With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time to talk turkey, because we still don’t know: Are the Broncos for real or frauds?

This fight against Kansas City will tell us everything. 

“We’ll play bigger games,” Denver coach Sean Payton insisted Wednesday, trying to downplay the biggest football showdown in our dusty old cowtown since Peyton Manning’s last rodeo way back in January 2016.

Nice try, coach.

Here come the Chiefs, who have appeared in five of the six most recent Super Bowls, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy three times.

Kansas City is the team the Broncos want to be when they grow up.

“Don’t make it bigger than what it is,” Denver quarterback Bo Nix said.

Who are we kidding with this feigned nonchalance?

Absolutely nobody.

After a series of fourth-quarter escapes against NFL dregs that made the Broncos look downright fraudulent, they can’t afford to be too cool for school.

This is a critical juncture on the Denver growth chart, an inflexion point when these Broncos will either come of age as a legit championship contender or get exposed as a team that’s more lucky than good.

The football gods must have a wicked sense of humor, because this immense opportunity for the Broncos has turned into a daunting challenge.

It seems Denver has been tasked with trying to beat up the toughest kid on the block with two hands tied behind its back.

When he peers into the team’s meeting room, Payton believes he sees: “The hard-weathered players that can withstand the storms that come in our league. And they come. Every season. Pick a team. Pick a Super Bowl team any year. There are storms.”

Cornerback Pat Surtain II, the league’s reigning defensive player of the year, is out with a pectoral injury.

Although the Broncos won’t say for certain, early indications are that a foot injury will prevent leading rusher J.K. Dobbins from taking the field against the Chiefs.

If the Broncos can whup K.C. without their defensive and offensive MVPs, the doubters will have little choice except to stop keeping track of style points with a Denver team that has made winning late and ugly its business as usual.

“We probably take for granted winning the games,” Nix said, “because we’re not aesthetically pleasing.”

A faithful disciple of the Bible, Nix does not cuss.

But with Nix in the throes of what can only be called a sophomore slump, even Broncomaniacs who follow the team religiously have taken his name in vain.

“I delete all my social media. I don’t even have it,” Nix said. “So, unless somebody says it to my face, I don’t really hear it. And nobody’s ever bold enough to say it to my face.”

While no NFL team has produced more victories than the eight these Broncos have posted this season, the sum of their record is greater than the individual parts of this team.

On any given Sunday, when the Chiefs play inspired football, they’re still the league’s best. Ah, but there’s the rub. Maybe a dynasty in decline can be defined with the incessant hunger for another championship ring has been replaced by the wake-us-when-the-playoffs-start boredom.

Should Kansas City pack its A-game for Colorado, as the Chiefs did during a 30-17 dismantling of Detroit in early October, then pity the fools who believe Denver can win.

On the other hand, Kansas City has been limited to 21 or fewer points in three of its four losses this season, so there’s ample video for Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to find inspiration.

But here’s the bottom line:

If the two most impactful elements on the outcome of a big NFL game are quarterback play and coaching acumen, then it’s no wonder the Chiefs have been established as 3.5-point favorites against Denver. 

Nix will never be Patrick Mahomes, who’s a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Payton will never be Andy Reid, fit to be fitted for a husky gold jacket by the good folks in Canton, Ohio.

Kansas City is the team that the Broncos want to be when they grow up.

“That’s where we’re aspiring to go,” Payton said.

With CBS play-by-play legend Jim Nantz and a national television audience from Seattle to South Beach watching, are the Broncos ready for their closeup?