Broncos have thrived as underdogs all year, no reason to stop now

The Denver Broncos have seen this movie before.

No one believes in them.

And maybe that’s a good thing.

The Broncos will take on the Bills in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday. Even though Denver is the No. 1 seed in the AFC, they’re a 1.5-point underdog to No. 6 Buffalo. The game is at Empower Field at Mile High, but the oddsmakers are on the side of the Bills.

Great.

This Broncos squad has thrived all season in the role of disrespected underdog, so there’s no reason to stop now.

QB Bo Nix went viral after the Packers were favorites against Denver earlier this year in the Mile High City. The Broncos won in convincing fashion 34-26 and Nix had an epic soundbite to Tracy Wolfson of CBS Sports.

“We’re the overdogs,” Nix said with a smile and a laugh.

It’s time to channel that same energy again.

It’s only Tuesday and everyone is already picking the Bills to top the Broncos and move on the AFC Championship Game. Some think that Buffalo is a team of destiny, that it’s finally Josh Allen’s “turn” to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Forget turns, Denver needs to jump the Bills in line.

This isn’t the NBA or NHL where it takes years and years of heartbreak to eventually reach the mountaintop. Teams can either get hot at the right time or turn in a magnificent regular season and use that to win the whole thing.

In the Broncos case, it’s the latter.

Going 14-3 earned them the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. It means they’re the only team that has to win two games instead of three to go to the Super Bowl. And oh yeah, both of those are at home.

But the “fraud” label has been placed on Denver basically the entire season. Locally, there’s a healthy respect for what they’ve done. Nationally, people didn’t believe in September, October, November or December and still don’t.

They cite the crazy comeback wins, the offense looking lackluster (at times) and more. Whatever, the talking heads can say what they want and the Broncos can go prove them wrong on the field. It’s become a habit.

However, there’s no question that Saturday against the Bills is a massive test. Allen will clearly be the best player suiting up — on either side.

Still the Broncos feel like the better and more complete squad. Not only is Buffalo beat up, but many argue this is the third or fourth best team of the Allen era.

Buffalo has had chances to win the conference in the past, but usually it’s been Kansas City handing them a gut-wrenching loss. This weekend it can be another AFC West team, with the Chiefs on their couches and Denver now in that position.

Head coach Sean Payton should hammer in his player’s heads over the next several days that no one believes in them. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it’s still there because it can definitely work.

The Broncos have walked off the field winners in 14 of 17 games and yet there’s still a whole bunch of outside noise. And for the most part, it’s usually not pretty.

It’s all good, though, because a group doesn’t generally need fuel for a playoff game. Win-or-go-home is plenty of motivation as is, but this can add a little extra fire.

Yes, playing anyone but the Bills for Denver’s first playoff game would’ve been ideal. The bracket broke a different way and no one can feel sorry for them. Buffalo’s up next whether we like it or not.

Ultimately, the Broncos are three hard fought hours away from making the NFL’s version of the Final Four. It’s nice they’re being disrespected and counted out because that’s the way it’s been all year.

It really feels meant to be.

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