The Denver Broncos have a young team, and for most players on this roster, last year was their first taste of being in the playoffs in the NFL. Last year’s loss to the Buffalo Bills not only raised expectations inside the building, but it’s also served as fuel for them this season.
Denver Broncos’ return to NFL Playoffs contains learning lessons
Three hours. That’s all the Denver Broncos are guaranteed when they take the field next week for the NFL Divisional Round, opponent to be determined.
Mike McGlinchey was the only player with lengthy playoff experience going into last year’s playoffs. This year, McGlinchey has Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw alongside him, and a Broncos team that is young and had their first experience of getting into the postseason last year.
For Broncos head coach Sean Payton, he highlighted how three hours require them to start fast in reference to how the team can learn from last year’s playoff loss.
“I think it’s short,” Payton said. “It’s a three-hour game. When you play the games, you want to get out, start fast. You lose a game like last year in Buffalo, and it’s cold, and you’re up there and you’re like, ‘We have to figure out how to play this game at home.’ That’s one of the things that went through my mind in Chicago in 2006. [With New Orleans] we lost the NFC Championship game. It was like -20 degrees. We were beyond that dome-tag team. We had won on the road in a number of cold weather games. Nonethless, how do you play these important ones at home, and you guys have been a part of it. Knock on wood, we’ve been able to put ourselves in a position to play these real important games in a tough environment for our opponent. It’s a quick game. It’s three hours. Ball security, all the things that we harp on can be the difference between winning and losing.”
Denver gets to play a playoff game at home, and they’ve put themselves in a position to create that hostile environment for whoever they have to face. Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II highlighted the importance of not taking their positioning for granted.
“That it’s a tournament for a reason,” Surtain said. “It’s do or die. I think last year, it was our first taste of it going into the playoffs as a Wild Card team, but now we have home-field advantage, which is different. It also reminds me to not take anything for granted, because it’s football at the end of the day. NFL football. We have to definitely prep the right way, prepare the right way and not take this thing for granted. Earlier on we talked about it, this is probably the last time that this whole team is going to be together, knowing how the league works. I feel like for this moment here, for all the marbles and stuff like that, we all have to buy in and understand that.”
Payton’s mindset and playoff experience are crucial — he’s been here before, and he knows what it takes. He’s challenged his young team over the course of the last two seasons, and there’s a level of maturity inside the locker room that is capable of managing the pressure and high expectations.
They have three games remaining, but only one of them is guaranteed. The divisional round can’t get here soon enough.
