Broncos head coach Sean Payton: "Look, I'll make a note on the [playcall] sheet: 'Run it, it's important.'" He also talks at length about being "quick" and "daring at the right time" in his play-calling as he gets older (he turned 62 on Dec. 29).

Broncos RG Quinn Meinerz says that for him and Garett Bolles, being named first-team All-Pro is a "group award," not an individual one. "I think it means more about our entire group, not individually. That is an award that has our name on it, but it's a team award," he says.

Drew Sanders and Lucas Krull won't be activated from injured reserve for Saturday's game, per the Broncos' final injury report of the week. Dre Greenlaw and John Franklin-Myers are good to go.

Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, on Josh Allen: "He's a special player, obviously. It's certain guys in this league that can take over games, and he's one of those guys. But we knew to win a championship here ..."

I asked Broncos RT Mike McGlinchey today if there was something special about this particular Broncos team as a group this year in terms of its bond. "I think so," he said. "This is as close of a group as I've ever been a part of. ..."

Have conviction in your model!

🤔

Broncos RT Mike McGlinchey says "you can't take a whole lot" from recent games with the Bills to get ready for Saturday. "We don't feel as though we were in the position that we were in last year, right? We kind of got into the playoffs, we were excited to be there. ..."

The Broncos had four names on their injury report today. The Bills had fourteen.

The forecast weather for Saturday afternoon calls for temperatures in the low 50s. Wind could be a factor.

Yeah, it's not the Luv Ya Blue Oilers, but for the city of Houston, a playoff win over Pittsburgh has been a long time coming ...

I’m having Jake Delhomme flashbacks.

Feels like a Taco Bell night

One of the defining moments of Vance Joseph's 2 years as head coach in Denver was coaching Josh Allen in the Senior Bowl ... & then John Elway & the Broncos passing on Allen in that year's draft. Now Joseph's defense will try and stop Allen next Saturday. Funny how it all works.

The injuries to Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater eventually did them in. Good night, Chargers.

That feels like ballgame.

The Chargers sure wish they had those extra three points now

They’ve never had the Monday night winner play on Saturday, and I don’t think they’re going to start now.

Almost certainly yes, unless the NFL does the unlikely thing of stacking both AFC games on Sunday. My guess is that Bills-Broncos would be a prime-time game, whereas Chargers-Broncos would be in the earlier window Saturday.

And there it is. If the Patriots win tonight, Buffalo’s coming to Denver next week.

We’ve gotta have another conversation about reverting the aiding-the-ballcarrier rule back to where it was before 2005

Parker Washington has 26 catches for 454 yards in the last four games, starting with his breakout against the Broncos. His emergence as the Jaguars’ WR1 has taken their attack to another level. Washington, Meyers, Etienne, Strange — hard to contain them all.

This has felt more like an AFC Championship Game than a wild-card battle.

CBS providing the reminder during a commercial break of who owns it now

A tricky moment with a Brad Allen-led crew, what could go wrong?

Branding consistency. (Don’t shoot the messenger)

I was hoping that there would be a vertically-striped element to the new uniform design as a visual signature. I was thinking two orange and blue stripes on the white pants and on the helmet, then a matching vertical stripe pattern on the edge of the sleeve or collar. But we got triangles.

Something for which I’m hoping is the NFL permitting the addition of a white throwback that doesn’t count against the alternate/throwback count that the Broncos could wear at, say, NE when the Pats have a throwback day (or a team like NYJ wears the uniform that is the same as it had decades ago).

That was the moment.

Ten years ago, Brandon McManus was a Broncos postseason hero. Tonight, he's a key figure in the Packers' collapse:

Teams that get to host playoff games without winning records are 4-2 in such contests. So, the Panthers holding on here wouldn't be THAT much of a stretch historically speaking.

The Rams’ special teams … woof

Today, Matthew Stafford just looks ... OLD.

For a supposedly well-coached team, the Rams are an undisciplined mess.

The Broncos' records in orange jerseys in the new uniform template, by uniform combination: White pants/blue socks: 2-0 White pants/orange socks: 2-0 Orange pants/white socks: 1-0 White pants/white socks: 2-1 Orange pants/blue socks: 2-1 Blue pants/blue socks: 0-1

The Panthers have never won a postseason game in black jerseys. When the Broncos chose to wear white jerseys in SB 50, it wasn't just about NOT wearing orange jerseys (in which they're 0-4 in SBs). It was to make Carolina wear black (CAR wore white at home in that postseason).

Broncos coach Sean Payton: "We're going to have to play better, and so, I'd love to say that we pulled a bunch back (on offense), but you know that the tape from last week wasn't really good offensively. ..."

Asked Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey about how a veteran like him -- in his eighth season -- conveys the urgency and rarity of this opportunity to younger players on the roster. He talked about his own experience reaching the Super Bowl in his second NFL season with the 49ers.

"Carson Beck in his seventh year of college football."

Only if the Jaguars and Patriots also win. The Broncos play the lowest remaining seed.

The Broncos got the job done on Sunday -- inelegantly. They did just enough. There's plenty to savor from this season, but there were good reasons why fans booed, and they know it. My thoughts from Sunday:

Broncos 19, Chargers 3 — FINAL Denver clinches the bye week against a Chargers team with mostly backups. Two mostly vanilla game plans as neither team wanted to show much, as a Bolts win next week means a rematch in a fortnight. No offensive TDs for Denver, which is 14-3.

1,122 no-shows today, 74,801 on hand for Broncos-Chargers.

The Broncos have four first downs in their last eight non-kneeldown drives.

More boos after the offense goes nowhere following Bonitto's strip-sack fumble. Lutz hits the field goal, and it's 16-3. But this is not instilling confidence in the 74,801 patrons on hand.

Takeaway No. 2 of the day. Nik Bonitto CRUSHES Trey Lance -- fumble, recovered by Saiv'ion Jones.

4.51 seconds of hang time for Jeremy Crawshaw on the 49-yard punt, which ends in a fair catch.

Boos for the Broncos offense after another drive goes nowhere.

With a completion percentage of 48.0 so far today, Trey Lance is barely above the Tebowza Line (47.9 percent)

4.65 seconds of hang time for Jeremy Crawshaw. 48 yards gross, 28 yards net as it bounces into the end zone.