Everything the Denver Broncos have worked for is now in front of them. They have conquered the regular season and have the best possible position heading into the NFL postseason.
Denver, CO
Recap: Denver Nuggets pull away from Detroit Pistons in second half, win 131-114 – Denver Stiffs
The Denver Nuggets weren’t about to let the Detroit Pistons find any sort of feel good stories against them. Detroit was able to keep with Denver for a half but Jamal Murray was scoring with ease while Nikola Jokic issued masterclass on passing. Meanwhile the Pistons got hit with yet another injury as star Cade Cunningham was unable to finish the game. The differences between the team with the worst record in the league and the team that is the defending champs became clearer and clearer as the game went on and by the time it was over it was a full on blowout. Denver wins going away, 131-114
The Nuggets started off slow from the field. Murray was firing away and got a couple shots to go to keep the game tied. The Nuggets defense challenged every Pistons shot at the rim and kept Denver in the lead but they weren’t able to string together enough makes to grow it. Detroit kept shooting from three and had some success there to also help keep the game tight. As the quarter progressed it stayed back and forth with the Nuggets still clinging to a small lead. The benches checked in with the Nuggets up a couple possessions. Murray came back in to stagger with the reserve group and gave them some offense but the Pistons continued to be pesky with Kevin Knox hitting a couple shots. After one quarter Denver was up 31-29.
Up and under pic.twitter.com/ivGCNjTVQk
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 8, 2024
Murray opened the second quarter like he did the first, firing away and hitting shots. Otherwise though there wasn’t a ton of offense from the reserve group. Meanwhile the Pistons started to get things rolling. They went on a 13-2 run to take the lead and make Michael Malone take a timeout. After that Reggie Jackson had back to back nice feeds for his teammates to tie the game and then lobbed a pass up to DeAndre Jordan that he finished like it was 2015 DeAndre to take back the lead. Detroit pushed right back and probably would have got the lead back if they’d stop stepping out of bounds on the corners. Murray stayed cooking for the Nuggets while Jokic served as the distributor but the Pistons continued to be able to match Denver’s offensive output. That was saying something because Murray could not miss in the second quarter. The Nuggets closed the quarter strong and were finally able to gain a little separation. The half ended with Denver up 65-57 and Murray with 25 points.
*Flashbacks* https://t.co/kGEQeAxseE pic.twitter.com/JglROrnCdc
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 8, 2024
The second half opened with Cunningham not in the lineup for Detroit. Murray continued to be aggressive for the Nuggets and they started to finally grow their lead into double digits. Unfortunately they took their foot off the gas a bit and Detroit pushed the lead back down to eleven which had Malone taking an angry timeout. Out of the TO Murray knocked down a step back three to put him past the thirty point mark with more than eight minutes still left in the third quarter. The Nuggets got a little sloppy with the ball but the talent difference between the two squads was starting to become apparent and the lead stayed north of ten. Jokic was headed towards a career high assists (he fell two short) and picked apart the defense while the bench was checking in. The only thing that slowed him down was the referees getting their feelings hurt that they were missing calls so they called a flopping technical on him (absolutely was not a flop) and then gave him his fourth foul because he apparently didn’t let James Wiseman push him hard enough. Watson got it going with the quarter winding down as the game was quickly turning into a blow out. Jackson hit Watson with a behind the back pass for a breakaway jam to put the exclamation point on a great quarter for Denver. The Nuggets finished the third up 108-85.
How we got here https://t.co/S6loZhtb6T pic.twitter.com/ruhC4iUP7U
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 8, 2024
Watson continued to give strong minutes to open the fourth, he had his whole game working from the driving to the shooting to the defensive menacing. The Nuggets kept shooting well and the lead kept growing. It started too look like Jokic’s services would not be needed in the fourth quarter. Just when Murray checked out though the Pistons went on a mini-run and pulled the lead back down to seventeen provoking a Denver timeout. The teams were trading baskets from there as the quarter progressed past the halfway mark. With just over four minutes to go Malone pulled the last of the starters off the floor with the Nuggets up twenty. The deep bench fully checked in at the two and a half minute mark and they were predictably sloppy which made this game a nail biter for those who took the Nuggets -16.5. Otherwise it was a laugher and even the Nuggets betting faithful was rewarded when Isaiah Liver missed a three with twenty seconds to go which kept a seventeen point Denver lead intact. Nuggets win easily 131-114.
