The Broncos will finish with a 12-4 record.
The Broncos will win the AFC West.
The Broncos will have a first-round bye.
The Broncos will be the host of a Jan. 13 playoff game and beat the Texans.
The Broncos will defeat the Patriots in the conference championship at home Jan. 20.
The Broncos will play the Giants in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3 (4 p.m. MST).
Peyton Manning and Eli Manning will play against each other in their hometown.
The Broncos will return to New Orleans for their third Super Bowl in the Superdome — 35 years after Super Bowl XII (Dallas 27, Denver 10) and 23 years since Super Bowl XXIV (San Francisco 55, Denver 10).
The Broncos will play the Giants for the second time in the Super Bowl, 26 years after Super Bowl XXI (New York 39, Denver 20).
The Broncos will play in their seventh Super Bowl.
The Broncos will win the Super Bowl for the first time since Jan. 31, 1999, in Super Bowl XXXIII (Denver 34, Atlanta 19) and for the third time in the franchise's history. The first was Jan. 25, 1998 in San Diego (Denver 31, Green Bay 24).
John Elway will be with the Broncos for his sixth Super Bowl. Peyton Manning will play in his third Super Bowl. He will win for the second time — to equal Eli and Elway.
That mission is not impossible or unimaginable because of the second half Monday night. Just when the world was ready to write off the Broncos, they were right on.
So, the Broncos have survived running the medieval-like gantlet of Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Houston, Oakland, New England and San Diego with a 3-3 record.
They can, should and will win the next seven games — at home against the Saints, the Chargers redux and the Buccaneers, and on the road against the Bengals, the Panthers, the Chiefs and the Raiders.
Then the Broncos play at Baltimore. Because of their injuries on defense, the Ravens are vincible.
The Broncos end with the Browns and the Chiefs at home.
They likely will be favored by the bookmakers in nine of their last 10.
When the season began, the Broncos confronted the second-most difficult schedule in the NFL, based on opponents' records in 2911. The most difficult schedule belonged to the Giants (one additional victory by their foes).
Odd that those two could meet in the Super Bowl. Odd that brothers play quarterback for the teams. Odd that Giants coach Tom Coughlin once gave the Broncos and Elway their most insufferable loss in the postseason (see: Jaguars, 1996 season). Odd that even with five combined losses, the Giants and the Broncos are in first place in their divisions. Odd that John Fox once went to the Super Bowl as an assistant coach with the Giants. Not so odd that, among the top quarterbacks statistically, Peyton is second, Eli seventh. (The Broncos have played three of the other seven, and won't face another.)
The remainder of the Broncos' schedule does not look as formidable. Their opponents, including Kansas City twice, own a collective 19-37 record. Aside from the Ravens, the others are 14-36. Not one has a winning record. Only the Chargers and Bengals are at .500. Five, including the Chiefs, have just one victory each. The other, Tampa Bay, is 2-3. Five of the Broncos' future teams probably won't win on Sunday, making the overall record even uglier.
All the Broncos have to do is play on offense and defense as they did in the second half Monday.
All?
The Broncos, according to NFL game stats, rank a respectable eighth overall on offense, 11th on defense. Peyton Manning is behind only Aaron Rodgers in passing; Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are near the top of the tandem receiving leaders, and Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil are among the duet sack leaders. Willis McGahee is 14th in rushing.
T's are two troubles. Tackling and turnovers. Touchdowns are not troubling. Only one team — Mike Shanahan's Redskins — has more than the Broncos' 21 TDs.
Slow starts is a problem. Fast finishes is not.
They will need to score early and often against a team that will have its third head coach in the past 6½ months.
New Orleans is next for the Broncos.
And New Orleans is the ultimate destination for the Broncos.
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