With the 2024 NFL Season now officially in the books, what will the Denver Broncos have to do to appear in Super Bowl 60? Just because this team wasn't good for a good stretch of time, does not mean they can't get back to the mountaintop.
We saw a ton of progress in the 2024 NFL Season; the Broncos won 10 games and made the playoffs, and both things happened for the first time since the 2015 NFL Season. The way things are trending would indicate that Denver could jump into that contender tier in 2025.
And heck, can we take it a step further and suggest that the Broncos can play in Super Bowl 60?
Let's look at three reasons why they can.
3 reasons why the Denver Broncos can play in Super Bowl 60 in 2025
Year two jump for Bo Nix can be big enough
We have seen some QBs make huge year two leaps. Joe Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second year in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes had the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game in his second year, and Lamar Jackson won the MVP in year two as well.
Bo Nix clearly belongs in this league, and it's also clear that a ton of people were just wrong about him in the pre-draft process. There truly is nothing stopping Nix from putting the league on notice in 2025. The team has the right structure in place and every single reason to surround Nix with as many weapons as possible.
The Denver Broncos do indeed have a franchise quarterback on their hands who has the ability and ceiling to make a massive year two leap.
Sean Payton has done this before
Sean Payton clearly still knows what he is doing. Many people did try to claim that Payton was over the hump and was succeeding primarily because of Drew Brees. Well, people who knew what they were seeing knew that was a load of crap, and here we are after Payton led the team to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth.
He's been there and done that before. He's also probably more motivated than ever to take the Broncos into that next tier of teams. The first year of his tenure was clearly him trying to make it work with Russell Wilson. Year two, we saw more of Sean Payton's mark being left on the team, and now as we approach year three, it is clear more of 'his' team at this point.
Sean Payton always coaches like he's got something to prove to the rest of the league. I anticipate we will see a hugely motivated coach and roster in 2025 looking to further prove more eople wrong.
Broncos are strongest where it matters
The trenches.
The Denver Broncos are strongest in the trenches. Now yes, they could probably seek to find an upgrade at center and could use a more stout starting defensive tackle over DJ Jones, but the team is strongest where it matters the most, obviously after the quarterback.
George Paton and Sean Payton have done a masterful job at shoring up the trenches. Their expertise is all over the defensive front in Denver. And with how much they have invested into the unit over the last few seasons, there is every single reason to believe that they will continue to do this in 2025 and beyond.