DENVER — It doesn’t get much better than this.
Win and in. Against the Chiefs, no less.
“To play in this stadium, in a meaningful game at home?” Head Coach Sean Payton said Friday. “Shoot, I’m getting excited now talking about it.”
On one final regular-season afternoon, the Broncos will look to snap a two-game skid and clinch their trip to the postseason with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. And, in the process, they’ll aim to ensure the 2024 campaign remains a memorable season long after it’s over.
“Every year you take a team photo, and today they handed them out,” Payton said Friday. “I’ve been places where you never knew where the team photo went. I asked ‘PK’ [Assistant to the Head Coach Paul Kelly], I said, ‘Paul, my first year of playing, I was eight years old. Tell me how many team photos I’m in.’ He comes back [and says], ‘This is your 52nd.’ Just part of a football team. I would say my mom kept scrapbooks, but I know where about five are.
“I told these guys today, ‘Make sure this is one we know where this photo is.’ It’s been a tight-knit team. We’ve hit adversity like every team during the stretch of the season. We’ve had success. Here it is. Let’s make sure this is a photo that we look back on and we know where that’s at.”
And while the Chiefs plan to rest a handful of starters in Sunday’s game, Payton has emphasized the key to this Week 18 matchup rests with the Broncos holding an internal focus. For players around the locker room, that means finding a way to play their best football and to get to their 10th win of the season.
“Our goal the past couple weeks is ‘Get to 10,’ and we have another opportunity to do that,” quarterback Bo Nix said Wednesday. “… I believe pressure is a privilege, and I was taught that a long time ago. There’s no pressure without opportunity. So, right now, that means we’ve got a great opportunity to go do something special.”
With that would come the Broncos’ first postseason appearance since 2015 and a trip to face the Bills in the wild-card round.
“We’ve got to win the game,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said Wednesday. “Simple. There’s nothing else that goes into it. People say, ‘It’s never black and white.’ It’s black and white. We’ve got to win the game. And that’s as simple as it gets.”
CAN BO NIX ADD TO AN IMPRESSIVE ROOKIE CAMPAIGN?
In a season full of strong performances, Bo Nix will look to deliver another memorable outing in his final home start of the season.
“He’s constantly showed up when we needed a big drive or something at the end of the half or a play,” Payton said Wednesday. “If you really track his career, it’s littered with those moments.”
Nix is currently tied with Jayden Daniels for the most passing touchdowns by a rookie this season, and he recently became just the third rookie quarterback in NFL history to post at least 3,000 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and 300 rushing yards.
If Nix can pass for 200 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, he would have the most such performances by a rookie since at least 1950.
Led by Nix, the Broncos have posted the 10th-ranked scoring offense through 17 weeks — and Nix and Co. could find more success in their regular-season finale.
The Broncos have allowed the third-fewest sacks of any team this season, and Denver is 7-0 when Nix is sacked no more than once in a game. With Chiefs defenders Nick Bolton, George Karlaftis, Drue Tranquill and Chris Jones not expected to play, that could help Nix remain clean from pressure and lead the offense to scoring drives.
Denver has scored at least 24 points in each of its last six games, and the Broncos have crossed the 30-point threshold on five occasions this season. If Nix can help the Broncos put points on the board early, it could set the tone in a critical matchup.
