To some, the Denver Broncos' nine-game winning streak has been strictly luck. To others, the Broncos have proven a championship mettle and have found ways to win games they simply couldn't a season ago.
Anytime you are winning a lot of games in the NFL, you're going to have doubters. That's just what people do, whether it's fans or media. The reality is, you're never going to have anyone unanimously sharing a perspective, but Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said a hard truth that the team's detractors really need to hear.
Nix spoke to the media this week and dropped a phenomenal quote that keeps everything in perspective.
Bo Nix says the "worst" thing you can let others do is to tear down a 10-2 record
The worst thing you can do is let other people tear down a 10-2 record, whether it’s saying, ‘You don’t play anybody,’ or, ‘You’re just relying on defense.’ Whatever negative somebody’s going to put on a positive, it’s always going to happen. We don’t really worry about it. We’re just excited. We know we’ve come a long way...
...Everybody can talk about a 10-2 record and make excuses of why we have it, but you still have to win games. You’re still playing NFL teams who play their players just as much as we’re paid. I think it’s important to not lose track of that. It’s a good perspective to have that no matter what’s going on, you’ve worked hard, and you’ve gotten yourself to a 10-2 record. We believe we could’ve been even better.
- Bo Nix (via Broncos PR)
This is such an important perspective from Nix, and something that a lot of folks who care more about style points and statistics won't understand. Winning is the bottom line in the NFL, and the Broncos are doing what most teams in the NFL are not.
Before the start of Week 14 action, the Broncos are one of just two teams in the league with 10 or more wins. The other one is the New England Patriots, who also happen to be standing in the Broncos' way for the top seed in the AFC With 11 wins right now.
There's no doubt that the Broncos' locker room hears some of the noise out there from the detractors, but there are also a lot of people who believe in this Broncos team as well. One of the biggest areas the Broncos struggled in 2024 was finishing one-score games, or finding ways to win them at all.
They were 1-6 last year in one-score games, and are 8-0 in such games this season. Do you want to be playing nail-biters every single week? Maybe for the sake of everyone out there growing premature gray hairs, it would be nice for the Broncos to create some more separation. But ultimately, these close wins in dramatic fashion have helped define the identity of this team.
The Broncos just find a way.
There is no game the Broncos have been out of, even when they were down 26-7 in the fourth quarter of a game against the New York Giants.
There are a million different ways this season could have gone, but the team is 10-2 with a real shot to win the AFC West and earn the #1 seed in the AFC. There's no media member or fake analyst out there who is going to diminish that for this locker room.