All aboard the Pony Express

By: Josh Frey-Sam

Today could be a turning point for the Denver Broncos franchise.

This is a team that many, including myself, pegged as a dark horse to win the AFC — and now is their opportunity to prove it.

The Broncos are in the city of brotherly love to take on the defending champion and undefeated Philadelphia Eagles.

My eyes will be glued on the game.

As four-point underdogs, on a short week, it’s a spot for Sean Payton’s group that I’ve been keen on buying into all week.

The thing is, this is the exact spot that the Broncos haven’t been able to overcome since the Bo Nix era began last season — on the road, against one of the league’s top teams.

Denver hasn’t had an issue beating up on the bottom dwellers of the league (see Monday night against Cincinnati) but the difference between the good and the great teams is who can get it done against the NFL elites.

After all, you have to beat the best in order to be the best, right?

The Broncos best road victory in the last 22 games, including playoffs, came Week 3 of last year against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After that: a 41-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, a 16-14 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, a heartbreaking 30-24 overtime loss to the Bengals and a blowout 31-7 wild card defeat to the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.

This year, it hasn’t changed through four weeks.

The Broncos were about to leave Lucas Oil Stadium with a Week 2 win over the Indianapolis Colts until being called for a leverage penalty on the Colts’ last-second field goal attempt. Spencer Schrader didn’t miss twice, sending the Broncos back home with a devastating loss. In Week 3, they went to Inglewood and gave the Chargers a good shot, but it wasn’t good enough as they fell 23-20.

You’ll notice the Broncos were competitive in most of these games.

They’ve shown they can clearly hang with the best in the league… until it’s gut-check time. Since the beginning of 2024, the Broncos are 1-8 in one-score games.

Surprising? Hardly. Young teams, especially their young quarterback, need to learn how to win.

Today’s game against Philly is going to be a damn good one, maybe the best of the day. It’s a matchup filled with tons of storylines — like the Eagles’ sputtering offence and its pair of disgruntled star receivers — but the one I will be paying attention to is how the Broncos handle themselves in their latest litmus test.

This is a team that Payton expressed Super Bowl aspirations for in the pre-season — and rightfully so — but today is the day they show it.

Should the Broncos win — and I think they have a damn good chance at doing so — it’ll change the way we view the AFC.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh