The Denver Gazette sports staff predicts Sunday’s game between the Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys at Empower Field at Mile High:

Paul Klee’s pick: Cowboys 27, Broncos 26

Rule No. 1: take the superior defense. So we’re breaking the rules here, but the Cowboys scoring 40-plus points in three games this season is no joke. The Broncos show only one 40-point game in the Sean Payton era. Either way, the lucky folks with tickets on Sunday are in for a barnburning treat.

Overall record: 6-1

Chris Schmaedeke’s pick: Broncos 28, Cowboys 27

The Broncos can’t wait to score all their points in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys. Denver’s offense takes advantage of the poor Dallas defense and looks good, but the Broncos defense must shine to take home this win.

Overall record: 4-3

Chris Tomasson’s pick: Broncos 27, Cowboys 24

Perhaps it is odd the Broncos have chosen to don throwback uniforms against the Cowboys, who walloped them 27-10 in Super Bowl XII in January 1978 when they wore similar jerseys. Nevertheless, the Broncos will slow down the Cowboys offense enough to please some alums from nearly a half century ago.

Overall record: 5-2

Mark Kiszla’s pick: Cowboys 30, Broncos 28

A team that messes with the football gods lives at the mercy of the football gods. And, mercy me, these Broncos tempt fate too often to be trusted. If the breaks tend to even out over the course of a long NFL season, Denver is due for a bad one.

Overall record: 6-1

Kyle Fredrickson’s pick: Cowboys 24, Broncos 23

Reality check. The Broncos are winning by the slimmest of margins lately. That formula is a bust against the league’s top offenses. Denver’s vaunted defense will limit Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, but not in the fourth quarter, when he takes over to snap the Broncos’ four-game winning streak. 

Overall record: 5-2