After starting the season with a 1-4 record, the Denver Broncos have won four straight games and are now back in the playoff hunt at 5-5.
The Broncos are not content with a .500 record, however, and they can’t afford to slow down now to catch their breath after a four-game run.
“Look, several times — there were two different times we were 0-4 in New Orleans and then got back to 4-4,” Denver coach Sean Payton said after the team’s 21-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings. “Now, when that happens, there’s a certain amount of energy required to get you back. Then naturally, all of us want to exhale, and we can’t.
“So when you’ve been to one of those places — all of us have had an experience that we don’t want to ever have that again, whatever it is. That’s kind of how we approached it last night. We don’t want to find ourselves there again. Now in this league, that’s easier said than done. The key is — this isn’t the team, this isn’t it. This team still has to improve. That’s how we have to coach and that’s how we have to practice, and I think we’ll do that.”
The Broncos are getting closer to a playoff spot in the AFC, but there’s still work to be done. The next two games against the Cleveland Browns (7-3) and Houston Texans (6-4) will have huge implications for Denver’s playoff chances. There’s no time for Payton and Co. to exhale.
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