Had Bo Nix not fatefully broken his ankle against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, the Denver Broncos may very well be the defending Super Bowl champions right now. And if you find yourself speaking with someone who won't at least concede that point, maybe find a new person to talk football with.
Jarrett Stidham wasn't ready for the spotlight of the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, nor ready for the elements in a January football game at a mile above sea level. And the Broncos still almost pulled off the impossible without their franchise quarterback.
To make matters worse, the Patriots laid an egg on Super Bowl Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, proving once again that the Broncos would have been a more worthy adversary in the NFL's biggest game of the year. The latest intel from the Seahawks' Super Bowl locker room proves this.
Denver Broncos fans will both love and hate reported sentiment from Seahawks after Super Bowl
While discussing how the Myles Garrett trade could affect the Las Vegas Raiders and star defensive end Maxx Crosby on the Just Win Podcast, The Athletic's Ted Nguyen, a national NFL reporter, snuck in this tidbit about what transpired in the Seattle locker room post-win over the Patriots.
“I was in that Seattle locker room after they won the Super Bowl, and a lot of their players were like, 'The last week was our real -- that was the real Super Bowl. The NFC Championship was the real Super Bowl.' That's how they felt about the Rams.”
Just as Broncos Country suspected, the Seahawks rolled New England and came out of the game feeling like they weren't even appropriately challenged. Both the team and fanbase in Denver know that Seattle wouldn't have felt this way had they played a healthy Broncos team.
Sure, the Seahawks looked like a buzzsaw, and the last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl, it didn't go well for the Orange and Blue. But you'd be hard-pressed to find an argument rooted in reality that suggests Denver wouldn't have played Seattle closer with the championship on the line.
At the end of the day, this intel just tortures the Broncos and their fans more. Injuries are a part of the game, sure, but what an ill-fated time for a major one to occur. Losing a starting quarterback may be a more drastic change than any other loss in sports, and Denver truly had the worst luck possible.
But Sean Payton's squad is locked and loaded again ahead of the 2026 NFL season, and they'll get a chance to face off against both the Rams and the Seahawks. Winning those games would be even further vindication that, in a not-so-alternate reality, the Broncos could have a Super Bowl ring.
Nobody is surprised that Seattle reportedly felt this way, and perhaps the NFC coming out victorious makes things better in a way. But the only cure for this missed opportunity will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next February, and the Broncos now have more proof that they were inches away.
Add us as a preferred source on Google