The Broncos are playing with house money Sunday at Buffalo.
Just don’t tell them that.
Sean Payton’s team took the NFL by surprise this year, winning 10 games and ending an eight-year playoff drought in the process.
They’ll be widely expected to lose to potential NFL MVP Bills quarterback Josh Allen and company at Highmark Stadium.
Nobody in Denver’s building, though, is taking the approach that they’re just happy to be back in the playoffs for the first time since Super Bowl 50.
Touchdown-plus underdogs? That’s OK.
“You just want to do your job,” Denver right tackle Mike McGlinchey said Thursday. “I think I’ll leave the lines to Vegas and the guys that bet. Our job is to go in there and play no matter what people think of us, no matter what people believe the outcome of the game is going to be.”
Payton has called his team “young and hungry” since the beginning of the season and was adamant all along that they expected to compete.
Now they face the second-longest odds of the weekend as 9-point underdogs to Buffalo. Only Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers (9.5 points at Baltimore) enter wild-card weekend as bigger underdogs.
Payton said Friday that the key for his group is to not make the moment bigger than it needs to be.
“Last week was a big game to get (into the playoffs),” he said. “In other words, you’ve got to get your experience. Here’s the most important thing: Get on to the next play. Don’t let one play fester. Get on to the next play. … Recalibrate and have the mental fortitude to handle the noise and handle the elements and handle all the things about playing a real good team on the road.
“It’s a great challenge.”
Part of the challenge is on the postseason experience front. Most of the Broncos haven’t been to the playoffs and none have done it here. Buffalo, meanwhile, has been in the playoffs six of the past seven years with Allen and head coach Sean McDermott and the club has advanced past the wild-card round each of the past four seasons.
Payton’s confident he’s got a team that won’t back down.
“This is a close-knit team,” he said. “You go on the road and I always say, ‘If you don’t recognize them, they’re not for us.’ Forget the hat they’re wearing. That’s built through these moments and experiences and respect for each other. It’s built because there’s a journey and it hasn’t been easy. It’s built week by week and then when you start playing for each other, then you’ve got something. Not wanting to let your teammates down.”
If the Broncos do manage to pull an upset, they’ll be headed to Kansas City to play the two-time defending champion Chiefs in the divisional round.
That might be seen as a long-shot by most, but not within Denver’s locker room.
“We’ve been overlooked all year, so it’s nothing new,” McGlinchey said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to prove it once again.”
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