Broncos look to do what they’ve done well in Payton era: bounce back

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos haven’t had many games in the previous two seasons like the one they endured Monday night in Kansas City. And on the rare occasions when they’ve stumbled to anywhere near that degree, they’ve quickly recovered.

Take last December, when the Jacksonville Jaguars were the only team to beat the Broncos by more than a field goal during the 2025 campaign, controlling the line of scrimmage to power past Denver 34-20. Four nights later, the Broncos ground out a win at Kansas City for their first triumph at Arrowhead Stadium in a decade; that was the start of a three-game winning streak that only ended when forced to play the AFC Championship Game without Bo Nix.

Or go back to November 2024, when the then-5-3 Broncos galloped into Baltimore and were shellacked by the Ravens 41-10.

Since emerging from seven-straight losing seasons from 2016-23, the Broncos have been knocked down — but they haven’t STAYED down.

“I think it’s first and foremost about the character of the guys in the locker room,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “I think Sean (Payton) talks about it all the time — about the people that are here. Football I.Q. obviously is important, but it’s also how tough are you? How can you deal with what goes on in a football field on a play-to-play basis in the NFL?

“It’s a lot of ups and downs and roller coasters and you gotta be really mentally tough. This is the greatest league in the world because of how competitive it is and you’re some days you’re going to have a bad one and it’s about how you respond the next time or the next play you know next game — whatever it is and I think we have the character in here to do it.”

 

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This was a common sentiment in the locker room throughout the week.

“It’s just our DNA,” cornerback Riley Moss said. “Our DNA is is gritty and tough guys who can weather the storm.

“When bad things happen, are you going to be able to come back? And that’s how we’ve built our team and we’re all built for it and I know we’re gonna we’re gonna bounce back.”

Although the Broncos have lost consecutive games four times in 2024 and 2025 seasons, the form matters, too; none of those second defeats in the two-game couplets were by more than one score; three of them were decided on the final play — an overtime touchdown by Cincinnati in 2024, a walk-off field goal at Los Angeles against the Chargers last year and the blocked Wil Lutz field-goal try in Kansas City two years ago.

It’s possible the Broncos could fall on Sunday. Just don’t expect their performance to look anything like what it did in Week 1.

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