Think many Broncos don't notice how competition fares? Think again

Broncos safeties Mike Adams and Rahim Moore, like many of their teammates, won't be able to help noticing how the Texans do Sunday. But Peyton Manning will pay Houston no mind.

By Andrew Mason

Dec 27, 2012 at 5:42 am ET • 2 min read

Safety Mike Adams will have an eye on the Texans' game prior to the Broncos' kickoff on Sunday. (US Presswire)

When the Broncos opened Sports Authority Field at Mile High in 2001, it was known as Invesco Field, and its south-end zone scoreboard was considered to be super-sized. Now it's just average, which is why it will be replaced in the upcoming offseason.

Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore it -- especially when before every game, it displays the feed from the NFL's RedZone channel, as do the two smaller video boards in the northeast and northwest corners of the stadium.

Many players look up -- which means that as they go through warmups before Sunday's game, they'll catch at least a passing glimpse of the Texans-Colts game, which starts at 1 p.m. ET and should end just before the Broncos and Chiefs kick off three hours and 25 minutes later.

"It's on the JumboTron. That's what Mr. B (Broncos owner Pat Bowlen) put it up there for -- so we can look at it," S Mike Adams said.

Not everyone will, even though a Texans loss means the Broncos are playing for home-field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl. The Broncos' other competition, the Patriots, had their kickoff moved from 1 to 4:25 p.m. ET just so there was no chance that the Broncos could be locked into their seed when they kicked off.

"The time of their game is really irrelevant to me," said QB Peyton Manning, who shook his head when asked whether he would pay attention to other games.

But Manning's focus is extraordinary. More players are like Adams. It's not that he and his fellow Broncos are distracted, it's just that time in warmups and on the sideline while the offense is on the field offers a chance to absorb what else is transpiring.

"You do it a little bit, but at the same time, it's about controlling your own destiny," S Rahim Moore said. "If you worry about what they're doing, that's when you lose focus. We're in a good position right now, where we've got to stay focused."

So when the Texans' 23-6 loss to the Vikings flashed on the scoreboard last Sunday, Adams took note -- and said others did, too.

"We've all got our eye on it," Adams said. "You can't say we're not looking or we're not paying attention, because we're all paying attention."

But what is the benefit of home-field advantage all the way through? Five of the last seven Super Bowl winners were a third seed or worse, and didn't have a bye week. That group includes the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, the only world-championship team of which Manning has been a part.

"Seeding, to me, doesn't matter," said WR Brandon Stokley, who played on two teams -- the 2000 Ravens and 2006 Colts -- that won Super Bowls without earning first-round byes. "We just want to take care of Kansas City and play a good football game and just move on after that. But as far as seedings, it doesn't matter, it really doesn't."

Perhaps that's why Manning's answer when he asked whether he cared about being the top seed was terse and dismissive: a simple "No." All this hubbub about seedings has been much ado about nothing before, and could be again.

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