For the majority of the last decade, talking about the Denver Broncos and the Super Bowl in the same sentence has only been relevant when discussing what happened in Super Bowl 50. The distance has grown painfully wide between that glorious 24-10 win over the Panthers and the Broncos' joint practice in Santa Clara against the 49ers this week, but the team has closed the gap significantly.
For the majority of the last 10 years, it's been embarrassing to try to talk yourself into the idea of the Broncos being a true Super Bowl contender. It just hasn't been in the cards for this team, which has been shuffling head coaches, quarterbacks, and even ownership.