh yeah, that was always on our mind,” Harris said. “We turned turnovers into points. And that����ap the next step for them to be that on that high level.”

Ten years later, the Broncos have a group worthy of the conversation. They have ground to cover. But it speaks to the fantastic start that they have raised the eyebrows of Miller.

“Wouldn’t it be something if Surtain and Nik won defensive player of year honors in back-to-back seasons? They are off to an incredible start,” Miller said. “I love seeing it. I still have a beautiful place in my heart for the Denver Broncos. This weekend is going to be special. I wish there was a way I could be there.”

2015 vs. 2025

This year’s Broncos defense is off to an incredible start. But how does it stack up to the defense that led Denver’s last Super Bowl run? Here’s a look at each defense’s statistics through six games.

Source: .

Nix watched the games, and then carried his passion into the grass behind his house in South Carolina and Alabama, mimicking the plays, running and throwing, his goals gently coming into focus without him really knowing it.

“It was always Auburn. No matter where our dad was coaching, it was always Auburn. It was us pretending to be Auburn vs. whoever they played the day before,” said Caleb Nix, Bo’s younger brother. “It was an imaginary game.”

As the Nix family watched Bo pose for pictures inside the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse on Friday, holding an orange jersey, reality clobbered them over the head. The son, the brother, the husband, the kid who once worked as a ball boy at Charleston Southern was a Denver Bronco.

The last time Nix was in Colorado, he and his father spoke at a local church over the summer. Now, their prayers were answered.

“It����ap surreal. It����ap one of those special moments for him. He grew up playing football, and when you do that, you dream of playing in the NFL. As a dad, you want to see your kids reach their dreams, so now here it is,” father, Patrick Nix, told The Denver Post. “For the longest time, you go through the mock drafts and the speculation; it����ap real now.”

Patrick provided the script for his son’s goals through his profession, through old highlights. Dad played quarterback at Auburn from 1992 to ’95, helping the Tigers go 11-0 in 1993. Bo followed, playing for Auburn. If Disney was writing the script, this is where the story would show him getting carried off the field, holding a trophy in The Plains as credits rolled.

Instead, Auburn was a layover, a lesson. What happened there made Bo stronger and turned him into a legend at Oregon, about as far away culturally and geographically from his roots as imaginable.

As such, Nix, drafted 12th overall by the Broncos on Thursday night, arrived in Denver with purpose and focus. For months identified as a cerebral and athletic fit for coach Sean Payton’s offense, Nix is ready to compete for the starting job for a franchise that has been yearning for success since Peyton Manning retired.

“I think experience is one of the best teachers, really in anything. The more you do something, the better you should get at it. Whatever happens, I know that I’m around a great support staff; I’m around great coaches who have been doing this at a high level for a very long time,” Nix said. “I’m going to be able to take it all in, learn as much as I possibly can, grow as much as I possibly can, so I can give that to my teammates, and I can give that to this organization.”

Growing up as QB

Pressure is nothing new for Nix. By the time he reached eighth grade, he was a star waiting for a uniform. He made the varsity team. After his sophomore year, he followed his father to Pinson Valley High School and became the top dual-threat quarterback in the nation. He won back-to-back state titles and was named Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year.

There was no question where he would go. At Auburn, he was embraced, viewed as the Tigers’ version of Tim Tebow. He rallied Auburn to a victory over Oregon in his first game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. That might have been his most memorable game for Auburn, certainly his most memorable season.

Over the next three years, Nix posted 39 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He was inconsistent. He was benched. He was hurt. He graduated. And then, in a decision that tested his mental strength, he left. To Eugene, Ore., roughly 2,600 miles away from Auburn — a 40-hour drive that took four days to navigate.

“It����ap not about when adversity comes, because it is coming. It����ap how you handle it. I was very proud of how he responded. He had a chance to toughen up and mature at Auburn, and when he went to Oregon he was a little bit more mature, more experienced, maybe not as naive as when he first walked into Auburn of how the real world is,” said Patrick, who was joined at Friday’s presser by his wife and Bo’s mother Krista. “He was able to grow a lot, and that was rewarding to see how much he learned from his experience and not be bitter about it.”

Nix was ready for a fresh start. It was time to learn how to become comfortable being uncomfortable. When he went to Auburn, his older sister was already a student there. His family home was a few hours away.