Couple tough buckets from Jamal
37 PTS / 5 REB / 4 AST / 1 BLK / 1 STL pic.twitter.com/0IIozqXpLQ
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 8, 2024
Every team in the NFL has injuries every season. It is part of the game and to be expected.
In having a dominant regular season that secured the #1 seed in the playoffs, the Broncos have allowed themselves to get healthy by and large at the right time.
The one glaring link missing is going to be Brandon Jones, who is going to be missed on defense. He’s a versatile, physical safety who has played exceptionally well in the Broncos’ defense.
But getting back inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw is a big deal. He’s an enforcer over the middle and is capable of covering backs and tight ends in the passing game (which is what the Bills love to target).
With Brandon Jones out, the news of P.J. Locke returning is welcome news. The Broncos are thin at safety, and he’s been the #1 backup for the safety group all season long. Hopefully, he’s learned from last year’s playoff game and won’t let Josh Allen pick on him as he did in last year’s playoff game.
Another key player getting healthy is Jonathan Franklin-Myers, who is an absolute beast of an interior lineman and a pass-rushing nightmare. With the style of pass rush that the Broncos employ on mobile quarterbacks, Franklin-Myers and compatriot Jared Allen could have big games up front.
At the end of the day, the Broncos have no excuses for this game. They are healthy, prepared, and playing at home. Now they just need to go out there and execute on Saturday.
Denver, CO
‘I can only imagine what it’s going to be like’: Broncos eager to play in front of home crowd as postseason football returns to Mile High City
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — By the time Bills quarterback Josh Allen steps to the line of scrimmage, that’s already too late.
The noise — the deafening roar of more than 76,000 fans at Empower Field at Mile High — must start earlier.
The yells, the stomps, the claps and the screams, as Head Coach Sean Payton emphasized Tuesday ahead of the Broncos’ first home playoff game in a decade, must start when Allen and the Buffalo Bills enter the huddle.
In the leadup to Denver’s playoff opener, Payton has touched on the importance of the noise coming earlier. He’s pointed to the difficulty of the quarterback communicating the play call in the huddle — and how the communication breakdowns could provide an advantage for Denver’s defense.
“There’s a stress that goes with that, too,” Payton said in mid-December. “That’s stressful. Creating that stress is a big advantage.”
Payton pointed to Empower Field at Mile High as one of just a handful of stadiums in the league with a potential to be truly deafening, and he called for that level of noise again when Denver hosts the Bills. The request, too, is simple enough. In 10-second bursts, when the Bills are in the huddle and as they line up to snap the ball, the noise should boom through the stadium. And then again. And then again. And again, for each of the Bills’ offensive snaps.
As Denver looks to book a trip to the AFC Championship Game, Payton knows that would be “a huge advantage” for the Broncos.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who is poised to play in his first career home playoff game, said he is eager to see how Broncos Country shows up for a long-awaited postseason matchup.
“I’ve been saying since I got here that we needed to get a home playoff game back in the city,” Sutton said. “The way that the fans have been showing up, Broncos Country has been bumping.
“… I can only imagine what it’s going to be like, first [postseason] home game since 2015. It’s well overdue, and I’m excited to see Broncos Country show up and show out.”
Cornerback Pat Surtain II said he’s also ready for a raucous environment that could help push the Broncos to a win.
“I know the atmosphere is going to be crazy,” Surtain said. “The stadium is going to be rocking at [Empower Field at] Mile High, and I’m looking forward to it. … I can already feel the magnitude of it and how electric that stadium is going to be. It’s going to be exciting.”
Playing a postseason game at home, of course, is not enough on its own to guarantee a win. During Wild Card Weekend, four of the six road teams earned victories.
