The Broncos are soaring in more ways than one as they cross the Atlantic Ocean for a date with the New York Jets in London.
Denver is coming off a monumental comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles in which the Broncos needed 18 fourth-quarter points to take down the previously undefeated reigning Super Bowl champions. The accomplishment would invigorate any locker room and might instill a bit of complacency, especially when preparing to face the NFL's lone winless team.
Not these Broncos. They don't believe in the concept of a trap game and aren't interested in allowing it to become a reality Sunday.
"No. Each week it's the ability to refocus on the next challenge," coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. "I think oftentimes the games are won and lost right here today, tomorrow and Friday. So these guys understand in our league, it's different than college. We're not getting a chance to play a I-AA or FCS school. These are all professional teams, and we'll handle it that way."
As a member of the AFC East, New York is certainly a professional team. They just haven't looked much like a professional outfit in the last two weeks, struggling to maintain a clean operation, retain possession, protect quarterback Justin Fields and prevent opposing offenses from succeeding.
Both of the Jets' two most recent losses look better in the box score than they did on the field. Neither have inspired much confidence in first-year coach Aaron Glenn's squad, an especially disheartening admission after they seemed to be coming together when they pushed the now-4-1 Buccaneers to the limit in Week 3.
Instead, the Jets have taken multiple steps backward. That doesn't mean the Broncos are taking them lightly, though.
"I think in the league, quite honestly, it's a little disrespectful to consider anybody a trap team," quarterback Bo Nix said.
"They're an NFL team, and they're going to have some really good players on their defense, and it's not really a trap game. I think any game you can walk in and slip up and lose, that's just the league. If you're not careful in a way, all of them could be because they're that good of an opponent. But they're a good football team; they've been close on some games. They were a couple of walk-off plays away from having two or three wins. I definitely think that is something you've got to be careful with. This is not a team to just toss around like they're winless, but I think we will be ready to go. It's just another game."
Nix is right to keep his focus trained on preparing for the Jets as if they're another challenging team. The quarterback hasn't exactly been excellent through the first five weeks of the season, making a crucial mistake that granted the Indianapolis Colts a chance to defeat the Broncos in the final seconds of their Week 2 meeting and falling short of the ideal level of consistency most coaches want out of their signal-callers.
Nix did, however, key Denver's frantic fourth-quarter comeback last Sunday and seems to be settling in over the last two weeks. Sunday's game could be the perfect opportunity for him to fully break out and leave the early-season bumps in the road behind him -- as long as they don't encounter a green and white pothole in London.
