Every team's Super Bowl aspirations are very much alive and well as the NFL ramps up for the regular season, though there are a select group of franchises widely recognized as having far more opportunity to make it to the championship tilt than the others. The Denver Broncos are not among them, but ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum did his best to put them on the radar during Tuesday's First Take.
Asked what the ceiling is for Sean Payton's team led by second-year quarterback Bo Nix, Tannenbaum set the bar very high.
"Super Bowl," he said matter-of-factly.
.@RealTannenbaum believes the Super Bowl is the ceiling for the Broncos and Bo Nix 👀 pic.twitter.com/TLE2StiRG7
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 5, 2025
Though his fellow panelists Marcus Spears and Stephen A. Smith seemed a bit taken aback by the take, Tannenaum was already rolling.
He pointed to his expectation that Nix, who was solid during his rookie year, would take another step and that the offense overall would be efficient. He also labeled the Broncos' defense as a championship-caliber unit.
Denver is coming off a 10–7 season and a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. This would be a tremendous jump considering the depth at the top of the AFC but there's a reason they play the games.
Of course, this may look a bit silly come December but if the Broncos really do emerge as one of the NFL's best teams, Tannenbaum gets to say he was first.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Analyst Floats Surprise AFC Team As Super Bowl Contenders.
