Broncos focused on not falling into trap before bye

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Trap game?

That would seem to be what the Broncos face this weekend against the Carolina Panthers, just one week after one of the most thrilling wins in recent club history — and potentially the most-significant win of this regular season, considering that the comeback-and-goal-line-stand victory over the arch-rival Kansas City Chiefs was the difference between being two games back in the loss column AND having a tiebreaker disadvantage … and sitting in first place in the AFC West.

The bye week perches invitingly on the horizon, offering chance to retreat and freshen the body and mind for the homestretch of the regular season.

And then there is the current state of the Panthers, which haven’t even had a winning season in the last eight years, have lost two-straight games, just fired their defensive coordinator — former Broncos defensive play-caller Ejiro Evero — and have just one win this season over a team utilizing its usual starting quarterback, with two of their three triumphs coming over the Cooper Rush-guided Atlanta Falcons and the Tanner McKee-led Philadelphia Eagles.

The pieces would seem to be in place for a letdown.

But in the locker room, the Broncos appeared focused.

“This is a playoff team, so, that’s easy to solve,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton said, alluding to the fact that the Panthers won the NFC South last year — albeit at 8-9. They’re also in first place right now, too.

“You can watch the Rams go there last year and lose and (as) a playoff team go there and barely win. It’s a really good football team, and we’ve gotta play our best football this weekend.”

There’s not even a need for veterans to go around the room and offer reminders, right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.

“I don’t think that message needs to be communicated at all. I think everybody understands that,” he said. “I think that’s a part of the team that we have and certainly the head coach that we have. I don’t anticipate that being a problem.”

BRONCOS HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THEIR BUSINESS AGAINST TEAMS WITH WORSE RECORDS

But it’s also notable that this Broncos team hasn’t lost a game in which they brought a clear edge to the proceedings since Russell Wilson’s last start with the club, a 26-23 home defeat to the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve.

Oh, they’ve lost a couple of games in which they were favored in that span, if that sort of thing matters to you, but one was to the Indianapolis Colts early in that team’s 8-2 start to the season last year, and the other was at home to Jacksonville last December, when both teams entered with identical 11-3 records.

And in games when the Broncos had the better record going into the contest, the Broncos have won 14 straight, with the last defeat being an overtime loss as a 9-6 team playing at 7-8 Cincinnati in 2024.

In the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Broncos were 7-5 when entering the game with the better record before launching the ongoing 14-game run. Simply put, this team doesn’t lose to the foes it SHOULD beat.

It’s to the credit of the preparation of Sean Payton and the coaching staff, as well as a locker room with savvy veteran leaders sprinkled around, that the Broncos have avoided the mystifying defeats that undermine other contenders; winning 11 regular-season games last year when entering with the better record is why the Broncos finished with the AFC’s top seed.

Fast-forward to the present, when the Broncos have the afore-mentioned four-game winning streak, along with wins in six of their last seven games.

“Coach kind of broke it down for us a couple of weeks ago, where we have this three-game stretch after the Seattle game where we just had the mini-bye, and now we’ve got the next three games,” edge rusher Nik Bonitto said. “We handle that, and then worry about the bye when it comes. So, we’re not overlooking Carolina at all.”

And Bonitto added, the Broncos needed to play well and win and “earn the bye week, in a way.”

If they get the job done and win their fifth game in a row, they will have certainly earned it.

“I don’t think that message needs to be communicated at all. I think everybody understands that. I think that’s a part of the team that we have and certainly the head coach that we have. I don’t anticipate that being a problem.”

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