ENGLEWOOD, Colo. –The time and place of the Broncos' first playoff game is set – the opponent, however, is not.
Sunday, January 12 at 2:40 p.m. MST at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, the Broncos will play either the Chargers, Chiefs or Colts. All three are teams the Broncos have played this season.
Of course, the Broncos played both AFC West teams twice, sweeping Kansas City and splitting the games with San Diego. The Broncos lost in Indianapolis 39-33 in Week 7.
"Two of the three have beaten us this season, we know that much," Head Coach John Fox said Monday. "They all present problems. As I mentioned earlier, when you get in the playoffs, they all present problems. That's typically why you have playoffs. So we'll just wait and see.
"We'll do some work on all of the potential opponents. We know it's going to be one of the three, we just don't know which one. We'll prepare this week as such."
When asked which of the three would be the toughest to prepare for, Fox answered "whoever we get."
The Chargers have a first-round matchup with the AFC North-champion Bengals in Cincinnati and if the Chargers win they will advance to play the Broncos, regardless of the other first-round AFC game.
If the Bengals beat the Chargers, the Broncos will play the winner of the Kansas City-Indianapolis game, which will be played in Indianapolis on Saturday.
The familiarity with the potential opponents could be beneficial as the Broncos prepare, but cornerback Chris Harris Jr. noted that's a two-way street.
"I would say it does make it a lot easier that we've played these teams before, but they know us as well, so it can be hard because they know what we do and they know what type of DBs we have and stuff like that," Harris Jr. said. "I think playing them and just having that familiarity of what type of routes and stuff the offense does makes it a lot easier, but they know what we do, too, so it can be harder, too."
But familiar or not, that won't change the way the Broncos prepare for their next game.
Like each week so far this season, the goal remains to continue to improve.
"You can't really over-prepare," tight end Jacob Tamme said. "We're going to prepare like we always do once we get that team. But really, the focus right now is on this week and just getting better this week. We have some practices. We're going to have some time to get a little bit of a mental break. But when we're out here on the practice field, we're going to get better.
"That is what we're talking about right now and that is what we need to go out there and do."
