It has been a turbulent stretch for the Denver Broncos since winning Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season. The team has missed the playoffs in each season since, gone through four different head coaches and even more starting quarterbacks.
The 2023 season is supposed to bring about massive change with Sean Payton now in the seat of head coach, tasked with restoring a winning culture to an organization that got so used to doing just that.
Looking back at each season since that huge win in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have had some exciting victories, however. That is what we will reminisce on here. Stay tuned, because the team's worst losses from each season over this same period is coming next.
Denver Broncos best win in 2016: Week 1 vs. Carolina Panthers
This was such a fun game.
After defeating the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50, a team that many thought was better than the Broncos, the 2016 season kicked off with the same two teams in a rematch.
The Broncos no longer had Peyton Manning and the Panthers still had Cam Newton, the MVP of the league the previous year. Who were the Broncos starting at quarterback? That would be seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian.
Could the Broncos do it again? The answer was yes.
Siemian did throw two interceptions and the Broncos turned the ball over three times. They also trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter but they kept Newton in check, for the most part, and C.J. Anderson scored two touchdowns in the final frame to put the Broncos ahead.
Panthers kicked Graham Gano had a chance to win it from 50 yards out with less than 10 seconds to play but he missed and the Broncos held on for the win.
The Broncos finished that season 9-7 and since the Super Bowl win, that is easily the best record the team has had. It was, however, the final year Gary Kubiak coached the team.
Denver Broncos best win in 2017: Week 2 vs. Dallas Cowboys
Vance Joseph took over as the team's head coach in 2017 and though it didn't go well for him, it sure started good. This was easily one of the more impressive victories the team has had in this time frame.
Both teams came into the game with 1-0 records. The Broncos had squeaked by the Chargers on Monday Night Football while the Cowboys had easily dispatched of the New York Giants in Week 1, 19-3.
Siemian, still the starter, played quite well in this game, throwing four touchdown passes. Two of those went to Emmanuel Sanders as the Broncos routed the Cowboys by 25 points.
With the result already determined, the Cowboys were trying to put something on the board late when Aqib Talib intercepted this Dak Prescott pass and ran it back 103 yards for a touchdown.
Denver Broncos best win in 2018: Week 7 at Arizona Cardinals
The 2018 season was a rough one for the Broncos as they finished 6-10 in Joseph's second (and final) season as the team's head coach. But in this game, they looked incredibly good.
They played the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football and the Cardinals had their first-round pick, Josh Rosen, at quarterback. The Cardinals were bad that year.
The Broncos jumped all over them in this one, starting with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown by Todd Davis on the second play of the game. Chris Harris would provide a second first-quarter pick six a few minutes later and the route was on.
Von Miller and Bradley Chubb each had two sacks in one of the few times they were actually on the field together and the Broncos pounded the Cards by 35 points. Oh, if only this kind of game would have become the norm rather than a rarity.
Denver Broncos best win in 2019: Week 14 at Houston Texans
Who can forget this game? It's as easy to remember as it is difficult to explain the result.
The Houston Texans entered this game at 8-4, the Broncos were 4-8. The Texans had their home crowd with them and all those fans did was see Drew Lock have the best game of his professional career as he easily outplayed DeShaun Watson.
Lock completed 22 of his 27 pass attempts and threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns as the Broncos beat the Texans by 14 points, but it wasn't even that close.
The Broncos led 31-3 at halftime and Lock was out there having fun, doing his best Buzz Lightyear impression after at least one of his touchdowns.
The Broncos still limped to a 7-9 finish in 2019 under head coach Vic Fangio but this game was easily the best the team looked that year.
Denver Broncos best win in 2020: Week 8 vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Throughout this playoff drought for the Broncos, they have had their issues against both the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders. But the one team in the AFC West that they have been able to compete with every year has been the Chargers.
The 2020 season was a terrible year for the Broncos as they sunk to 5-11 under Fangio, but this was certainly a fun game.
Justin Herbert threw three touchdown passes for the Chargers in this game and they led 24-10 entering the fourth quarter and had a 27-17 lead with less than eight minutes to play. That's when Drew Lock went to work.
Lock threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to DaeSean Hamilton and after the Broncos held the Chargers to a field goal, they trailed 30-24 with 2:30 left to play.
Lock took the team down the field and the Broncos were aided by a pass interference call against the Chargers on the final play of the game. With one untimed down from the 1-yard line, Lock found K.J. Hamler in the end zone and Brandon McManus tacked on the game-winning extra point to give the Broncos a very unlikely victory.
Denver Broncos best win in 2021: Week 9 at Dallas Cowboys
This one was similar to the 2019 win over Houston as the Cowboys were 6-1 entering this game and they had the Broncos at home. But the Broncos just put on a complete performance on both sides of the ball that has been so rare in the last seven seasons.
The Broncos had a ridiculous 41 minutes of time of possession in this game and led 30-0 at one point before the Cowboys tacked on two late garbage-time touchdowns that didn't impact the final outcome at all.
Teddy Bridgewater threw for 249 yards and Javonte Williams rushed for 111. Defensively, the Broncos forced two turnovers and Jonathon Cooper had two sacks as the Broncos put the Cowboys on this list for the second time.
The Broncos just play the Cowboys well. They haven't lost a game to Dallas since September 1995.
Denver Broncos best win in 2022: Week 3 vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 2022 season for the Broncos is by far the most depressing one on this list and there weren't many games to choose from as the team went 5 -12 last year. But three of those five wins were over teams that ended up in the playoffs.
Though it was early in the season, and it was quite ugly, this win over the San Francisco 49ers was the best win the team had all season.
Brandon McManus kicked a 55-yard field goal and Melvin Gordon scored a 1-yard touchdown with just over four minutes to play but the key play in the game was the Broncos getting two points for a safety when 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo stepped out of the back of his own end zone.
Both offenses were pretty anemic in this game, which was played on Sunday Night Football, but those two points provided the difference.
The Broncos went to 2-1 following the game and the Niners dropped to 1-2. The two teams went in vastly different directions after that.