Broncos’ win was both fun and meaningful - even if just to the players

Admit it - That. Was. Fun.

It was no AFC-Championship-victory-over-the-Patriots fun.

It was definitely no Super-Bowl-50-domination fun.

But it was fun.

It was fun to watch a defense do what it has been trying to do all year.

It was fun to watch Demaryius Thomas catch his passes - and a record or two.

It was really fun not seeing any boneheaded INTs from our quarterback.

It was super fun watching Sunshine get an average of 12.4 yards per punt return.

It was super, super fun to see Von Miller dancing.

And there is nothing wrong with having fun.

Because as Nuke LaLoosh would say, “I love winning, man. I f-ing love winning. You know what I’m saying? Like...winning...it’s better than losing?”

I know, Nuke. I know.

For the “Embrace The Tankers” in this crowd - move along, nothing to see here. You’re mad we won, and I’m not - and we’re not going to convince each other to change, so go away and let me happy.

Because personally, seeing players talk to the press without a cloud of depression hanging over their heads was good for my soul.

So I’m not complaining.

I know it was a win over the 5-7 Jets. I know it was too late for the Broncos to save their season. I realize it may have slightly messed up our draft order.

But I ain’t mad at that.

I will always be happier watching Broncos play good football.

And I’ll always be happier listening to them be happy.

Always.

“It feels great. Wins, that’s what this league is about. That’s what the Broncos organization is about and that’s what my teammates are about,” said Von Miller, who got his 10th sack of the season - his sixth year in a row getting double-digit sacks and the most in Broncos history. “Getting back in the winning column is an amazing feeling. We just want hold on to this emotion and remember how it feels to win and just carry it on through the rest of the season.”

Chris Harris Jr. said the team finally put hard work in practice to good use in the game.

“We just kept preparing. It’s been a hard year, but we just kept using the same study habits. Today, we played a complete game,” he said. “We played smart and we didn’t have any turnovers. We took what they gave us and we didn’t give up any explosive plays on defense. When we can do that, we’re capable of beating anybody.”

The defense held the Jets to 100 yards total offense (a team that put up 500 against the Chiefs last week), notched four sacks, one forced fumble and one interception - and shut out a team for the first time since 2005.

“We practiced hard this week. We got in arguments with each other,” said Aqib Talib, who was back after a one-game suspension for fighting two weeks ago. “We wanted it. You could see how much we all wanted it. We all came out, as a team, as a defense, as an offense, special teams - we all came out and played well as a team.”

It was like there was a gigantic sigh of relief in the locker room.

“It was excitement,” Darian Stewart said. “We’re happy we finally got this win on under our belt. We’re not satisfied, but we stayed together and kept working. It worked out for us today.”

The “fight” in the team to play well and get the win was a common talking point among players.

“It feels great. We definitely needed it,” said linebacker Todd Davis. “We fought hard for it and we’ve been fighting for nine weeks now, so it definitely feels good to get a win.”

C.J. Anderson compared the win to fasting and dreaming of the next meal.

“People don’t fast for 60 days and imagine not eating,” he said. “That’s what losing felt like. We finally got a win, and now we’ve got a quick turnaround to try and go get Indianapolis next week.”

Despite the excitement - and relief - no player is thinking the next win at Indy will be easy to fight for. But it’s easier to go into the week with a good game behind them to build upon.

“I thought we played efficient on all three phases,” said Stewart, who grabbed a much-coveted INT for the No Fly Zone. “We didn’t beat ourselves today and that’s what we’ve been doing the past eight games. It turned the corner for us today.”

In true Talib-ease, the cornerback was more succinct.

“You look at all eight or nine or however many losses we have, you can pinpoint something that was terrible,” he said. “One of the units was terrible. We all played together. We put it together as a team. We know how good we can be.”

Brandon Marshall, who contributed a strip-sack that led to a fumble recovery by Adam Gotsis, noted the win was special for the defense.

“It felt good. This is a special day for the whole team, especially for the defense,” he said, noting the 12-year drought since Broncos had shut out another team. “For us to come out here and give a boost, it was great. We were hitting on all cylinders from the first play. We just want to continue this effort and continue this production into next week.”

No one is pretending a win at Indy will be easy - or that there is any guarantee the team can play well again next week.

But that is the goal.

Because players don’t try and tank even if fans want them to.

“We play this game for our families and for each other, but we play this game for the fans. We want to entertain the fans and we want to the fans to be proud of their hometown team,” Miller said. “To win the way we did here at home, it feels great to get the emotions back up. This is a wonderful feeling to push through the season.”

So there.