Broncos’ big difference in playoffs against Bills this year? They’re not just ‘excited to be there’

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the Broncos, so much is different about this postseason clash with the Buffalo Bills compared to when they met them last year.

The venue, ensuring that the eardrum-shattering cauldron of noise will be FOR them, and not against them. The guided missile playing safety, second-team All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga, signed last March in part because of how the Bills diced up the Broncos on drive after drive.

The presence of inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, one line of defense closer to the line of scrimmage, added in that free-agency flurry for many of the same reasons after that 31-7 defeat punctuated a defensive fade down the stretch of that 2024 campaign.

And the fact that instead of coming into the postseason having struggled in close games — evidenced by a 1-6 mark in one-score contests in 2024 — they’re masters in the clutch, going 11-2 in such contests in 2025, riding a 10-game winning streak in such games heading into the playoffs.

But there might be one factor that stands above them all: How the Broncos reacted to making the playoffs.

When right tackle Mike McGlinchey was asked about what could be taken from the Broncos’ two recent games with the Bills — last year’s playoff loss, along with a November 2023 Monday Night Football win, he replied, “You can’t take can’t take a whole lot. The team’s different, every year’s different. I think our team’s a lot different. And certainly –”

At that point, McGlinchey paused. And that’s when he made the key point.

“We don’t feel as though we were in the position that we were in last year, right? We kind of got into the playoffs, we were excited to be there,” he said.

“And that’s kind of a different mindset than we’re in right now.”

 

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“Yeah, man, definitely,” concurred edge rusher Nik Bonitto. “I think just how the end of last year played out, we were just kind of excited to get in, and we wanted to make some noise when we got in, but we didn’t do that.”

“.. We were just kind of happy the first [time],” he added a few moments later.

That’s not something any Bronco would have admitted 12 months ago — that they were “excited to be there” in the postseason as wild-card entrants. But it made sense after they burst into the postseason as a No. 7 seed that no one but the most lofty of optimists saw coming.

Every year, there are at least a couple of surprise entrants who crash the postseason party. Last January, the Broncos filled that role. And as quickly as they shuffled onto the stage, Buffalo chucked them aside into the wastebasket like the bony remnants of a devoured chicken wing.

BRONCOS HAVE EXCITEMENT NOW, BUT IT’S TEMPERED

“We’re excited to be here, obviously, but, expecting a lot more,” McGlinchey said. “And so, we’re we’re ready for the opportunity.”

Those expectations were set in the offseason, of course. Then Sean Payton reiterated them when the team reconvened for training camp: This team was good enough to end its season in the Super Bowl; such a goal was reasonable.

That’s the final goal that remains. The first two — a division title and the No. 1 seed — are already checked off the list. With such notions long since in mind, it’s no wonder the commemorative t-shirts and hats were met with a shrug when they arrived two weeks ago.

Giddiness and glee? Those are for yesterday’s Broncos. Twelve months and last year’s beatdown and Buffalo has helped this bunch mature and redefine its notion of success.

“I think it’s just we knew we were going to be here since OTAs, we knew the type of team we had and last year and just the guys that we added this year and the goals that we had set out,” Bonitto said.

“I mean, we knew we were going to be here, so there’s no shock element to it. You know, we just got to go out and just keep playing our type of ball.”

Sure, these Broncos look different in many ways. And one game of postseason experience counts for a lot, too. That defeat toughened them. Furthermore, it lingered.

“[It’s] still sitting with me,” edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said.

But the most significant change of all is that the wide-eyed look borne by plenty of players as they stepped into the postseason limelight for the first time is gone. Last year, reaching the postseason represented the accomplishment of a goal. For a franchise that hadn’t seen the playoffs in eight previous campaigns, it was a successful season.

This time around, they believe it’s just the beginning. And thus, nothing worthy of excitement, leading to a business-as-usual demeanor inside the Broncos’ locker room.

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