The Broncos remain optimistic about their ability to recover after experiencing their second-largest loss of the season against Detroit.

UPDATE : Broncos confident about bouncing back after suffering second-biggest defeat of season at Detroit

Broncos confident about bouncing back after suffering second-biggest defeat of season at Detroit

Once again, the Broncos will try to pick themselves up after an ugly loss in the Eastern Time Zone.

Of course, this one wasn’t as bad as the 70-20 setback in Week 3 at Miami. But Denver did give up its second-most points in a game this season in a 42-17 loss at Detroit on Saturday night.

At least plenty has changed overall recently for the Broncos (7-7), who have won six of their past eight games after a 1-5 start. Despite the rout at Ford Field, they still have a decent chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015 due to a soft schedule to close the season.

The Broncos have home games against the New England (3-11) next Sunday and against the Los Angeles Chargers (6-8) on Dec. 31 before finishing up Jan. 6 or 7 at Las Vegas (6-8).

“We got three games left to go and I think if we win those three, I think we’ll be in pretty good position,’’ tackle Mike McGlinchey said after Saturday’s game. “Obviously, there’s not a lot of room for error in these next few weeks, but if we take care of the business the way we know we are capable of and the way we’ve shown over the last two months, I’m confident we’ll be able to get this done.”

Entering Sunday’s late afternoon games, the Broncos were in the No. 11 spot in the AFC playoff race, with seven teams making it. They didn’t get any breaks, though, in Sunday’s early games with Houston (8-6) defeating Tennessee 19-16 in overtime and Cleveland (9-5) winning in the final seconds 20-17 over Chicago.

The Browns remain entrenched at No 5. After that, it’s No. 6 Cincinnati (8-6), No. 7 Indianapolis (8-6), the No. 8 Texans, No. 9 Buffalo (7-6), which played host to Dallas later on Sunday, and No. 10 Pittsburgh (7-7).

“It’s difficult to swallow,” Denver coach Sean Payton said of Saturday’s loss. “Certainly, as coaches, it starts with us. We’ve got to be better, but man, we’ve got to be able to shake it pretty soon here and then get ready to play New England.”