Do you believe in miracles? Broncos can not only be back at Super Bowl next year, but win it. – The Denver Post

Circle Feb. 12, 2023, on the calendar with a bright orange Sharpie. When the Super Bowl is played one calendar year hence, the Broncos will not only be in it, but win it.

Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers will lead the league’s most prolific offense on the field for the NFL championship game in suburban Phoenix. And if I’m reading my crystal ball correctly, then things will begin to get really interesting.

With Denver trailing by four points in the fourth quarter, a strong defense, masterfully assembled by general manager George Paton, will force a crucial turnover against the defending champion LA Rams, when linebacker Von Miller strip sacks former teammate Matthew Stafford, setting up receiver Davantae Adams’ catch for the winning touchdown.

As Broncos dance in swirling confetti, new president of football operations Peyton Manning will make his way to the field and raise the Vince Lombardi trophy alongside new Broncos owner and Denver native Robert F. Smith.

The chances of all this becoming reality? Slim-to-none. But hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?

If the Cincinnati Bengals, who haven’t been cool since Zubaz pants were fashionable, can play in this Super Bowl only two years after being the worst team in the NFL, absolutely anything is possible.

Right?

After a six-year playoff drought, the Broncos are only one elite quarterback away from returning to legit championship contention, provided Paton can cut a deal with Green Bay for Rodgers or persuade Seattle to trade Russell Wilson to Denver.

Or so the story we all want to believe goes.

That story, however, ignores the inconvenient truth the Broncos did not send a single player to the Pro Bowl for the first time in 41 years. That’s right, for the first time since Captain and Tennille were climbing the Billboard record charts, there was not a representative from Denver in the all-star game.

With a shortage of true playmakers on both sides of the football, the Broncos are more than a Hall of Fame QB away from winning the Super Bowl.

But if you would be so kind, please don’t tell Rodgers or Wilson.

It is but a quibble that new Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett has won zero NFL games and assembled a staff of three first-time coordinators. Why worry about the growing pains of inexperience?

If Paton is unable to land Rodgers or Wilson, what’s Plan B? With the ninth overall selection in the NFL draft, quarterback Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh is a bigger reach than Justin Fields would’ve been in the same draft slot in 2021.

While Denver is flush with cash to burn in free agency and Paton generally earned thumbs-up reviews for roster building during his first year on the job, let’s keep it real. His outside additions to him, from signing cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller as free agents to obtaining Teddy Bridgewater in trade, were in a word: meh.

Although commissioner Roger Goodell would like the sale of the Broncos to address the league’s shaky track record of promoting diversity in positions of power, this multibillion-dollar transaction could’ve been far more straightforward if only the late Mr. B had been more decisive in naming Brittany Bowlen as the heir apparent.

The Cinderella run of the Bengals to the Super Bowl was built the old-fashioned way, through the pure dumb luck of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft at a time when Joe Burrow, who displays Tom Brady-like tendencies, was there for the taking.

After bailing on St. Louis and spending billions on an extravagant football palace in Los Angeles, our old pal Stan Kroenke was in no mood for patience to win the NFL championship. With bold moves that included the acquisitions of Stafford and Miller, the Rams have mortgaged their future to win now.

Building sustainable football success is laudable. Wearing a big, diamond-studded ring, however, is way more fun.