Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
The NFL 2025 season is all but done, with one weekend left to narrow the field to the two teams that will face off in the Super Bowl. Being hardcore Broncos fans, it has been since 2016 that our team has made it to the big game. Doing the math, that was ten years ago we won Super Bowl 50. Peyton Manning retired, and we spent the next decade searching for the right quarterback to lead our team.
We managed to find Bo Nix, who, in his second full season, has given us hope. We also developed a mean defensive unit, and we did quite well this season, finishing as the number one seed in the postseason. Despite all the great things being said about our new quarterback and our awesome defense, we certainly did not dominate each of our games. But we were able to win 14 of 17 games.
Domination is not as important as the W. Many of our games were won in the last seconds of the game, or in overtime, and typically involved a small number of points. It only takes one point to win and sometimes that was all we had. But a win is a win. However, it’s not over until this coming weekend when we face off with the New England Patriots. It’s comforting to know that the Patriots have never beat us when playing in our stadium: that’s zero out of four attempts. We are hoping they stretch it to zero of five. I’ve got a little over 2 weeks to grow my fingernails out long enough to chew them down to the quick. Most of the Broncos games we saw this year have been nailbiters. Those are difficult games to watch, especially when I don’t drink much.
While we were waiting for Denver to rebuild, I confess I was enjoying watching the KC Chiefs do their dynasty run. It was fun up until they lost their opportunity for the three-peat. Many a team tried, but to date none have achieved it. To see a team make it to the Super Bowl twice in a row is not that uncommon. Eight teams have won back-to-back Super Bowls, one of which did it twice. And NO, it was not the Patriots. They only won back-to-back once. Out of 11 Super Bowl appearances, the Patriots only won six. The team that won two back-to-back Super Bowls was Terry Bradshaw’s Steelers in 1975/76 and 1979/80. Other teams that won back-to-back Super Bowls were the Packers, the Dolphins, the 49ers, the Cowboys, the Broncos, and the KC Chiefs. And my favorite stat is the team with the most consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills lost all four of them. I kinda want to see them win a Super Bowl, but not this year, as my Broncos had to take them out last weekend.
I looked up the criteria that must be achieved to be considered a Dynasty team. While there were more factors than just wins in a set number of years, if I use just that criteria, I see five teams that meet that achievement.
The Steelers were the first to qualify with 4 wins in 6 years. The 49ers were next with 4 in 8 years and 5 in 12 years. The Cowboys qualified with 3 in 4 years; they shared their achievement with the 49ers as the two different teams qualified as a dynasty teams from 1982 to 1996. The Patriots became the next Dynasty team with 3 wins in 4 years and then another 3 wins in 5 years.
Most recently the Chiefs were the Dynasty team with 3 wins in 5 years, They attempted the 3-peat last year but lost to the Eagles. They didn’t even make it to the play-offs this year. Just as well for me, it’s time to be cheering for my Broncos.
Losing quarterback Bo Nix was devastating news, but it is my understanding that our backup QB Jarrett Stidham is up to the task. We will find out this weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing the Broncos beat the Patriots a fifth time in our home stadium. Then it’s on to the Super Bowl to take on the Seattle Seahawks or the Los Angeles Rams. If we fall short, we will want to see the Seahawks take out the Patriots…. Our preferred Super Bowl would be a repeat of SB 48 from 2014 with a different outcome this time. We lost that game 43 to 8 and that was a very embarrassing game for Bronco fans. We came back 2 years later with a win over the Panthers, but that was the last time we were there. GO BRONCOS…