Oregon offered an opportunity to blossom in a new environment. He got married around the same time to Izzy, a former Auburn cheerleader. The easiest thing would have been to stay in the South. Not only was Oregon a different planet, but the Ducks had a five-star recruit on the depth chart, leaving no guarantee Nix would even start.

“I just wanted a chance to play for a championship and compete, and that����ap what Oregon presented me with,” Nix said. “The transition was actually very smooth. (Oregon) Coach (Dan) Lanning and (former) Oregon offensive coordinator (Kenny) Dillingham gave me the opportunity, and the players welcomed me with open arms. I was able to have two great years with great teammates, great coaches. We learned a lot, and that got us to where we are today.”

Validating coach’s trust

Even in a new place, Nix found comfort in an old face.

Dillingham coached Nix as a freshman at Auburn, his best in the SEC. Reconnecting changed the trajectory of Nix’s career. Dillingham appreciated Nix’s tools but needed to create a path to production. Dillingham’s work with Nix is why he has earned the quarterback whisperer moniker — he also helped revive Jordan Travis’ career at Florida State.

At Auburn, Nix was maddening, often trying to do too much, leading to ill-advised mistakes and turnovers.

On the surface, it screamed he needed guardrails. Dillingham did the opposite, giving Nix more responsibility. He had the freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage, morphing into a coach in the huddle. Empowering Nix led him to take ownership of the offense. It became his baby, and he treated it with respect and reverence.

“You want to see an example of that? Turn on the USC game,” said CBS NFL and college football analyst Ryan Harris.

Nix completed 23 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns. It was not an aberration. His entire 2023 season looks like a video game — 45 touchdowns, three interceptions. He was more accurate than a DNA test, completing an NCAA record 77.4% of his passes.

“When he moved to Oregon, he really mastered pass protections. When he practiced pass protections, they really trained on it, and it became second nature to him,” Dillingham, now the head coach at Arizona State, told The Post. “He became so comfortable. He was just in complete control of the game.”

“Are you kidding me?”

When the Broncos traveled to Eugene for a private workout on March 18, their first for any of the quarterbacks, Nix was more impressive than his film. He was bigger than Payton imagined. Had more arm strength.

Not long after Payton left the session, he uttered the phrase, “Are you kidding me?”

The Broncos ranked Nix on their quarterback board higher than J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr., per a source with knowledge of the team’s decision-making process. When five went before him, the Broncos could not risk moving back. They took the safe route, selecting Nix at No. 12, hoping he will someday soon be better than the previous 13 starters since Manning.

It����ap unfair to compare Nix to Drew Brees, a future Hall of Famer, who won a Super Bowl with Payton in New Orleans. But he boasts similar characteristics that pulled Payton in his direction — negating sacks, ball protection, excellence on third down, leadership when it matters most.

“When you watch him, it����ap pretty calming,” Payton said. “He’s very efficient, and it����ap not just because of the (underneath throws). You see a ton of NFL throws in their offense. His accuracy, he set an NCAA record. I think the one thing over the years, if you study it closely, guys that get sacked a lot in college tend to get sacked a lot in the NFL. Sometimes, that might be processing. Oftentimes, we’ll look at the offensive line, the ball comes out and it comes out sometimes in funny body positions. He has a quick stroke.”

Payton has no record of developing a rookie quarterback as a head coach — he worked with Quincy Carter and Tony Romo as an assistant in Dallas. And he is known for pushing buttons, for establishing high expectations for the position. Nix must develop a thick skin.

“He’ll be able to take it. The kid’s been through it all. The kid loves to be coached. He loves to learn. He’s obsessed with the game,” Dillingham said. “As long as he’s learning, as long as he’s being (taught), he’ll embrace it. I think it’s a perfect fit. … I truly think it’s a perfect fit for those two guys.”

Dillingham took a special interest in developing Nix the player, while caring for the person. It unlocked his potential.

“His arm strength, his intelligence, he just kept getting better and better,” said former Broncos Pro Bowl safety and Oregon star T.J. Ward. “I watched him at Auburn. And obviously, I watched his games at Oregon. He looked like a completely different guy. He looked like an NFL quarterback.”

From backyard to Broncos

Beyond the pictures, handshakes, and smiles, there was a glimpse Friday of why this just might work.

Dave Logan, 850 KOA’s longtime Broncos gameday voice, put Nix on the spot, asking him to call one of his favorite plays. Nix did not hesitate, setting it up at the goal line like he had a helmet on.

