Renck vs. Keeler: Are Broncos a playoff team? Is it time to recalibrate expectations?

Renck: The Broncos are no longer a fake ID team. No longer a fraud. Sunday did not make a season, but it made it a lot more interesting. The Broncos have won three straight games, ended an embarrassing eight-game losing skid to the Raiders, and have kick-started optimism. Sean, this is a rebuilding team. The two-deep depth chart and dead cap money explain as much. But is it time to recalibrate expectations? Are the Broncos — looks around and whispers — a playoff team?

Keeler: Shhhhh! Don’t tell anybody, but for the second time in 10 months, coach Sean Payton’s somehow got the Broncos playing like one of the best teams on the planet again. Now — could it hit a brick wall, the way Team Takeaway finally did last Christmas? Heck yeah. But have you looked at the October fight card? Raiders at home, Chargers at home, Saints away, Panthers at home. If you’re 5-3 going into that start-of-November death march, anything’s possible, my man. Anything.

Renck: Full transparency. I picked the Broncos to win six games. I have been on board with Bo Nix as the fix. But I figured the real gains, from a team perspective, would occur next season. I think postseason talk is a little ambitious, but a winning record is not. The defense is positioned to give the Broncos a chance every week, ranking top-five in multiple categories, including sacks (19) and points per game (14.6). They are also functional against the run — a huge factor this week versus the Chargers — and stingy in the red zone. And no cornerback tandem is performing as well as Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss. So, hope is valid and understandable.

Keeler: Know what’s great about defense and run game? Whether you’re in Tampa, New Jersey, on country roads or a Mile High, it’s the kind of combo that travels well. Especially with what’s coming up next. According to Tankathon, the Broncos as of Monday have the 13th-easiest NFL slate the rest of the way. Within the division, only the Chargers (ninth-easiest) have a kinder path. I pegged the Broncos for 7-10 in August, mostly because of Payton’s track record and higher floor, regardless of talent. Now I wonder if that was selling this rebuild short. TeamRanking.com’s projections now say they’ll go 9-8. And the computers at MasseyRatings.com and with The New York Times/The Athletic concur. Will that sneak you into a wild-card berth? Probably not. But it would make Payton a contender for Coach of the Year.

Renck: The schedule is manageable. That is the advantage of going 8-9 last season. If the Broncos win two of their next three — Chargers, at Saints, Panthers — they will be capable of ending their streak of seven-straight losing seasons and spoiling dreams for contenders. How would the Broncos reach the playoffs? Get to 5-3, then it requires 5-4 in the second half. That means beating the Falcons, Raiders, Browns, Colts and, a sneaky pick, the Chiefs in the season finale when Kansas City could be resting players or just as vulnerable as it was last season in Denver. It’s tempting to say the Broncos can pull it off. It will come down to the evolution of Nix with Payton. They remain kindred spirits with their intelligence, passion and intensity. Can that translate into consistent production? It’s possible they could be last year’s Rams, Bucs or Texans, though I must tap the brakes in the name of fairness when looking at their offensive weapons.