Broncos at a ‘crossroads’ in matchup vs. Bengals, says Pritchard

Heading out to Cincinnati to take on the 5-6 Bengals on Sunday, the Denver Broncos (5-6) find themselves at a crossroads, said Mike Pritchard.

Head one way, and the Broncos season is “still alive,” said the “Pritchard and Cecil” co-host on Friday. Head the other way, and it’s time to start talking about the offseason.

“The Broncos, they have a decision to make,” Pritchard said. “They can go on the road and take victory away from Cincinnati or they can go on the road, make a bunch of mistakes, not play inspired, and lose to the Bengals.”

Pritchard said if Denver plays the way they have been lately — including upset wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers in consecutive weeks — then a win shouldn’t be an issue.

“We have a legitimate chance to kind of just squash every negative thing that’s out there if we can get to 6-6 and then present the opportunity that the next game is even bigger than this last game,” Pritchard said. “That’s what you want in December. You want the next game always to be bigger than the last game.”

Earlier this week, “Stokley and Zach” co-host Brandon Stokley echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “If you go out and play a bad football game this week, it ruins what you did the last two weeks.”

Head coach Vance Joseph said earlier this week that the Bengals are not to be overlooked and his Broncos squad is still looking to prove themselves.

“We’re still trying to prove that we can win games in this league. We’re 5-6. We’ve done nothing up to this point,” Joseph said. “Our goal is to win one game and get even. 6-6 is a better record than 5-7, so we want to get there first, and then move on from that game.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.