Surtain: ‘To be that team, these are the games that count’

The Denver Broncos are the top seed in the AFC on Sunday, but everyone knows “that team” is not the one that finishes best in the regular season, but the one that hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February.

Regaining Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II made it clear which team the Broncos are striving to be after smashing the Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 on Sunday. He looked forward to the coming schedule, given the victory that just took place may have been the easiest game left for the Broncos, who now host two likely playoff teams in Green Bay and Jacksonville, and are followed by a clash that could decide the AFC West in Kansas City.

“Every week, a new opponent comes; we have some great opponents coming up for the rest of the year,” he said. “So if we want to be that team that we talk about. These are the games that matter and count.”

The Broncos are now 11-2, on a steady path to the playoffs and possibly securing home-field advantage throughout the tournament. But they gotta win some more games this month before they start turning toward the postseason.

“December football matters in a big way, and it does now, and I’m excited to go and test our stuff against really, really good football teams here down the stretch,” Broncos offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey said. “It starts with Green Bay next week, and I can’t wait to see what Mile High brings next week, because it’s been on fire this year.”

The Broncos have not lost at home and are now riding a 10-game win streak — a rare achievement in the NFL.

“We’re on a heater,” Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers said. “It’s not about who we play — we do what we do and our style of football, if we play physical and with the effort we play with. And I think we’re gonna like the outcome, and we have.”

Denver needs just a few more outcomes to land that No. 1 seed over New England, which comes with a first-round bye — something very helpful to chasing a Super Bowl.

“We have a lot of football left to play. This next month stretch is very important to us, and what we’re going to do moving forward,” McGlinchey said.

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