In the spirit of the Christmas season, instead of laughing at a man’s honest mistake, share a positive thought for Jonathan Taylor.

Or serve him up a stiff glass of Mom’s egg nog.

After a brain fart that may have cost the Indianapolis Colts a spot in the NFL playoffs and lifted the Broncos into one of their own, the Colts running back looked and sounded like a man who could break into tears at any moment.

One word to describe his emotions: P-A-I-N.

“They said I didn’t cross the goal line,” Taylor said at his locker late Sunday, holding it together better than most proud men would. “That can’t happen.”

How would the Broncos’ 31-13 win over the Colts have played out if Taylor did not drop the ball mere inches before the goal line? Ask me, and I say the Broncos were destined for defeat.

At best, the home team was in deep doo-doo.

The score was 13-7, Colts, when Taylor took off.

But instead of giving the Colts a 20-7 lead in the second half at Empower Field at Mile High, Taylor’s premature celly gifted the Broncos life. Denver ripped off the next 24 points and inched closer to its first postseason berth since Peyton Manning’s farewell tour and Super Bowl 50.

Bo Nix and the Broncos offense up to that point had all the momentum of a parked car.

“It hurts,” Taylor said, answering the same question (“Why?”) over and over. “It just hurts.”

Taylor said his heartache stemmed from likely preventing his young teammates the chance to play in the postseason, like he did as a rookie.

On the flip side, 76,000 Broncomaniacs believe Taylor is the jolliest fella this side of St. Nick.

Next time someone disagrees that football is a game of inches, show the replay of Taylor’s touchdown-turned-touchback. The football is, what, 10 inches from crossing the plane?

Ten inches from the Broncos’ playoff chances dropping to 50%, an actual coin flip.

Ten inches from the Colts’ playoff chances jumping to 50%, another coin flip.

Imagine if a Broncos playmaker did the same — dropping the football and blowing a game.

“I probably wouldn’t be talking to you guys right now, to be honest,” said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton, suggesting he would be cut from the roster before game’s end.

After a game with eight combined turnovers, I could see how the Colts are 6-8.

It was harder to see how the Broncos are 9-5.

Nix threw three interceptions, the next worse than the last. Broncos running backs averaged 2.7 yards per carry. Taylor gashed Denver’s defense for 107 yards. Still, that’s consecutive games the old Broncos would lose. Instead, Denver beat Cleveland and Indianapolis.

“There were a number of things we have to improve on,” Sean Payton said.

The game turned on Taylor’s fumble.

“That was significant. I don’t get it,” Payton said. “But I’m not going to try to.”

The first 40 yards of his sprint toward the north end zone silenced Mile High as if someone flipped off the volume. A former NFL Offensive Player of the Year who once rushed for 1,800 yards in a season, Taylor busted through the right side of the line and dodged Broncos defenders Pat Surtain, Brandon Jones and P.J. Locke. No one in orange touched the man.

Just as he’s about to cross the goal line in front of Section 118, he inexplicably drops the ball — directly in front of a field judge who correctly suggested the crew video reviews the score.

“Now I’m thinking, ‘Why are they reviewing it?’” Taylor said after.

The 41-yard touchdown was flipped to a 40-yard run — with a touchback. Broncos ball.

“Honestly, I didn’t really see him drop the ball until they showed it on the replay,” Locke said. “I’ve always see it (happen) on, like social media. But I’ve never been a part of it actually happening in a game. My reaction was just like: ‘Thank the football gods.’”

And aren’t the football gods smiling on the Broncos right now? After a near-decade of Decembers to forget, the Broncos clinched a winning record for the first time since the fighting Trevor Siemians in 2016.

“I was happy he (Taylor) bailed us out with that one,” Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto said.

The Colts locker room sounded like the Grinch stole Christmas.

“JT’s play doesn’t determine whether we win or lose,” said Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

With all due respect, strong disagree. If the Broncos go on a postseason run, thank the inexplicable dropped ball from an awesome Colts running back with over 5,300 rushing yards on his NFL resume.

And it was painful to hear Taylor describe a brain fart Broncos Country will never forget.

“You just can’t do it,” he said. “It can’t happen.”