-I had no expectations going into this season for the Broncos. For me, this year was going to be about Bo Nix and his development. The ceiling for this team was 9-8 and maybe a shot at the wild card, but that was about it. I figured they would be a 7 win team and played competitive down the stretch. The over/under for the Broncos wins this year was 5.5. People were picking Denver to be one of the worst teams in the league and possibly getting the #1 draft pick in the 2025 Draft. It is amazing how they proved all the doubters wrong this year.
-After Denver started 0-2 with losses to the Seahawks and Steelers, I really thought this season was going to be a disaster. Nix had looked terrible in the first two games, and he had 0 TDs and 4 INTs after Week 2. He looked like he was going to be a huge bust. Then, Denver went into Tampa and dominated the 2-0 Bucs and won, and they went into the Meadowlands and pulled off a 10-9 win over the 2-1 Jets in the rain to somehow get to 2-2. From that point on, the Broncos played like a playoff caliber team, and the season turned around. At 10-7, the Broncos earned their way into the playoffs this year.
-Nix had a tremendous rookie season. He gives Denver the young, franchise QB that they desperately needed. He finished with 66.3% completion percentage, 3,775 yards, 29 TDs, 12 INTs, and a QB rating of 93.3. He also ran for 430 yards and 4 rushing TDs and caught a TD pass as well. He accumulated 34 total touchdowns and over 4,200 total yards. Not bad for a rookie who was the 6th QB taken.
-The Broncos finished in the Top 10 in scoring for the first time since 2014. They scored over 30 points six times and averaged 25 points a game. The defense finished in the Top 10 in scoring defense as well and gave up an average of 18 points a game. Also, Denver's defense broke the franchise record for sacks in a season. This was a well-rounded team from top to bottom. In fact, of Denver's 10 wins, 9 of those were by 9 points or more. They took care of business when they needed to.
-You gotta give Sean Payton credit. He took the dead cap hit on Russell Wilson, released him, went all in on Bo Nix in the first round of the draft, got his guy, and got this team to 10 wins and a playoff berth in his second year in Denver. You also have to give him credit for the staff he hired. He improved our special teams tremendously, and the hiring of Vance Joseph as the defensive coordinator was a great move. A lot of Broncos fans hated this move, including me, but VJ has done a remarkable job with this defense. Payton has had some issues this year in game-management and situations, but he has done a tremendous job with this franchise and turning it around.
-A lot of the NFL media wanted to see the Bengals make the playoffs after finishing 9-8 and winning their last five, but the Bengals started the season 0-3 with a loss to the 4-13 Patriots at home in Week 1. They were 4-8 and lost their first 5 homes games of the season. They can only blame themselves. Same goes with the Dolphins. Denver earned their way in. The fact that most of the NFL media was picking the Chiefs and Carson Wentz to go into Denver and win was due to the fact that they wanted the Bengals and Joe Burrow to get in the playoffs. Denver did what it was supposed to do and pounded Wentz and the Chiefs backups and punched their ticket to the playoffs.
-This eight year stretch was the worst Broncos era of my lifetime, and I go back to 1985. Eight straight years of missing the playoffs and seven straight losing seasons. All the different QBs, coaches, and moves that just never worked out. The Broncos had become irrelevant the last eight years, and that was something that was never like that in the past. To follow this team every offseason from free agency to the scouting combine to the draft and OTAS and training camp became so tough because there was never any payoff. Every season just brought bad football, bad coaching, and disappointment. All that changed this year, and that is why this season is so special.
-On a personal note, this has been one of the most fun Broncos seasons for me in my lifetime. Yes, it was fun because they made the playoffs, but the best part about this season was the fact that I got to enjoy this with my family-specifically my two sons, Nicholas and Anthony. The last time Denver made the playoffs in 2015, and won the Super Bowl, Nicholas was in Kindergarten and Anthony was in Nursery School. Nicholas went through the rest of elementary school and three years of middle school without seeing the Broncos make the playoffs. He is now in 9th grade. Anthony was so little in 2015 that he can only remember through photos and videos. He went through all of elementary school without seeing the Broncos make the playoffs. He is now in 7th grade. Heck, my daughter, Luciana, is 7 and she wasn't even born the last time Denver made the playoffs. They became Broncos fans because of me. They really got into this team the last few years, and we watch football together every Sunday. They were sick and tired of watching this crappy franchise the last few years. They even contemplated switching teams and I couldn't blame them. I am so happy that we have this bond of watching the Broncos together and rooting for them. It is so much fun to root for a team with your kids and your family. It brings us together, and the main reason that I am happy the Broncos made the playoffs is not for me-it is for them. They got to experience it. That is what makes sports great and that is so special to me that they got to see Denver actually make the playoffs. It means the world to me and my family. I'm so happy for them, and as the clock ticked down on Sunday to the end of the game and the Broncos were about to clinch, I was able to share a hug with my boys, and that will be one of my favorite memories for a long, long time.