“Zero, triple right tight, Z short, burn Nola, Y pop, Z Fargo,” blurted Nix, who had a different play-caller in each of his five college seasons. “It was play-action. Slip Y into the flat. Fake reverse with Z off the motion. It was one of our touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl.”

As Logan replayed the scene, he nodded his head. This type of intelligence hints at what Nix might do at the next level.

“You have to have so many different attributes to be successful in the NFL and at the toughest position to play. Eventually, if you are going to become a good player, the moment can’t be too big for you,” Logan said. “He’s got a chance early on for this situation not to be too big.”

It brings us back to the present. Patrick Nix is watching, walking, reflecting.

He knows there is no singular path for success. Sometimes dreams that begin in the backyard require a sharp turn left to be realized.

“Bo is extremely competitive. He’s very dedicated and disciplined, and he wants to be the best version of himself,” Patrick said. “To be somewhere like Denver, I was a John Elway fan growing up. I absolutely loved him. So for Bo to be following in his footsteps by being in Denver, and just knowing the city, knowing the organization, knowing the fan base, you couldn’t have picked a better place. As a dad and his former coach, it����ap really incredible.”

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It was an easy decision Monday for Sean Payton to move on from quarterback Russell Wilson. The hard part remains the financial reverberations of that move. With Wilson counting $85 million against the salary cap over the next two seasons, the Broncos face more difficult decisions with high-profile players.

Goodbye, Justin Simmons.

That is a sentence I hoped I would write after he won a few playoff games and announced his retirement before heading into the Ring of Fame. Instead, his exit arrived Thursday, with the Broncos announcing their plans to release the four-time All-Pro.

Cutting the star free safety saves the Broncos $14.5 million on their salary cap. The math does not numb the pain. No player has performed better over the last eight seasons in Denver. Or been here longer.

And Simmons’ impact went beyond statistics. He was the cell tower in the middle of the field that made the signal work. Remember when the Broncos defense looked clueless and helpless against the Dolphins and Bears? When Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Fields were more accurate than a DNA test?

Guess who missed those two games with injury? Can you hear me know? The Broncos were tone deaf. And the results were embarrassing.

Simmons served as the air traffic controller, his greatest strengths helping the secondary line up correctly, while playing center field better than Andruw Jones. Simmons owns 30 interceptions, his fingers stickier than taffy.

The 30-year-old was even better off the field, providing help through his foundation for at-risk youth. It wasn’t uncommon for him to show up at the Boys and Girls Club and hang out with kids. It was there he was inspired by club members to create the March for Peace. This past holiday season I was with Simmons and his wife, Taryn, as they surprised families with Christmas trees and presents. Simmons is the type of person you want your daughter to marry.

The problem with professional sports? They are less sentimental than a photo radar ticket. Good guys only sometimes win — their status connected to salary, scheme, coaching changes and ownership whims.

Payton is resetting this roster in terms of his valuations. This was a salary cap move. But it wasn’t. It is an indication that Payton viewed a safety with an $18.25 million salary, no matter how talented, as a luxury. Payton wants to spend money differently, so the Broncos will lean on P.J. Locke — first they have to re-sign him — oft-injured Caden Sterns, second-year player JL Skinner and likely a clearance-rack veteran.

Payton is not alone in viewing the position this way, which is why I wasn’t shocked. Safeties have become the new running backs. Everyone wants a good one, but no one wants to pay them. In the past few weeks, Kevin Byard, Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Rayshawn Jenkins have all been released. Simmons is better than all of them and will have no trouble finding work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philadelphia aggressively pursues him with Vic Fangio running the Eagles defense.

It����ap easy to blame Payton for Simmons’ exit, connecting it to Wilson. In truth, this is the beginning of a cleansing. Payton did not leave New Orleans. He brought New Orleans with him. He knows how he wants this team to look — he did not trade for Wilson, he inherited him — and is left to apply bleach to a mess created by four previous coaches in seven years.

Payton is known as a coach, one who could have lived forever in the snapshot of his Super Bowl win. In Denver he must become known as an architect. He is uncompromising in what he wants from his players. It����ap why he jettisoned underwhelming edge rushers Randy Gregory and Frank Clark so quickly.

Payton has a type. He wants tough, smart, talented players. Simmons fits that profile, but his salary did not. The safety became a casualty of his contract, and a team that desperately needs to reconfigure its assets.

