DENVER — Keep the “88” decals. Roll with the good, not with the bad. Play, always play.

Channel the late, great D.T.

There is a winning formula for real life, things that actually matter, and a formula for the Broncos to make the playoffs. This one time they are strangely and poignantly the same.

The Broncos beat the Lions 38-10 at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, and Demaryius Thomas would have loved how they did so. They were jovial. They were intentional. They played.

D.T. had countless reasons to live life down on his luck — mom and grandma arrested when he was only 11, summer jobs picking peas in the oppressive Georgia heat, painful injuries he fought through. He played on, with a smile.

The Broncos and 76,000 heartsick fans were crushed after losing their guy at the age of 33.

They played on, forcing a smile.

“Definitely some Mile High magic in there,” safety Justin Simmons said.

D.T. will be missed for decades to come. He died Thursday for reasons so far unexplained, a very unusual thing for a world-class athlete in world-class shape. The inexplicability of it hurts too. The police report, obtained by Gazette beat writer George Stoia, says the cops responded to a cardiac arrest at Thomas’ home in Georgia.

RIP, good man.

Three days later, Mile High chanted his name. His jersey flooded Lot B. Simmons made a brilliant interception and placed the football on the “88” painted near the southwest end zone. The Broncos scored on a drive of … 88 yards.

Can you imagine his perfect smile from above?

The Broncos took their first snap with only 10 men on the field, a tribute to the missing man. Courtland Sutton stood on the sideline. Before he was traded from the Broncos, Thomas made a point to take Sutton to the Boys & Girls Club where he spent so many afternoons. Demaryius showed Courtland that football stars in Denver carry responsibilities beyond football.

“He showed us the way, showed us the road map,” Simmons said after.

The game itself was whatever. Due to injury and illness, the Lions were missing 22 players, and teams that are 1-10-1 can’t afford to miss two players, let alone 22 players. Detroit had no shot to win whatsoever. It was over at kickoff.

The Broncos went to bed Sunday as the No. 10 team in the AFC, one game out of the Wild Card.

Playoffs?

Channel D.T.

How the Broncos reach the postseason is how Demaryius Thomas played for the Broncos. It will take doing the jobs they don’t want to do, as D.T. did in blocking in the Tim Tebow offense in his second season. (“Never complained,” as coach John Fox said on Denver’s 104.3 The Fan.) Wide receivers Sutton and Tim Patrick caught three passes, total, Sunday. It will take young’uns performing above their experience level, as Broncos defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones did with two sacks against the Lions. It will take serious belief in the power of positivity.

“I remember how good he was on the field, but my (favorite) moments with him were how good he was off the field,” Patrick said.

It will take — bear with me now — rooting for the Chiefs. The Broncos host the Chiefs in the final week of the season, and both will be better off if the Chiefs clinch the AFC West in advance.

The Broncos have four games left, and the next three should be toss-ups: Bengals (lost two straight), Raiders (lost five of six), Chargers (4-4 in their last eight). There’s really no excuse not to extend their playoff aspirations to the very end.

“We have a group of men who are pretty confident in themselves,” Teddy Bridgewater said.

The Broncos on Sunday flashed a classy tribute video to a beloved man who passed too soon. The highlight was the famous Tebow-to-Thomas touchdown that beat the Steelers in a playoff game. Great choice, but it wasn’t the game that defined Thomas’ career here.

The game that defined Thomas’ career here was a defeat, a low point he refused to accept.

In the no good, very bad Super Bowl loss to the Seahawks, Thomas set a Super Bowl record with 13 catches. Twelve of those catches came after Thomas was blasted by Seattle safety Kam Chancellor. It was the kind of big hit that would rattle most men. Not D.T. D.T. caught 12 more.

Born into a no-win situation, he left with 76,000 chanting his name. Life gave D.T. lemons, and for millions of people, he made memories.