Love equals victories. In Denver, the Broncos get all of the love and most of the big victories. This undeniable truth makes the Rockies, Nuggets and Avalanche feel like losers, and drives them crazy with jealousy.

The Broncos have cultivated something as powerful as it is rare. In a handful of American cities, fans love their favorite team so much, winning becomes a birthright. Just as the Cardinals don’t dare disappoint St. Louis, the Packers are lifted by the strong shoulders of Green Bay and Lexington has the audacity to think Kentucky is the center of the college basketball universe.

“I think tradition helps. This organization, except for one coach, has been really good,” said Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, poking fun at his 16-16 record during a brief stint as the team’s head coach from 1993-94.

“This is a first-class organization that’s won for a long, long time. The people and fans here are great. … They expect you to win here. And I think that helps you. I coached in high school, and when you’re in a town that the people expect you to win, you win more. That’s the atmosphere here. So I think part of that pressure to do well just carries over to the team. That’s just my theory on it.”

Preach, Wade, preach.

The Broncos are religion in Denver, so closely tied to the city’s identity it will be declared a three-day weekend if the team wins against San Diego. On the flip side, the town will sulk if the Broncos cannot wipe that smirk off Philip Rivers’ face.

In comparison to the Broncos, it might be unfair to say the local baseball, hockey and basketball franchises are chopped liver. It probably would be more accurate to say they are chicken … salad.

Winning? The Broncos are life in Denver, and the rest of the pro teams are just details. Let us know when there’s a bandwagon to jump on. Or never mind.

“They expect you to win everywhere, but some places are satisfied that you didn’t,” said Phillips, talking to the media horde that follows the Broncos everywhere. “Here, they fire you if you’re 8-8.”

Do the masses really demand that the Rockies, Avs or Nuggets win?

Around here, the Rockies are an excuse for a picnic. On any given night at Coors Field, there are 32,000 people in the ballpark, and the demographic breakdown goes something like this: 40 percent are cheering for the visitors, 25 percent are diehards who wish Dick Monfort would sell the franchise, and 35 percent are more likely to know the price of a beer on the party deck than Nolan Arenado’s batting average.

Around here, the Avalanche exists primarily to remind refugees from the Rust Belt the only thing they miss about the cold, gray winter from back home is hockey. Ray Bourque’s No. 77 hangs in the rafters of the Pepsi Center as a fitting reminder of the 15 minutes when the NHL really mattered in Denver.

The Nuggets are good practice for when Josh Kroenke takes over his father’s entire sports empire. (I kid because I care.) I like and respect Josh, even if he did recently sneak up behind me near Union Station and wonder aloud if it would have been possible to push me in front of an RTD bus without getting caught. (He was kidding. I think.)

The Broncos are so essential to Denver’s civic pride that when they lose one lousy game, it can make coach Gary Kubiak so sick he ends up in a hospital with a migraine.

The Avs or the Rockies miss the playoffs, and what happens to their coaches? Do they get ill, or even fired? No. Heck, no. Rather than settle for mediocrity, Roy quit and went to play golf. Rather than eat another of his boss’ famous baloney sandwiches, Walt Weiss decided to take a hike, looking for a lunch he could swallow.

There might be 50 legitimate and varied reasons Weiss and Roy quit, but it all really boils down to one basic issue: Year in and year out, winning is essential to only one pro franchise in Denver.

I do believe in the power of the people. Call it corny, but crank up the volume on that old Journey song, because Phillips and I won’t stop believing. Around here, the Broncos are bigger than all of us, and the Broncos are a little piece of every fan’s heart.

Yes, the Broncos win because John Elway might be a better general manager than he was as a quarterback, and they win because Miller is a Vonster that ate Super Bowl 50. But it’s more than that.

In Broncos Country, the people believe ruling the NFL is the team’s manifest destiny.