Five Minutes With Kelly Dugan

Sean Payton wants the biggest spotlight there is. When the league asked Denver’s head coach if he wanted his team’s upcoming road matchup against the Chargers to be flexed into Thursday night, three days earlier than originally scheduled, he didn’t hesitate. When it was announced Tuesday that the Broncos will play Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec.

Don’t take the wag out of the puppy’s tail. Nobody wants Sean Payton to become too conservative with Bo Nix. He needs enough leash to make plays. However, there remains a middle ground where the coach trusts Nix, while the quarterback regains his rhythm. By any measure, Nix has exceeded expectations this season with 20 passing touchdowns, making him only the second Broncos quarterback to reach this mark since 2014. The Broncos have their franchise quarterback.

Colorado State and Utah State have filed a lawsuit saying the Mountain West is engaging in “extraordinary and unauthorized actions” to penalize the five schools leaving the conference for the Pac-12. Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State announced in September they planned to join the Pac-12 in 2026.

No team takes the field and tries to get off to a slow start. In Thursday night games, though, a fast start isn’t just preferred. It’s critical. Broncos coach Sean Payton noted before his team’s first Thursday night game — Week 7 at New Orleans — that teams leading at halftime on Thursday nights win a disproportionate number of games. This week, in a potential clinching matchup against a division rival with whom Denver is jockeying for postseason position, that message is getting hammered home. The Los Angeles Chargers have been a fast-starting team this year in general.

Denver is on the cusp of getting its first professional women’s sports team since the late 1990s. The National Women’s Soccer League is in the closing stages of adding Denver as the league’s 16th franchise, a source close to the negotiations confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are not yet complete. The winning bid group, publicly known as “For Denver FC,” beat out fellow finalists cities Cincinnati and Cleveland to secure the expansion franchise.

BOULDER — When Deion Sanders sees Julian Lewis behind center, he sees his son. And that sounds like music to Buffs fans’ ears. “The similarities are unbelievable,” Coach Prime said during a news conference late Tuesday morning at CU’s Champions Center. Lewis, the prep quarterback out of Carrollton, Ga., is the jewel — so far — of Sanders’ 2025 prep recruiting haul.