Playoffs? Yeah, you CAN talk about playoffs with the Broncos

When it comes to the idea of being in the NFL’s postseason, the Denver Broncos don’t exist in the realm that would lead to the sort of retort that former NFL coach Jim Mora offered 23 years ago, resulting in a rant for the ages.

It’s realistic for the Broncos to be a playoff team. They sit in the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoff race heading into Week 12. They have a one-game lead over their closest competitors, the Indianapolis Colts, and a two-game bulge in the win column over the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals.

According to the NFL’s Next Gen stats playoff-probability model, the Broncos’ postseason chances sit at a nice 69 percent heading into this weekend. With a win in Las Vegas — a place the Broncos have never won before, to be fair — that percentage would rise to 77 percent. The chances would still be above 50 percent — 54 percent, to be precise — if the city in the desert remains Loss Vegas.

Not thinking about this is “hard,” admits Broncos tight end Adam Trautman.

“Yeah, it is. And anyone that would say otherwise, I think is lying,” he said. “So, yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard not to like, look at that.

“But we have done a good job of reiterating every week: It’s just about the game that we’re about to play on Sunday or Monday or Thursday, maybe Saturday in December, whenever that is. So, yeah, you can’t look too far ahead. That’s when you start to drop games.”

 

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Keeping the focus on the here and now is a reason why the Broncos have overcome an 0-2 start with a 6-3 run of form to seize a measure of control in the race for that last wild-card spot.

“Yeah, I mean, I think we are a playoff team. We are,” safety P.J. Locke said. “I think we just got to put all the pieces together and continue to win out because that’s the goal. So, yeah, I mean, I think we are a playoff team.

“We just gotta finish it out.”

 

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And therein lies the rub, of course — actually doing it. Just because the Broncos have proven adept at beating the teams the standings and overall form say they should beat doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to continue, even though the next two weeks before the Week 14 bye see the Broncos face a pair of teams that currently sit at 2-8.

Both the Raiders and Cleveland Browns have their intended quarterback on injured reserve. Las Vegas had to return to the benched Gardner Minshew after Aidan O’Connell broke his thumb, while Jameis Winston is looking to revive his career after stepping in for the injured Deshaun Watson. By any reasonable measure, Winston has been an upgrade.

“You can always look ahead if you want to, but week by week is how we get there, and we still got a lot of football left to be played, and we just gotta focus on the next game,” edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said.

“We can’t get too far ahead and lose sight of what we got, what we got right in front of us. So just gotta take care of business each and every week, and then how it plays out is how it’s gonna play out.”

Of course, what’s also in front of the Broncos are results from other relevant games.

“Even when you’re sitting there [on the sideline[ and we’re on defense and you’re trying to watch the play and you see like, ‘Oh, the score of this game,'” Trautman said.

“Yeah, it’s hard not to look at that, obviously, but we’re professionals. We’re not going to let it affect how we play or prepare or whatever.”

Sunday’s game in Las Vegas will provide another test of whether the Broncos can maintain the focus that has gotten them to this point where it’s viability to say “playoffs” and not receive an absurd look in response. That’s a measure of the progress the Broncos have made.

But turning the word and the goal into a happy reality — there’s some work left to do there, starting this Sunday.

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