The Denver Broncos have already been the underdogs on their own home field this season, counted out plenty of times, and disrespected on a national level. They've won 14 games and earned the #1 seed, so they don't really care what anyone thinks about them. They are content to just keep winning.
But now that the regular season is over and the playoffs are getting started, the Broncos have every right to take the disrespect coming their way personal. Winning in the postseason is already enough of a motivator, but added bulletin board material doesn't hurt, either.
After the Broncos' 19-3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, Chargers safety Tony Jefferson started going off on his way to the locker room. His tirade on the way out of the stadium should give the Broncos some perfect bulletin board material going into the playoffs.
Chargers safety Tony Jefferson said the Broncos "suck" after Denver's Week 18 win
"They suck, bro. I don't care. I have no respect for them. I don't like nobody over there."
- Chargers safety Tony Jefferson
According to Tony Jefferson, the Broncos "suck" and he has no respect for them.
Final Chargers 3, Broncos 19
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) January 5, 2026
Chargers are the seven seed and will play New England next week. With a win they’d be back in Denver in two weeks.
And a message from Tony Jefferson 👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/SitCzOv2Gw
On the one hand, if you're the Chargers, you love this kind of competitive fire from Jefferson, who was one of the team's starters to play in Sunday's matchup while many others were held out. That type of mentality from Jefferson is the type of alpha mentality that is required from a dominating defense. Broncos fans should know, because that Super Bowl 50 team was full of guys who talked like this, maybe not all the time, but definitely some of the time.
On the other hand, this is a really ill-advised thing for Jefferson to say after a game and put on the record. The Broncos are hosting throughout the playoffs right now, while the Chargers are entering the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the AFC. They earned themselves a road trip to face off against the Patriots in the Wild Card round, and it already seems like they're looking past that matchup.
In this clip, you can clearly hear one of the Chargers players behind Jefferson say that they'll be back in two weeks, which indicates that they are already assuming a victory against the Patriots.
It's just not a good look for these guys at all, even if it does exude the type of confidence they're going to have to have throughout the playoffs. Nobody blames the Chargers for wanting another shot at the Broncos. They lost the division despite being undefeated in AFC West play going into Week 18. It's not the Broncos' fault that the Chargers couldn't take care of business to win the division and get home field for themselves.
But the Chargers feel like they own the Broncos. And their defense did give the Broncos fits on Sunday, even without many starters in the lineup. They clearly feel like they can beat the Broncos when everyone is out there, and Jefferson is making that abundantly clear, in a disrespectful way.
Hopefully, the Broncos take it personal.