After another shaky start to a regular season under Sean Payton, a switch flipped. The team had lost two games in a row on last-second field goals, and it really felt like nothing was going to change. Somehow, though, the Denver Broncos managed to win 11 games in a row and ascend to the top of the NFL world.
The team became elite in one-score games and continually made plays when the stakes got higher. Bo Nix had a much more comfortable feel of the offense and was more consistent week to week than he was in 2024. Overall, the growth from Nix was obvious, and the team doing a total 180 in one-score games from 2024 was another noticeable improvement.
Not only that, but the team won four more games than they did last year and went from being the seventh seed in the playoffs to the first seed. With how unexepectedly good Denver was in 2024, the team is a year ahead in that regard. The NFL simply does not see rookie QBs play as well as Bo Nix did, so when you think about where this team is now, the 2025 season is already a success.
The Denver Broncos have already made a ton of strides in the 2025 season
I am not trying to back-track here and now argue that it's OK if Denver loses to Buffalo on Saturday - that isn't my argument. What I am saying, though, is that this team has made several improvements from 2024, and, for a third year in a row, have gotten better.
This team went from being 1-5 to start 2023 and not having a QB set in stone, to a 14-3 team in 2025 and atop the AFC. Furthermore, the team will finally see Russell Wilson's contract totally off the books after this year, so the cap situation gets a lot healthier.
The Broncos are also one round deeper into the playoffs this year than they were in 2024, so that has to be taken into consideration. The franchise continues to go in the right direction thanks to the leadership of Sean Payton and George Paton, the two men that have built this team. Denver losing on Saturday would be heartbreaking, but that potential loss can't take away from all that this team has done better this year from 2024.
With all that's been accomplished this year, it's hard to not be super optimistic about an even better season in 2026.