Fans will despise Payton for this move. It matters little to him because he believes all of those feelings will dissolve if he wins.

Simmons will not to be the last to go. Left tackle Garett Bolles remains vulnerable, and would it surprise anyone if the team moved on from Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy? Those could be trades. The reason Simmons was not dealt is because of the industry’s market correction at his position.

Few people remember when Simmons arrived as a skinny kid from Boston College, a third-round pick with maturity beyond his years. He replaced T.J. Ward, who was cut on the eve of the 2017 season, a move that went over like raised taxes in the locker room. Simmons handled it with aplomb, listening, learning, working.

All he did was his job. The only thing missing from his resume is a playoff appearance. He deserves the postseason. And one day, someday, I expect Simmons to return to this community where he has left an indelible imprint.

Back at Broncos headquarters, Payton has affixed the bulls-eye to his back. This is the life he signed up for — he took the Broncos job because of the ownership group and the fans’ passion for the team, not because he loved the roster.

Payton is no longer revered as a champion, as the man who saved the Saints. In Denver, he’s the guy who went 8-9 and just cut the team’s best player not named Patrick Surtain II.

All he has to do now is live up to his $18 million paycheck that he did not feel Simmons was worth.

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“Aunt Gertha was my favorite. She did so much for me when I was a kid,” Atwater told me. “Aunt Gertha taught me: ‘Do what you can do, wherever you’re at. If you can make an impact, big or small, on somebody’s life, do it.’”

So what on earth does Aunt Gertha have to do with football?

In this painful season for the Broncos, you can feel the generosity of Gertha’s heart in every smile of Atwater as he regularly mingles with current players at team headquarters, sometimes offering tips to Simmons, taken under his wing as a protégé.

“Calming my eyes down,” said Simmons, revealing a secret to being a great safety that he learned under the tutelage of Atwater.

As a young NFL player, Simmons would stand in the secondary and be overwhelmed by all the data his hyperactive eyes were trying to process prior to the snap that he missed small, essential keys that could allow him to become one of the league’s ball-hawking safeties.

Recognizing undeniable talent, Atwater humbly approached Simmons and offered suggestions that always began with these words: “Not that I know everything, but here’s what I did …”

Simmons did more than take copious notes. He engraved the advice from Atwater in his brain. “Not that a Hall of Famer knows football, or anything like that,” joked Simmons, one of the few truly bright stars amid these dark days for the franchise.

What should not be lost amid the angst of Denver’s 3-9 record is the sense of urgency Simmons and Atwater feel to make things right again in ����apountry. They’re not only two of the best players ever to wear a Denver uniform, but two of the kindest, big-hearted men.

“As a safety, you’re the last line of defense,” said Atwater, whose current role with the Broncos has far more positive impact than his formal duties as a fan development manager. “Knowing that if the offense gets past you, it����ap over, and making sure that doesn’t happen too frequently, is what makes playing safety so rewarding.”

The job of a safety is more than the last line of defense in ����apountry. It����ap a legacy, fostered and upheld by the excellence of men who have played the position in Denver, from Goose Gonsoulin to Billy Thompson to Dennis Smith, who passed the torch to Atwater, John Lynch, Brian Dawkins, T.J. Ward and Simmons.

Long before being drafted by the Broncos in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft, Simmons heard tales from his father, Victor, about Atwater being the Smiling Assassin. With two interceptions against the Ravens during a 10-9 loss in Baltimore, Simmons tied one of dad’s favorite players with 24 career picks.

“Anytime you’re in the same sentence as a Hall of Famer like Steve, there is obviously high praise there. That����ap really cool,” said Simmons, who never needs prompting to give thanks for Atwater’s mentorship.

“He’s meant so much to me and my growth. Not only as a player, but just as a man, as a professional, as a husband. Just the little tidbits he gives me every time we’re walking off the field or after I see him after a game, after a win or even after a loss. He’s been such a pillar in my life since I’ve stepped in here and got drafted. I can’t be more thankful for him.”

Atwater is forever grateful for all the little nuances of pro football learned from Smith upon joining the Broncos as a first-round draft choice out of Arkansas in 1989. Long before winning two Super Bowl rings in Denver, Atwater learned the art of paying it forward as a child wrapped in the warmth of Aunt Gertha’s hugs. As a three-time nominee for the Walter Payton award in recognition of his community work, Simmons makes Atwater proud in ways far beyond feats on the football field.

