Good morning, Broncos Country!
Few weekends in sports are better than Wild Card Weekend.
What makes this jam-packed football weekend even better is when the team you root for has a bye. Such is the case for the Denver Broncos. In addition to the bye, the Broncos have home-field advantage.
This is the first time in a decade that Denver has had the bye and the chance to host playoff games. This is where the experience of Sean Payton and the veterans in the locker room can be beneficial.
“It’s a positive because they understand the journey it takes,” Payton said to the media on Friday. “It’s not easy. Nothing’s given or taken for granted. You know what I mean? These (No.) 1 seeds aren’t like car wash coupons. They’re hard. Those guys just in their day-to-day interactions with players that come from teams that have won. That experience helps.”
While the Broncos enjoy the rest and the chance to watch the AFC games today, preparation remains just as important. Not losing sight of getting better each week to put the team in the best opportunity to have success, regardless of the team they play in the divisional round next weekend.
That’s where veteran leaders like Greenlaw, Talonoa Hufanga, Mike McGlinchey, and so on are so valuable.
“I think the only advantage it really gives you is understanding what the moment feels like because everything else is just football,” McGlinchey said to the media. “The hardest part, I think, for players is to separate how to do the job when things matter the most. I think that’s what separates great from good, and great from the best ever. Those who can understand that each play has its own life, has its own weight to it, and all you have to do is be 1/11th of the operation that’s on the field at that time.
“You have to do your job. You don’t have to do anything more, and you can’t do anything less. So it’s just a matter of understanding what the moment feels like because it does feel huge. I’ve stood on the field for a Super Bowl, and it’s like a 45-minute pregame ceremony, and you’re like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ Then all of a sudden the ball’s snapped, and it doesn’t change the way I have to block the opponent. So it’s a matter of focusing on what really matters to you, and what matters to you the most is what helps you do your job.”
As for what the Broncos can learn from the playoff flogging to the Buffalo Bills last year:
“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. Nonetheless, 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.”
The fact that Denver is in this position is remarkable. It’s been 10 years since the Broncos were in this position. It’s not lost on them the opportunity they now have.
“That it’s a tournament for a reason,” Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II said to the media. “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.”
