The Denver Broncos’ Recent Success Sparks 1 Interesting Question

The Broncos’ recent success from 2024 to the present day makes a strong case that margin of victory can be overrated. In 2024, this team won 10 games. Their average margin of victory was an astounding +15.0 per game as they outscored their opponents 278 to 128 in their victories. 

The Broncos, however, were not able to carry that success into the postseason. That very same team got blown out 31-7 against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round. Now, let’s move over to 2025. 

The Broncos in 2025 had an average margin of victory of +7.71. They outscored their opponents 333 to 225 in 14 victories. A pretty significant dip from what they did the year prior. This time, however, their postseason was a bit more successful.

Denver had the first-round bye due to winning the top seed, so their first game was in the Divisional round. It was against the same Bills team. This time, the orange and blue prevailed in a 33-30 classic overtime. 

What changed? Yes, the Broncos won four more games, but going from losing 31-7 to Bo Nix outplaying Josh Allen in a playoff game is astounding. Was it the home-field advantage? Yes, home-field certainly helps, but against an established QB like Allen and a perennial playoff contender like the Bills, home-field can only help so much. 

There is something to winning close games, even if it is against bad teams. In 2024, Denver smashed all the bad teams on their schedule. They won games 33-10, 38-6, 38-0, etc… In 2025, their victories against bad teams were not as pretty. A few examples include a 10-7 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, a 13-11 win over the New York Jets, and a 33-32 win over the New York Giants. Those teams won a combined 10 games in 2025. 

Those ugly victories proved to be useful in the playoff game. Denver didn’t panic when Buffalo stormed back from 23-10 to go up 23-27 in that playoff game. The Broncos did what they did in every late-game situation and came up big at the end of regulation and overtime. 

Denver was 1-6 in one-score games in 2024 and 12-2 in 2025. That was the big difference between the two years, and I feel like it’s time that the NFL media and fans start giving those types of wins importance. 

It doesn’t matter how good or bad the opponent is; a close win that requires good execution down the stretch is going to matter in the big picture. Eventually, teams will build good habits in critical situations, and it will translate against better competition.

A good example is taking a look at how the New England Patriots and Broncos look this year. Those two teams had two of the easier schedules in 2025. The Pats blew everyone out, and the Broncos were in nail-biters most of the time. 

Now, against tougher competition, New England has struggled to respond when games haven’t gone its way. Denver, meanwhile, has continued to show strong late-game execution against two great teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams. The nail-biters from last year have given this team a sense of unwavering confidence in late-game situations when facing adversity. 

The Broncos’ recent success should teach you one thing: don’t overlook close-margin victories, no matter how bad the opponents are. 

End Of My Broncos’ Recent Success Rant

The Broncos’ recent success and the Patriots’ lack of success in 2026 so far give a good answer to the question above. One team was dominant against bad competition, and the other was playing with fire. 

It’s a very unintuitive way to evaluate teams. Fans and media members have been trained to fawn over spectacular plays and dominance. Maybe it’s time we started appreciating resilience more than we have.