Sean Payton and the Broncos are only focused on winning their next game…

On Christmas Eve, Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos had a great opportunity in front of them. If they could win the season’s final three games, they’d seriously improve their chances of making the playoffs.

First step was beating the New England Patriots, who were sitting at a lowly 3-11 before the matchup. The Broncos were favored to win, but they fell face-first right into this trap game and ended up losing. The Broncos looked awful on both offense and defense, allowing the Patriots to beat them 26-23.

There was an instance where the Broncos came storming back, but the Patriots would end up kicking a game-winning field goal.

Unfortunately, the Broncos pretty much blew their playoff chances. While they aren’t officially eliminated, their chances to make the playoffs sit around 5%. Had they beaten the Patriots, their chances would have been around 41%.

While the odds are now slim, head coach Sean Payton doesn’t feel the need to discuss it with the team.

“The way it’s covered anymore, I don’t think I have to discuss it,” Payton said about the team’s playoff possibilities. “When these guys come in here tomorrow morning, the message is going to be about winning this game. And our last home game. We haven’t played well at home considering, or at least to the expectations of Broncos fans. And then from my experience of playing at home. So this is our last opportunity to play a home game. And it’s going to be about getting this win. It’s going to be that shortsighted.”

The Broncos’ final home game of the season is on Sunday. They’ll look to beat the visiting Los Angeles Chargers for the second time this season.