Who’s scared of Sean Payton, Bo Nix and the 12-3 Broncos?

Not the Jaguars. That’s for sure.

And here’s a hunch the other AFC contenders consider the Broncos to be paper tigers, too.

After Jacksonville stormed into Empower Field and smacked around the Broncos 34-20 Sunday, first-year coach Liam Coen took offense to an earlier comment from Payton, who had referred to Jacksonville as “a smaller-market team” in what seemed to be a throwaway comment last week.

“A small-market team like us can come into Mile High and get it done,” Coen said Sunday.

Shots. Fired. And the Broncos took a hit in their quest for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Jags (11-4) were bigger, better and badder (in the best possible way) to end Denver’s 11-game overall winning streak and 12-game home win streak.

“Part of this process is not fooling ourselves,” Payton said. “They beat us tonight.”

No ifs, ands or buts about it. But you know what? If claiming a No. 1 seed were easy, everybody would be doing it.

The Broncos set Super Bowl LX as their goal. If that’s the case, beating Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC is not only important. It’s everything.

Yes, it’s possible to see a path to Levi’s Stadium in February by hosting a pair of home games. But taking the other road — without a bye in the first round? I can’t see it. Jacksonville exposed the two greatest strengths of a solid Broncos outfit: Denver’s defense and its home-field advantage at Mile High. 

Neither rattled the Jaguars one tiny bit.

The Broncos lost for the first time in three months to the day. Amazing. They lost a home game for the first time since a 23-16 loss to the Chargers on Oct. 13, 2024, a stretch of 12 games. Incredible.

And the Jags couldn’t have cared less.

There was a lot of potty talk afterward in the Broncos locker room. Losing at home by two touchdowns stinks.

“We’re a 12-win team. I’m not going to sit here and let you guys (expletive) on our parade,” linebacker Alex Singleton said.

“Flush it down the toilet,” Broncos lineman John Franklin-Myers added.

Yet I am more inclined to credit the Jags instead of burying the Broncos.

Was that Trevor Lawrence or Mark Brunell scrambling around and firing lasers for the Jags? If Bo Nix grows up to play like Lawrence on Sunday, Broncos Country would be over the moon.

With his flowing locks that still make most of us guys jealous, Lawrence made every play he needed to make. On third down, he opened the game 5-for-5 for 140 yards. The Jags finished the game converting more than half their third-down attempts, no small feat against the Broncos “D.” And when Lawrence wasn’t zipping lasers for first downs, he was scrambling for key yards and demoralizing a proud defense. Watch the film. Their shoulders slumped.

“I don’t know what the third-down numbers were,” Payton said. “But they’re not good.”

A little help over here: the Jags were 8-for-15 on third down, the worst mark for Denver’s defense this season.

“Ultimately, we’re going to get a chance to play that team again,” Franklin-Myers said.

Now Jacksonville owns a winning record (4-3) in Denver. That’s no small feat, either.

The bigger concern for the Broncos is how their defense is slipping at a bad time to slip. They’ve allowed 34, 26 and 26 points in three of the past four games — too many points for a team that relies on its defense to be great.

“We’ve got to get off the field on third down,” cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian said.

Good news is, the Broncos will have a very merry Nixmas. From man to man in the locker room, they pledged to be raring to go against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, when an injured Patrick Mahomes will be on the sideline, unfortunately, for a Christmas night contest.

“We’re going to be on to Kansas City ASAP,” Sean Payton said.

After that? 

“Everybody, we’re going to get their best shot,” Nix said.

The Jags did not believe the Broncos were all that and a bag of chips. They’re not alone. Now the Broncos must prove the world wrong again.