“If you have something valuable to give and you don’t share it,” Atwater said, “you’re the one who’s really missing out on what matters in life.”

Here’s betting Gertha would see more than a little of her nephew in Simmons. ����apountry basks in the warmth of the light shared by two good men who happen to play football for a living.

Asked Wednesday if he wants to be a member of the Broncos for the long run, Jones got salty.

“I am here right now,” Jones said.

His words were blunt and hard enough to leave a mark.

Jones speaks the way he tackles, mercilessly and without diplomacy.

The bag, not the ring, is the thing in the NFL.

That’s not a complaint or a criticism. It’s an acknowledgment of reality.

One overlooked aspect of Russell Wilson’s painfully slow start with the Broncos is there is yet to be any indication he will be a quarterback who can lure free agents to Denver, or encourage teammates to take a hometown discount in contract negotiations, by appealing to championship dreams.

Didn’t I hear from Broncomaniacs quick to kick linebacker Bradley Chubb to the curb that this team needed the money to sign Jones, who can be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end?

So where’s the contract extension? Was the bank closed during the bye week? Rather than get down to business with Jones’ agent, did general manager George Paton go hang out in Cabo with Wilson and Ciara?

Paton can blah, blah, blah until he’s orange and blue in the face about how the Broncos would’ve moved Chubb to Miami at the NFL trade deadline for a first-round draft choice in 2023, regardless of whether Denver’s record was 3-5 or 5-3.

The future commitment to winning, however, doesn’t really mean a thing unless Greg Penner and the crazy-rich Waltons show Jones the money saved by offloading Chubb.

In the Broncos locker room, my Denver Post colleague Parker Gabriel asked if the erasure of future financial obligations to Chubb might have positive implications for Jones.

‘I don’t know. Maybe,” Jones replied.

Is there security in hearing Paton laud him as a core player for the Broncos?

“I view my standing with the franchise as, this is Dre going into Year 4, that����ap all I can say,” said Jones.

He knows very well the only truly accurate way loyalty in the NFL can be measured is with money, and I applaud him for taking a bottom-line approach to the game. Football is a tough business. If this tough 2022 season has taught the Broncos anything, it’s that the first duty for any player in the Not For Long is to get paid.

For all his bold talk of winning multiple championships in Denver, Wilson made certain to get his $245 million contract extension before throwing his first touchdown pass or playing a snap that mattered for the Broncos.

After Paton decided Chubb was expendable with a make-or-break game against Tennessee and 250-pound running back Derrick Henry next on the schedule, former Denver teammates were delighted when Chubb signed a $110 million contract extension with the Dolphins.

We all know the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 with defense. It was a defense that quarterback Peyton Manning had a huge role in building. Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and DeMarcus Ware all signed as free agents with Denver after Manning joined the team.

On the day Manning retired in 2016, John Elway, the general manager who wisely took a chance on a 30-something quarterback with serious injury issues, lauded PFM for a contribution as great as all the touchdown passes he threw for Denver.

“He’s made my job easy,” Elway said. “Bottom line is I said, ‘Mr. (Pat) Bowlen wants to win championships and you get to play with Peyton Manning.’ They said, ‘Where do we sign?’ And that����ap really what happened and that����ap why we’re able to put these great teams together.”

When the Walton ownership group relied on Paton’s expertise and signed Wilson to a contract extension worth nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, there was a reasonable expectation that added value in the deal would be talent an elite quarterback could lure to the Broncos.

At this point, with Russ struggling to cook, why would any offensive tackle headed toward free agency put Denver atop his wish list? And if Sean Payton wants to get back into coaching, might it make more sense for him to join forces with Justin Herbert in Los Angeles than with Wilson in Denver?

Jones, a third-round draft choice out of Ohio State in 2019, is on pace to produce double-digit sacks for the first time in his NFL career. In a contract year, his timing is impeccable. Of course, the Broncos could choose to retain Jones’ services by franchise-tagging him, a move that can be economically sound for the team but seldom results in the warm, fuzzy feeling of being appreciated by the player.

Loyalty to the orange and blue?

Please. Don’t be naïve.

Winning earns respect. Unsuccessful football teams don’t earn hometown discounts.

Jones will follow the money and go play wherever the bag takes him.