“We have to be ready to play our best game,” Payton said.
In key moments, though, the Empower Field at Mile High crowd could help swing the game in Denver’s favor, whether via a miscommunication in the huddle or a pre-snap penalty. And in a battle that could come down to the very end, that could help the Broncos improve upon their 17-5 home postseason record.
“I expect it to be extremely loud,” quarterback Bo Nix said. “I expect it to be a great environment.
“… Something tells me it’ll be kicked up a notch, just because it’s got ‘playoffs’ on it.”
Now that we’ve got some separation from the regular season and a week without Broncos football being played, I’m ruminating on what the Broncos are going to do on the field in the playoffs.
One of the big things I love about cheering for this team today is just how dynamic and cunning the coaching staff is on both sides of the ball. Sean Payton is the real deal, both as a head coach first and foremost and as an offensive coordinator. He’s constantly shifting the team’s game plan to match opponents, keep them off balance, and take advantage of weaknesses that show up on film.
As a guy who loves to play armchair coach during the season a bit, I’m going to share some ideas I have that seem like somewhat obvious tweaks to this offense we are likely to see in the postseason.
Go with the hot hand at running back
One issue I see on offense is the disparity at times in who is getting carries at running back when you look at the production on the field. Most of the last few games have seen Jaleel McLaughlin produce more consistently than RJ Harvey in raw run play production. I think one obvious thing we may see Sean Payton do is to let McLaughlin have more carries if he stays hot.
That’s not to say that I’m down on Harvey. I just think when a guy is producing, you should adjust to give that guy more carries at the running back position. RJ Harvey is a talented back who produces both on the ground and through the air (especially in the red zone).
The only aside I can see about this idea is that it is possible that McLaughlin and Harvey aren’t interchangeable from a play-call perspective. It is possible
Punish man / off coverage looks with quarterback scrambles
Bo Nix is a scrambling weapon with the ball. In the playoffs, if the defense wants to sink coverage or play man Nix will need to be quicker to take the ground yards. For much of the regular season, we’ve seen Nix stay very disciplined with wanting to throw the ball down the field on scrambles. There’s a fine line to walk with this, as sometimes you need to just punish defenses for ignoring your athletic capability.
Nix ran 83 times in 2025 and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He easily could have had 100 carries with a more aggressive approach. Keeping Nix healthy means it is a much better idea for him not to take the risk in the regular season. He’s pretty good at taking angles out of bounds or sliding and knowing when to do that to avoid big hits, though.
The Broncos’ offense doesn’t really scare anyone, but adding this wrinkle in the postseason should help open things up quite a bit.
Get Mims and Franklin some deep shots
Easily the most frustrating thing about the Broncos’ offense this season has been their inability to connect on their deep shots. Nix hasn’t dialed in his accuracy deep down the field yet, which is a shame. The Broncos end up in a lot of man coverage situations and rarely are able to capitalize.
In the postseason, it is time to change that. We have both Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin, who are superb deep pass targets with killer speed. If the Broncos can get their run game production geared up, they absolutely will have opportunities to hit these deep plays.
Bonus No Bull thoughts on Sean Payton
Don’t get lulled to sleep by the last few games of the season. Everyone who knows football sees the same thing I have in my game reviews: Payton kept things vanilla on purpose.
It is a hard thing to watch a team go run, run, pass ad nauseum (am I right, Broncos fans who “enjoyed” the Dan Reeves era with John Elway?). That was strategic, not senile.
Sean Payton is one of the brightest offensive minds in the game (with all due respect to Kyle Shanahan, Andy Reid, and Sean McVay). He knows exactly where this team is at and what is at stake in the postseason. The Bills are going to have to go back to some old tape to try to sort out what our offense is about.
No matter what they prepare for, I expect a good dose of plays that they won’t know are coming. The world at large may think that the Bills are Goliath. That’s just fine. Payton knows exactly how dangerous a team can be when everyone thinks your team is a bunch of young Davids.
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