It was a long, hard road through the first six weeks of the 2026 NFL season for the Denver Broncos, but they emerged from the difficult stretch with a 4-2 record, and well in the thick of the AFC playoff picture.

In Weeks 1-6, the Broncos faced nearly the entire NFC West, including the 2025 Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, 2026 Super Bowl favorites in the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, and the Kansas City Chiefs. After a Week 1 blowout loss to Kansas City in Arrowhead, the Broncos bounced back with wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Rams, before a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, followed by a win over the hapless Los Angeles Chargers, and finally a win over Seattle last week.

"It’s a great test, it’s right where we wanted to be," offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey said of opponents faced over the first six weeks. "You don’t want to come into this league and pray for easy wins. This is the NFL, it’s the greatest league in the world. There’s so many teams worthy of being successful, but at the end of the day you have to execute when you’re on the football field. We’ve been finding enough ways to do that to get four wins on the board against really, really great teams, and certainly some great defenses. I’m excited for where we’re headed.”

The Broncos haven't come out of this stretch unscathed: their secondary of Talanoa Hufanga, Pat Surtain and Riley Moss have all missed time, rookie running back Jonah Coleman was placed on IR after a hard-fought performance (he is eligible to possibly return this week), and quarterback Bo Nix has played some of the worst football of his young career to date.

Nix spoke on the offensive struggles from his perspective, explaining that a lot of the struggles have come because of the opponents they've faced.

"I do think you have to [attribute it to] the schedule, just the first six games we knew were going to be tough," Nix said. "To come out 4-2 with really a complete team effort in all six games, it’s a complete team effort to get four of those wins. We came up short just barely in San Fran. We could be 5-1. 4-2 is a really good spot, and then as an offense, we’ll figure out ways to continue to improve.”

Other players like running back J.K. Dobbins just care that the Broncos are winning.

Coach Sean Payton knows that the Broncos' record could just as easily be much worse, especially since Denver has had to come from behind in three of their four wins to start the season. But what about the team's start gives him reason to smile?

"The record," Payton deadpanned to reporters on Thursday. "Meaning I say that the record, because those wins are hard to get. So we just played a real good team, and I feel like we can continue to improve. Being at 4-2 right at this little three-day stretch and then get ready next week, that’d be the honest... And again, I’m a little bit of a realist to know that four and two could easily be two and four.”

Quarterback Bo Nix had a similar takeaway.

"I do think there are some ways that we obviously will continue to improve," Nix said. "At the end of the day, the win is the most important.”

The Broncos certainly hope to keep the momentum rolling into Week 7 when they go on the road to face the Arizona Cardinals.