All that stands in the way of the Broncos doing the impossible is a lone dream killer.

The Broncos have nothing to fear in the AFC playoffs except Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the last true superhero standing between them and Super Bowl Sunday.

Want to know the best reason to believe the football gods love Denver?

Let Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph explain.

“We knew to win a championship here it was going through Patrick (Mahomes), and Lamar (Jackson), and Josh, and Joe Burrow,” Joseph said Wednesday. “That’s the AFC side, unfortunately. That’s where we live.”

Well, to tell the truth, the neighborhood where the Broncos live has never looked less dangerous.

In all the years that John Elway and Peyton Manning ran this dusty old cowtown, they never had a cleaner path to the Super Bowl than the road now ahead of Bo Nix.

The same hand of fate that has kindly bestowed this Denver team with fourth-quarter magic also cold-heartedly slammed the door on Mahomes, Jackson and Burrow before they could get a foot inside the playoff party.

Send Allen packing, and the quarterback Denver will face in the AFC Championship Game –- whether it’s Drake Maye or C.J. Stroud –- will have his hands full with cornerback Pat Surtain and his defensive mates.

This is not to discredit these Broncos, but to underscore what a rare opportunity they have.

Denver has pried open its championship window at least a year early because what has already been achieved in the past 24 months feels like a minor football miracle.

I humbly offer these no-way, no-how facts for your kind consideration.

From 2024-25, the only NFL franchises that have recorded more than Denver’s 24 victories are Buffalo and Philadelphia (25 W’s apiece).

And the Broncos have done it with challenges that would’ve broken a lesser franchise.

With Nix starting from Day One as a rookie quarterback.

With the highest-paid player on the Broncos’ payroll bouncing from Pittsburgh to New York, where Russell Wilson also quickly wore out his welcome.

With Denver sacrificing a first-round draft pick in 2023 and a second-round selection in 2024 to obtain coach Sean Payton in a trade with New Orleans.

This team has already done wonders, pumping fresh life into the beating heart of Broncomania.

But beating Allen would feel like a catharsis for Broncos Country, cleansing unhealthy emotions that too many die-hard fans have harbored for too long.

Allen represents the worst football sin of Elway, whose mistake proved to be the beginning of his end as the franchise’s director of football operations.

Beat Allen, and Nix can finally drive a stake through the chronic obsession with Denver drafting edge rusher Bradley Chubb instead of plucking Allen out of the University of Wyoming with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

“He’s a special player. Obviously,” Joseph said. “There are certain guys in this league who can take over games. And he’s one of those guys.”

After 142 NFL starts and nearly eight full seasons in the league, however, Allen has won exactly as many Super Bowl rings as Nix.

Zero.

Joseph, however, is not too proud or stubborn to acknowledge Allen is one of those rare quarterbacks “that can wreck your dreams.”

Allen is a superhero who will arrive in Denver with holes in his cape and dents in the “S” on his chest.

Although he’s one tough Wyoming Cowboy, Allen is nursing injuries to a foot, knee and finger on his throwing hand.

And these Broncos have known that the football gods were on their side since the first weekend in October, when their traveling salvation show hit the road for the City of Brotherly Love. 

Brother, let me testify it was a sight worth packing up the babies and grabbing the old ladies when Nix performed a little miracle by scoring 18 straight points in the fourth quarter to earn a 21-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, who were still flying high as the reigning Super Bowl champs.

“I feel like that was the win that really kind of solidified the belief,” Broncos offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “They’re the defending champs, you go into their place and pull it out the way that we did.”

Maybe this team has tempted fate one too many times with its fourth-quarter magic.

But I’m going to draw my line in the sand:

The winner of this game will represent the AFC at the Super Bowl.

With Buffalo playing back-to-back roadies on a short work week, the Broncos should beat the Bills.

If they get the W, good on them. It’s Super Bowl or bust.

And if the Broncos see their dreams killed by Allen, we will know a team that has grown up fast was not quite ready for this big stage.