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NFL SUNDAY

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10 MOMENTS

How the Broncos made the playoffs a reality A look at 10 key moments that defined Denver’s run to the playoffs for the first time since 2015. PAGE 6-7L

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AFC Wild Card Broncos at Bills >> 11 a.m. Sunday, KCNC-4

TRANSFORMATION

AARON ONTIVEROZ — THE DENVER POST

Denver’s Brandon Jones celebrates intercepting a pass by the Raiders’ Gardner Minshew during the Broncos’ 29-19 win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Nov. 24.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix walks on the field after a 38-0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High on Jan. 5.

HELEN H. RICHARDSON — THE DENVER POST

RJ SANGOSTI — THE DENVER POST

Broncos head coach Sean Payton, center, stands between quarterbacks Russell Wilson, left, and Jarrett Stidham, right, before the game in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2024.

Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton is introduced before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High on Jan. 5.

From Nix to a defensive overhaul, Denver’s surge to postseason powered by offseason moves By Parker Gabriel pgabriel@denverpost.com

Sean Payton essentially chalked the offensive stats up to garbage time. They counted in the fourth quarter of a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, sure. But did they mean anything? The Broncos coach scoffed at the notion that night at Empower Field. “Let’s be honest: It picked up when we started going up-tempo. And when you’re behind, then you’re getting an entirely different coverage look,” Payton said minutes after his team fell to 3-3.

The Broncos had been shut out into the fourth quarter before turning a 23-0 deficit into a 23-16 final count. Bo Nix entered the fourth quarter 4-of-14 passing for 27 yards, a sack and a bad first-quarter interception — reminiscent of the minus-7 he had in the first half two weeks earlier at the New York Jets — and had no answers for the Chargers’ defense. If Payton discounted the frantic final frame, though, his 29-year-old quarterbacks coach politely disagreed. In fact, Davis Webb now points to it as the moment he knew Nix had the goods to lead the Broncos on a run.

Since the day Nix was drafted, Webb has been his NFL sherpa. They’re together every day on the field and in the meeting room. When they’re not in one of those two spots, they’re texting ideas and questions, plans and plays, corrections and encouragement, regardless of the hour. Webb’s been confident in Nix from the start and programmed his whole coaching arsenal specifically for the rookie. In this moment, though, the young coach was frustrated. “We were down and we were not moving it,” Webb recalled this week. “I think I said something to him and it probably

wasn’t very nice.” Nix didn’t pout or shout back. He made his point on the field instead. “He made probably five plays in one quarter alone that I only know of two other people who could have done that,” said Webb, who backed up Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech and then Eli Manning and Josh Allen in the NFL. “I knew it, right then and there. … “And then he got on a little streak.” Indeed he did, and so did his team. Starting with that fourth quarter, Nix played Denver’s final 11-plus games to a BRONCOS » PAGE 9

“They did an awesome job. I don’t know what else to say about it. They did a great job going out and getting the guys that we exactly needed.” — Safety P.J. Locke on the Denver front office

In Walton-Penner ownership group, Broncos have found their next Bowlen

AARON ONTIVEROZ — THE DENVER POST

Broncos owners Carrie Walton-Penner and Greg Penner walk the sideline before a game against the Saints in New Orleans on Oct. 17.

Sean Payton stood in Carrie Walton Penner, the center of the locker Condoleezza Rice and room, making eye conGreg Penner. tact with the circle of There were anecdotes players around him. It for each. Rob, Payton told was quiet as he spoke, the players, is a walking Troy other than a few, “Yes reminder that the grass Renck sirs.” Just nods and fois not greener elsewhere, cused eyes. that he has created the Payton has made this best environment in pro speech hundreds of times, but sports. Payton reminded the this one carried special meanroom of how Carrie helps curing. It represented his first play- rent players in the community off berth with the Broncos, and and has strengthened the orgahe wasn’t about to miss. nization’s bond with its alumni. He cut through the smoke, Condoleezza, he revealed, left figurative and literal, by present- him sleepless the night before ing four game balls that help ex- his initial interview with the plain why the Broncos have a Broncos. He called Peyton Mangame this Sunday in Buffalo. ning for advice. Her football One by one, Payton thanked knowledge is that respected. franchise owners Rob Walton, And he finished with Greg, the

team’s operating CEO, crediting his insatiable interest, business acumen and vision for creating this moment. “I wasn’t choosing to be in the same division as Patrick Mahomes,” Payton said. “I was choosing people and tradition.” This scene illustrated how effective the Walton-Penner ownership group has been, forming a strong partnership with Payton and general manager George Paton. When fellow NFL owners approved the richest purchase of a team in North American sports history, on Aug. 9, 2022, at the J.W. Marriott in Minneapolis, it cleared the way for a new era for the Broncos. RENCK » PAGE 8