The Broncos were done after their 1-5 start, right? That's certainly what nearly everyone thought, particularly with a 50-point drubbing mixed into those first six games.
But something has happened. Something has shifted and shifted drastically. What we are witnessing is something the league hardly ever sees and that is why it has happened just four other times in history.
If the Broncos can turn this all the way around and get into the postseason, it will be a historic feat. Though the team will have to show its mettle during a tough upcoming road trip, it can become just the fifth squad in league history to make the playoffs after such a poor start.
A look at the other times it has happened:
2020: Washington Football Team
There should be an asterisk next to this one, but it still counts. Why an asterisk? Well, Washington played in an incredibly weak NFC East division in 2020 and won the division with a 7-9 record.
The team started 1-5 with four double-digit losses but turned its season around with a 25-3 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Still, the team never got to .500 and in fact, the best record it had all season was when it was 6-7.
But the Football Team won the division and even got to host a playoff game as a result. That happened to come against the Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who defeated them 31-23. Tampa Bay eventually won that year's Super Bowl.
2018: Indianapolis Colts
The Colts started 1-5 in 2018 but then something clicked and the team went on one of the best runs in team history. They finished the season by winning nine of 10 games behind Andrew Luck, finishing with a record of 10-6.
That got them into the playoffs as a Wild Card and in the opening round, they ended up knocking off the team that won the division, the Houston Texans, 21-7. The following week, they were eliminated by the Kansas City Chiefs.
It looked like the Colts had a lot to build on but that offseason came the shocking and sudden retirement of Luck.
2015: Kansas City Chiefs
This was a surprise as the Chiefs had been a competitive team in 2013 and 2014. No one could believe they started the 2015 season 1-5, but they created a big hole to dig out of. But they did so in impressive fashion.
Starting with a 23-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7, the Chiefs won their final 10 regular-season games and went into the playoffs as a team no one wanted to face.
That was proven in the Wild Card round as they pounded the Texans, 30-0. The following week in the divisional round, they went down to Gillette Stadium and gave the New England Patriots all they wanted, eventually losing 27-20. But good things were coming to Kansas City and the team has never looked back since.
1970: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals opened the 1970 season with a win over the Oakland Raiders but then proceeded to lose five games in a row. But they dominated the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 and that got them back on the right track as they closed the regular season by winning seven games in a row.
That gave them the AFC Central division championship and a trip to the postseason. In those days, teams played just 14 regular-season games and only four teams made the playoffs.
The Bengals were shut out by the Baltimore Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs, 17-0, but they had accomplished quite the feat after such a horrid start.
They were the first team to do this and it would be 45 years before another team matched it.
What did these teams have?
These four teams had competent quarterback play. The 1970 Bengals had Virgil Carter and Alex Smith was part of both the 2015 Chiefs and the 2020 Washington team. The 2018 Colts received elite quarterback play from Luck.
But mostly, they had a solid figurehead at head coach, someone who was willing to get them through the tough times.
Paul Brown, who coached those Bengals, is one of the most recognizable names in the history of the league who is part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Andy Reid is arguably a top-five coach in league history who has won two Super Bowls. Ron Rivera took the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015 but he was also part of the famed 1985 Chicago Bears that won the Super Bowl.
The 2018 Colts were coached by Frank Reich, who was fired earlier this week by the Panthers. But he also authored the most memorable comeback in the history of the NFL when he, as a backup quarterback, brought the Buffalo Bills back from a 35-3 halftime deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers in the 1992 playoffs.
The point is, all of these men had been there before. They had the experience and they had to pull things out of the fire during their careers.
Sean Payton can be looked at in much the same way. He has a Super Bowl victory. He had to turn around a (mostly) downtrodden New Orleans Saints franchise.
That is the most important factor in the Broncos' resurgence and it will be the main reason they join this very small group, if that in fact comes to fruition.