Following their 38-12 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the Denver Broncos wrapped up preseason with a perfect 3-0 record.
The Broncos were one of five teams to go undefeated in August, joining the New York Jets (3-0), Tennessee Titans (3-0) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-0) and Chicago Bears (4-0), who kicked off preseason with the Hall of Fame Game earlier this month.
Of course, preseason win-loss records aren’t necessarily a predictor of regular season success. Last summer, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Commanders and Jaguars all went 3-0. Of those three teams, only the Steelers made the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Rams went 0-3 during preseason in 2021 and then went on to win the Super Bowl. The Detroit Lions went 4-0 during preseason in 2008 before going 0-16 in the regular season.
Teams focus more on developing and evaluating players in preseason than they do the actual game results, so records are essentially meaningless.
There are some positive takeaways for the Broncos, though. Denver averaged 26 points per preseason game last year and 21 PPG in the regular season. This summer, the offense averaged 33 PPG. Once again, we shouldn’t read into the numbers too much, but it might reflect well on the team’s backups.
Winning is also a good habit, even in preseason.
“I said to them afterwards, do not ever get tired of how it feels to win,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said after the team’s preseason finale. “We are substituting groups, and we are needing to get different groups evaluated and yet we still want to win.
“I felt the energy, and I think anybody that was on the sidelines felt it. That part of it is encouraging. The guys that are not in recognize how important it is for the guys that are in [the game]. That is what you want from your team.”
Denver’s preseason record is “meaningless,” but the mentality the team established this summer counts for something. The Broncos will play their first game of consequence when they go on the road to face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 on Sunday, Sept. 8.
