ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos have worked toward this moment.
Holding a 5-3 record and the fifth seed in the AFC, Denver is poised to play back-to-back road games against the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. And in tackle Mike McGlinchey's eyes, the matchups represent a big opportunity for the Broncos.
"Certainly those two teams have been at the top of the AFC and the conference for a while, and certainly there's no exception this year," McGlinchey said Monday. "We've been building to games like this. We want to play in big games. We want to play in games that matter. We want to play in games that have a great effect on the big picture of how the postseason works out. I think it's a great opportunity for us to show what we're capable of on a big stage and against a great opponent, and we're going to try to keep improving week to week like we always do and take it one game at a time."
The Ravens and Chiefs feature quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, respectively, that have won four of the last six Most Valuable Player awards. The two teams faced off in last year's AFC Championship Game, with the Chiefs later earning a second consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Either the Ravens or the Chiefs have earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC in five of the last six years.
And while McGlinchey said he wouldn't call the game "a measuring stick," he does recognize the chance it provides Denver.
"It's an opportunity to really get out there and compete against two great football teams, starting with Baltimore," McGlinchey said.
It's also a chance for the Broncos to build on their 5-3 start to the season and reach their internal expectations. Head Coach Sean Payton said Monday that Denver's players must have higher expectations than his own, and McGlinchey said the Broncos are focused on achieving the franchise's first playoff berth since 2015.
"Obviously, it's to get to the playoffs and have a chance to get to the Super Bowl," McGlinchey said of the team's expectations. "If you are playing for anything else, you're probably not doing a great job at it. The goal for this team and what we're capable of is definitely [the] postseason, and that's what we're going to try and strive for. And once we get there, you play each game one game at a time and see what happens. I think if you're playing for anything else, then you're playing for the wrong reasons."
Denver's Week 9 matchup in Baltimore features a pair of teams currently in the playoff field — and it's a game the Broncos have built toward.
EXPECTING IMPROVEMENT
As the Broncos approach Week 9, Payton said Monday he isn't looking for perfection. He and the Broncos, though, are expecting improvement.
A day after Denver's 28-14 win over the Carolina Panthers, Payton reemphasized the Broncos' need to clean up mistakes that they won in spite of in Week 8.
"We did a number of things that were really good," Payton said Monday. "Most importantly, we got the win.
"… Here's the thing: We can't turn the ball over the way we did offensively. We can't fumble on the first drive, [and] we can't fumble later in the game. … The turnovers bothered me. The late drive and how we played defensively bothered me."
If the Broncos don't find a way to improve, Payton said, they'll be cleaning out their lockers at the end of the season sooner than they want.
"It's not the perfect game we're searching for, but it's the game that we know when played with bigger stakes against a better team, it'll cost you," Payton said.
Added McGlinchey: "We have an opportunity here with the success that we've had over the last five or six weeks where we're in position to play in some bigger games, and we're going to need to be better than we were yesterday and where it's going to matter a little bit more. Each turnover's going to matter a little bit more or each missed assignment is going to matter a little bit more. We have to take that next step in order to be one of the teams that's playing in the postseason."
Payton said he sees a "more confident team today in October than we were when we started the season," but his overarching message was there are still areas where Denver must be better.
"As a team, we need to continue to grow," Payton said. "The peloton doesn't have room to wait for the slackers. It's like, 'Let's go.'"
