DENVER — It doesn't get much better than this.
Win and in. Against the Chiefs, no less.
"To play in this stadium, in a meaningful game at home?" Head Coach Sean Payton said Friday. "Shoot, I'm getting excited now talking about it."
On one final regular-season afternoon, the Broncos will look to snap a two-game skid and clinch their trip to the postseason with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. And, in the process, they'll aim to ensure the 2024 campaign remains a memorable season long after it's over.
"Every year you take a team photo, and today they handed them out," Payton said Friday. "I've been places where you never knew where the team photo went. I asked 'PK' [Assistant to the Head Coach Paul Kelly], I said, 'Paul, my first year of playing, I was eight years old. Tell me how many team photos I'm in.' He comes back [and says], 'This is your 52nd.' Just part of a football team. I would say my mom kept scrapbooks, but I know where about five are.
"I told these guys today, 'Make sure this is one we know where this photo is.' It's been a tight-knit team. We've hit adversity like every team during the stretch of the season. We've had success. Here it is. Let's make sure this is a photo that we look back on and we know where that's at."
And while the Chiefs plan to rest a handful of starters in Sunday's game, Payton has emphasized the key to this Week 18 matchup rests with the Broncos holding an internal focus. For players around the locker room, that means finding a way to play their best football and to get to their 10th win of the season.
"Our goal the past couple weeks is 'Get to 10,' and we have another opportunity to do that," quarterback Bo Nix said Wednesday. "... I believe pressure is a privilege, and I was taught that a long time ago. There's no pressure without opportunity. So, right now, that means we've got a great opportunity to go do something special."
With that would come the Broncos' first postseason appearance since 2015 and a trip to face the Bills in the wild-card round.
"We've got to win the game," wide receiver Courtland Sutton said Wednesday. "Simple. There's nothing else that goes into it. People say, 'It's never black and white.' It's black and white. We've got to win the game. And that's as simple as it gets."
CAN BO NIX ADD TO AN IMPRESSIVE ROOKIE CAMPAIGN?
In a season full of strong performances, Bo Nix will look to deliver another memorable outing in his final home start of the season.
"He's constantly showed up when we needed a big drive or something at the end of the half or a play," Payton said Wednesday. "If you really track his career, it's littered with those moments."
Nix is currently tied with Jayden Daniels for the most passing touchdowns by a rookie this season, and he recently became just the third rookie quarterback in NFL history to post at least 3,000 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and 300 rushing yards.
If Nix can pass for 200 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, he would have the most such performances by a rookie since at least 1950.
Led by Nix, the Broncos have posted the 10th-ranked scoring offense through 17 weeks — and Nix and Co. could find more success in their regular-season finale.
The Broncos have allowed the third-fewest sacks of any team this season, and Denver is 7-0 when Nix is sacked no more than once in a game. With Chiefs defenders Nick Bolton, George Karlaftis, Drue Tranquill and Chris Jones not expected to play, that could help Nix remain clean from pressure and lead the offense to scoring drives.
Denver has scored at least 24 points in each of its last six games, and the Broncos have crossed the 30-point threshold on five occasions this season. If Nix can help the Broncos put points on the board early, it could set the tone in a critical matchup.
CAN COURTLAND SUTTON AND MARVIN MIMS JR. TAKE ADVANTAGE?
Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr. combined for 13 catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns in Week 17 against the Bengals, and the Broncos' leading receivers could make another big impact on Sunday.
Kansas City ruled out cornerback Jaylen Watson — who remains on injured reserve — while listing starting cornerback Trent McDuffie and starting safety Justin Reid as doubtful for the game.
Sutton sits just 17 yards away from his second 1,000-yard season as a pro, and the Broncos would surely benefit from him having a standout afternoon. He has 11 games with at least 50 receiving yards this season, and only Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, Malik Nabers, Drake London and CeeDee Lamb have more such games this year.
Mims, meanwhile, has lined up all over the field for the Broncos — and made a Pro Bowl-worthy impact as a returner as well. If Mims can follow up the best performance of his career with another strong showing on Sunday, Denver could help use chunk plays to put away the Chiefs.
"At first, they kind of started me off little by little with the running back stuff and then now it's growing as the season goes along," Mims said Thursday. "Honestly, it's just memorization for the most part. We go out here on the practice field and they see things they like [as well as] they see things they don't like. Things change over time, but at the end of the day, it's just memorization [with] receiver, running back and return stuff. It's really just being a playmaker and making plays [in] a certain situation. It's never just picture perfect. At the end of the day, you just have to take what's there."
If Sutton and Mims can grab hold of those opportunities, Denver could be poised to find offensive success.
WILL DENVER'S PRO BOWL DEFENDERS MAKE IMPACT PLAYS?
While the Chiefs are expected to be without offensive playmakers like Patrick Mahomes, Isiah Pacheco, Mecole Hartman, Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt, Kansas City are still expected to have talented players out on the field on Sunday.
Wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster were not among the players listed on the Chiefs' final injury report, nor were starting offensive linemen D.J. Humphries, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith.
And at quarterback, former second-overall pick Carson Wentz has found success in this type of situation before. In his lone start of 2023, Wentz completed 17-of-24 passes for 163 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a 99.8 passer rating while also rushing 17 times for 56 yards and a touchdown in a win.
"He's in this league for a reason," Payton said Wednesday. "He's big, and he's strong. He was a first-round draft pick. … It's the player, but it's also everything around it and understanding what they're trying to do."
Cornerback Pat Surtain II and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto — both of whom were named Pro Bowlers this week — will be among the Broncos defenders looking to slow down Wentz and Co. Denver's defense has given up at least 30 points in four consecutive games, but the unit has also made game-changing plays. Bonitto has a pair of defensive touchdowns to go with his 11.5 sacks, while Surtain continues to lock down the opposing top receiver each week. Surtain also recorded a forced fumble and fumble recovery that set the Broncos up with a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead against the Bengals.
"When you look at the receivers he's defended and the impact he's had for us, and how we've played defensively and all those other things, it's an easy case to make," said Payton when asked about Surtain's Defensive Player of the Year candidacy. "… Certainly, he's deserving of that type of award. He's that good."
And while defensive lineman Zach Allen did not earn a trip to the Pro Bowl, he could be another defender that could help the Broncos slow Kansas City on Sunday. Allen leads the NFL with 39 quarterback hits and could join J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa and Aaron Donald as the only players with 40 quarterback hits since 2006. Both Allen (8.5 sacks) and Jonathan Cooper (9.5 sacks) are also within striking distance of the first double-digit sack campaigns of their careers.
If the Broncos can pressure Wentz while Surtain and the secondary provide tight coverage, it could help Denver's defense bounce back in a big way.
