Eight is not enough.

XII, XXI, XXII, XXIV, XXXII, XXXIII, XLVIII, L (50).

But, oh lawd, will the Broncos ever reach a ninth Super Bowl and win a fourth World Championship?

Praise Penner-Paton-Payton if the Broncos get to LVIX for the team’s third Super Bowl at the Superdome, LX for their second Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium or LXI for the franchise’s first Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium (and second in Los Angeles).

Castigate, censure, and condemn the triumvirate if the Broncos don’t return to the Super Bowl for 11 consecutive seasons.

This is another subdued, somber superfluous Sunday in our state. The Broncos were silenced once more.

Yet, over a 39-season span, 1977-2015, the Broncos played in 10 conference championships and 42 postseason games. During that spectacular stretch when the Broncos were among the best and the brightest in the NFL, they never missed the playoffs for more than five sequential seasons.

The Broncos haven’t sniffed a scent of success in eight seasons.

From the pinnacle to the pits.

Super Bowl LVIII will feature a team whose head coach ought to have been the Broncos’ hometown coach. Mike and Kyle Shanahan can become the first father-son head coaches to win championships in the four major professional sports leagues. Too bad-sad the achievement wasn’t with the Broncos.

Frankly, feel fortunate Denverites-of-passage. You could be living in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Broncos are tied for second most Super Bowl appearances — before the 49ers play in No. 9 Sunday. The Patriots have been in a league-high 11 Super Bowls, and the Steelers and the Cowboys have also advanced to eight.

Four teams, the Browns and the Texans (each with two different franchises in Cleveland and Houston), the Lions and the Jaguars have participated in nulla (the Roman word for zero). However, Cleveland, Detroit and Houston won NFL or AFL titles. Jacksonville has won zilch (the German word for nothing).

The Patriots and the Steelers have prevailed in six Super Bowls and could be equaled by the 49ers in LVIII. The Cowboys own five rings, the Packers and the Giants four, and the Broncos, the Raiders, the Chiefs, and the Washington, D.C., franchise three.

Super Bowl history: The Denver Broncos in the big game

As the person who nicknamed the Broncos’ defense Orange Crush and one of the few Colorado witnesses to all eight of their Super Bowls, here are memories from the corners of my mind:

The First One — Paul Roach appropriately was the Broncos’ running back coach because the team was sentenced to stay in “The Roach Motel” adjacent to a New Orleans airport for the inaugural indoor Super Bowl at the Superdome. Players complained about cockroaches in the rooms. After the Broncos lost to the Cowboys 27-10, co-MVP defensive end Harvey Martin smashed an Orange Crush can against his forehead. John Denver was scheduled to perform at the Broncos’ post-Super Bowl party but declined after the defeat.

Game of Thorns at Rose Bowl — Leon Uris, the famous author of “Exodus’’ and “QB VII’’ (which was not about the Broncos quarterback), and an Aspen resident was hired by my newspaper to cover the Broncos’ second Super Bowl, and I was ordered to hang out with and help him. “How many days do I get to write a column after the game?’’ he asked me. “Two hours,’’ I replied. “Impossible,’’ he said. When the Broncos fell to the Giants 39-20 Uris said: “What do we do now?’’ I said: “Exit us.’’

Third Time Not Charming — “Broncos led 10-0 after the first quarter and trailed 35-10 after two. I went outside of the stadium in San Diego at halftime. A Broncos fan in an orange jersey collapsed nearby and was rushed away in an ambulance. He died. The Broncos didn’t feel so good themselves.

Return To Bourbon Street Blues: Years later, I asked John Elway to describe his feelings about the 55-10 debacle against the 49ers in the Superdome. “Joe Montana to Jerry Rice (three touchdowns), and I forget everything else.’’

Victory Finally — MVP Terrell Davis ran one yard for a touchdown untouched with 1:45 remaining for a 31-24 lead because Packers coach Mike Holmgren told his defense to let Davis score. Green Bay couldn’t score. This one was for John. Afterward, I talked to Kyle Shanahan and Johnny Bowlen, sons of the head coach and the owner. Now, one is San Francisco head coach, and the other has $450 million from the Broncos’ sale.

Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar waited 35 years for Hall of Fame induction

Back-to-back — Before the grudge match between Falcons coach Dan Reeves and Shanahan-Elway, Shanahan said privately he wanted to win by more points (46) than the 49ers had beaten the Broncos. The Broncos were up by 25 in the fourth quarter but won by 19.

Jersey Buoys — The Broncos’ headquarters for the week were on a cruise ship, and choppy waters made several players very ill. After Kevin Costner told me he was picking the Broncos, the Seahawks and Russell Wilson drowned the Broncos and the prediction of disaster “Water World’’ star. I wrote: “This one is for the john.’’

Orange Crush Redux — I visited Broncos’ former head coach John Ralston (1972-76) in an Alzheimer’s care center in Sunnyvale, Calif., near the site of Super Bowl L. He didn’t know the Broncos were playing. Ralston drafted, traded for, and signed as free agents 35 players — including first-round pick and future Hall of Famer Randy Gradishar — who were on the original Orange Crush Super Bowl team. He was not acknowledged 40 years later. The Broncos won because of defense.

The 49ers win because of offense Sunday 31-30.

Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton and Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph don’t look very happy as the Packers march down the field near the end of a game at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)