ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the wake of a "Monday Night Football" win over the Bengals, the Broncos are quickly turning their attention to the next challenge.
That test — which comes on a short week — is a meeting with the undefeated and defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles have won 10 consecutive games and 20 of their last 21 matchups, and Head Coach Sean Payton said the team's focus must be entirely on this next game.
"I think that race that we always talk about of improving and finding the identity of what we're going to be, it still continues," Payton said on Tuesday. "There were a number of things on tape [that stood out vs. the Bengals]. Obviously, today's schedule is a little different because of the short week, but we'd be foolish if we didn't find a way to get the corrections taken care of from last night's game, and there are plenty of them. So, it's a quick turnaround, and the focus strictly has to be on Philly. It can't be on the following week going to London or any of those things.
"Short week. We have to get the recovery going, players have to get rested. The study's going to be important, the plan's going to be important and then [it's about] implementing it against a real good football team on the road."
D.J. Jones, one of the team's captains, said it won't be difficult to have that singular focus for a matchup with the 4-0 Eagles.
"Lock in," Jones said. "There's nothing to think about from last night. There's no need to worry about the future and London. This is a good team we're about to play. It's just right in front of us."
Part of the challenge against the Eagles involves facing defensive coordinator — and former Broncos head coach — Vic Fangio. The Eagles' defense helped spur Philadelphia to a championship in February, as the unit forced three Kansas City turnovers and sacked Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times.
Through four weeks in 2025, Philadelphia holds the third-best red-zone defense and is tied for the 15th-ranked scoring defense.
"A lot has changed relative to teams, defenses, [and] offenses," Payton said. "Vic's one of those guys who's always stayed ahead of the curve. You know you're getting someone who is going to have a real good game plan that's going to understand your strengths and weaknesses. You're going to have to be on point with the details, and that's one of his strengths, all the little things.
"… There's more to this game than just our offense versus the Eagles' defense, but there's a tremendous amount of respect on my part for him and what he's accomplished."
Against Fangio's defense and an offense that features the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in Saquon Barkley, the Broncos will have a chance to see how they stack up with the reigning champs. And as tight end Adam Trautman said Tuesdays, that "definitely means something" to the Broncos.
"I think you do have several measuring-stick games," Trautman said. "When you play the better teams, you want to win because you want to prove yourself right and everything we talked about. Everything we talked about in the offseason, the goal of being a Super Bowl contender, all this stuff. When you play these teams, it is a measuring-stick type of game and you want to show that you belong. It's not necessarily to show the country, the fans, even the other teams.
"It's to show yourself and prove [to] yourself that everything you've done in the offseason, everything that you've done in the preseason with training camp, preseason games and these first however many weeks, you're doing it the correct way."
On Sunday in Philadelphia, the Broncos will get that chance.
BONITTO AND COOPER QUICK OFF THE EDGE
In Monday night's win, both Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper were so quick off the line of scrimmage, Jones could hardly believe what he saw. In a moment, the two players converged on Jake Browning for a sack, and it reminded Jones of a popular meme.
"They're ridiculous," Jones said. "That one play they had where they met at the quarterback last night and just looked at each other like the little Spider-Man meme was hilarious. You can't ask for a better two guys. I've played with [Nick] Bosa and guys like that, but I don't know if i've played with anybody with get-offs like this. It surprises me every time."
Jones said Bonitto and Cooper are going up against "grown men" but that they've been "too fast" for opposing offensive linemen to stop. That stat may be particularly true for Bonitto, who leads the Broncos with 4.5 sacks. According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Bonitto's 31.4 percent pressure rate is the highest through four games among any player with more than 50 rushes since at least 2018.
During Monday's win, Bonitto recorded six pressures and 1.5 sacks on just 19 rushes.
