For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Denver Broncos are getting little to no respect from the national media. According to NFL Pick Watch, over 77% of the NFL “experts” in the country are picking the New England Patriots to come into Denver and beat the Broncos this Sunday. After opening in Vegas as 3 point favorites on the road, the Patriots are now favored by 3.5 points.

Am I missing something?

I get it. The Broncos entire 2015 season has been ugly and unconventional at best. They have relied on late fourth quarter turnovers, missed field goals, and even a few accommodating penalties along the way to seal up their 12-4 record and the number one seed in the AFC. They even continued their vile nature in their playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It most certainly wasn’t pretty or traditional, but they found a way to score more points than the opponent. Isn’t that the entire point?

When the Patriots came into Denver earlier this season as 2.5 point favorites, the Broncos showed their “kicking and screaming” mentality first hand. After being down 21-7 in the fourth quarter, with the help of the a muffed punt by Chris Harper, the Broncos were able to scrounge up 17 fourth quarter points to take a three point lead over New England. Naturally, Tom Brady rallied the troops with under a minute left to put the Patriots in position to tie the game at 24 with a Stephen Gostkowski 47-yard field goal.

After holding the Patriots to a three-and-out on their first possession of overtime, the Broncos turned to C.J. Anderson on a crucial 3rd and one. The 5’8 running back out of the University of California didn’t disappoint as he took a pitch play 48-yards to the house. This not only added another ugly win to the resume of the Denver Broncos, but quite possibly ended up being the most pivotal victory of the season.

Yes, I understand that the Patriots were missing key pieces to their roster with the absence of Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, and actually lost Dont’a Hightower and Rob Gronkowski during the game, but the Broncos lost some very vital players as well. By halftime, the Broncos were missing T.J. Ward, Sylvester Williams, and Louis Vasquez. In fact, Vasquez was replaced by Evan Mathis who had only practiced once during the week due to his own injuries. Not to mention that Peyton Manning wasn’t even under center. An entirely healthy Denver team did not beat an incredibly crippled New England team, sorry.

C.J. Anderson most definitely feels disrespected.

In a news conference on Thursday, Anderson was asked what some of the parallels of the current Broncos were to the 97-98 Super Bowl winning teams. Anderson responded, “Other than being disrespected, other than that?”

After a follow-up question of why he feels disrespected, Anderson continued, “Oh you know, we don’t have a chance. If that doesn’t motivate you, then you are in the wrong business. We are supposed to go out there and get killed on Sunday, which is funny to me. Just go out there and play business. That’s why you play the game.”

The Broncos are not oblivious. They know that the media has given them almost no chance to win this game. I believe that is right where they want to be, under the radar. I have a feeling this team will go out and put together their best performance of the season this Sunday.

The media might be riding high on the Patriots, but it is clear that the fans all over the country are pulling for the Broncos. The fans want Denver vs. Arizona in Super Bowl 50.