Broncos Pick ‘Em: How long will Sean Payton and Denver's win streak last?

Don’t look now, but the Denver Broncos are the second-hottest team in the NFL.

Thanks to a three-game win streak, including victories over the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, Sean Payton and the Broncos are only one game out of .500.

The Broncos dismal 1-5 start feels ancient. Denver hasn’t lost a game in over a month.

As hot as the Broncos have been, however, there is one team on an even longer win streak. That team, the Minnesota Vikings, just happens to be coming to Empower Field at Mile High for Sunday Night Football.

Will the Vikings, who are riding a five-game win streak, snap Denver’s three-game win streak?

If not, how long will the Broncos’ streak extend?

The DNVR Broncos Crew breaks it down.

All odds below are courtesy of bet365.

When will the Broncos’ win streak end?

Zac: Week 15 @ the Detroit Lions — The Broncos will extend their win streak to a whopping seven games.

Not only will a seven-game win streak be wildly impressive, but four of the wins will come against teams with winning records. That doesn’t even include the 5-5 Bills, who were 5-4 when Denver played them.

It won’t be easy to extend the Broncos’ streak from three to seven as Denver’s next three games are against teams with winning records.

They key for Denver to beat the 6-4 Vikings, the 6-3 Browns and the 5-4 Texans will be to make each team one dimensional by stopping their rushing attack.

That shouldn’t be difficult against the Vikings and Texans, as they are both in the bottom 10 in the NFL in rushing yards per game. However, it will be difficult against the Browns, even without Nick Chubb, as they boast the second-best rushing attack in the NFL. With that game being at Mile High, however, along with Deshaun Watson’s inconsistency, I give Denver the slight edge.

The win streak being snapped at seven games with a loss in Detroit will be nothing for Denver to hang their head about. The Lions are a legitimate Super Bowl team.

The Broncos will firmly be in the playoff mix after this incredible run.

RK: Two more games — If I’m being honest, the schedule is so favorable that I’m having a hard time picking a game that it ends, but football never works out the way it looks on paper. So I’ll say the Broncos stay hot over the next two games at home and extend the winning streak to five games.

It’s pretty wild to imagine that if Denver can win two games against backup quarterbacks, they will have a winning record after starting 1-5 with a 50-point loss. Vance Joseph, who was a huge culprit in the slow start and deserves a ton of credit for the turnaround, is primed to be able to flex his defenses muscles over the next two weeks.

But I’ll say the streak ends in Houston behind a heroic performance from the electric C.J. Stroud.

Hank: Sunday — The Vikings are on a five-game winning streak, and they’ve made the run without their best player: wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

It’s easy to chalk Sunday’s game up to the absence of Kirk Cousins, who tore his Achilles tendon three weeks ago, but I believe the expected return of Jefferson will have the bigger impact.

Jefferson is the league’s best receiver. He’s played three seasons and has been an All-Pro in all three. In his four healthy games this season, Jefferson has 33 catches for 543 yards and three touchdowns.

Call me crazy, but I think the Vikings might be better now with Josh Dobbs at quarterback and Justin Jefferson back on the field than they were three weeks ago with Kirk Cousins at quarterback and Jefferson on the sideline.

I don’t think the Vikings will blow the Broncos out on Sunday, but I do think the game is a toss-up. Despite the Broncos’ three-game winning streak, I still believe the Minnesota squad coming off a 13-win season is a little more trustworthy, so I’ll pick the Vikings to win on Sunday Night Football.

Picks Picks Picks

Russell Wilson passing yards over/under 204.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Over.

Joshua Dobbs passing yards over/under 232.5

Zac: Under.

RK: Under.

Hank: Under.

Will Russell Wilson or Joshua Dobbs have more passing touchdowns?

Zac: Russ.

RK: Russ.

Hank: Russ.

Jerry Jeudy receiving yards over/under 43.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Under.

Hank: Over.

Courtland Sutton receiving yards over/under 54.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Over.

Javonte Williams rushing yards over/under 68.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Under.

Joshua Dobbs rushing yards over/under 27.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Under.

Hank: Over.

Will Lutz total points over/under 6.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Under.

Hank: Over.

Broncos-Vikings total points over/under 42.5

Zac: Under.

RK: Under.

Hank: Over.

Vikings @ Broncos (-2.5)

Zac: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Hank: Vikings.

Chargers (-3) @ Packers

Zac: Chargers.

RK: Chargers.

Hank: Packers.

Raiders @ Dolphins (-13.5)

Zac: Raiders.

RK: Dolphins.

Hank: Dolphins.

Eagles @ Chiefs (-2.5)

Zac: Eagles.

RK: Eagles.

Hank: Eagles.

Leaderboard

Last week

Zac: 10-2-1

RK: 10-2-1

Hank: 7-5-1

Overall

Hank: 67-56-2

Zac: 66-57-2

RK: 60-63-2