ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos are in unfamiliar territory. Three of the past four years they have been the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC playoffs, settling for the No. 2 seed the other year. It was never “if” the team would make the playoffs, but “where” they would finish.

Now, in the final stretch of the 2016 season, the question is “if” they will make the playoffs. However, for the team, specifically right guard Michael Schofield, it’s still “when.”

“Once we make the playoffs I think we will be a dangerous, dangerous team,” he said.

Since Denver (8-6) no longer controls their own destiny, there is still plenty of work to be done for them to make the playoffs. With the most difficult strength of schedule left in the final two-game stretch in the league, making the playoffs could be more difficult than the actual playoffs.

“If we win these next two games, we are going to beat some really good teams, and we are going to be going into the playoffs hot,” Schofield said.

The final two games are against the two of the best teams in the AFC: on the road in Week 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs (10-4) and at home in Week 17 against the Oakland Raiders (11-3).

“I don’t think anybody is going to want to play us if we make the playoffs,” he said.

Although the Broncos’ record against teams currently in the playoffs is unfavorable at 1-4 (1-3 against AFC teams), that record would certainly go up in the final two games if they were to make the playoffs. Besides being the defending Super Bowl champions, Denver would be a dangerous team because the confidence they would have riding a two-game winning streak into the postseason.

“Confidence-wise, for our team in general, we are going to be off the charts,” Schofield said. “We are going to be pumped going into the playoffs.”

Additionally, it is said that it is difficult to beat a team twice in a season. Since Denver had four losses against playoff teams, they would most likely get to face a team that has already beat them. Schofield believes this challenge would actually work in the Broncos’ favor.

“It is [hard to beat a team twice in a season],” he said. “We saw the game, they saw how they play us, but we saw what they did, and we will make adjustments too. It just comes down to who make the better adjustments.”

While there certainly is a case for the Broncos being a scary wild card team, they first need to focus on securing a trip to the playoffs. That path continues on Christmas night against a Kansas City team that already beat the Broncos just under a month ago.