Head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Bo Nix have the Denver Broncos sitting atop the AFC at 10-2 after a 27-26 overtime win Sunday night against the Washington Commanders.

There are major questions about the team’s ability to win a Super Bowl after a performance in which the defense surrendered 419 total yards to a Washington squad quarterbacked by backup Marcus Mariota and battered by injuries.

The run game was nonexistent, with accumulating 87 total yards on the ground. Nix threw for 321 yards but only totaled one touchdown and one interception. Despite a talented wide receiver room, it was tight end Evan Engram who stepped up with six catches and 79 yards to be the night’s leading pass catcher for the Broncos.

Some would point to those so-so statistics and argue that the Broncos are finding ways to win and while they would be right, to some extent, the team cannot allow the type of yardage they did against Washington and expect to win a world title.

There are also questions about their strength of schedule, where they have played four winning teams in 12 games and gone a pedestrian 2-2 against them, beating Houston and Philadelphia while losing to Indianapolis and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Nix is averaging just 6.3 yards per attempt, which puts him below the likes of Tyler Huntley, Geno Smith, Shedeur Sanders Tyler Shough, Russell Wilson, and his opponent Sunday night, Mariota.

But they are still winning.

Payton’s squad continues to buck the odds, making comeback after comeback to remain a two-loss team and riding a nine-game winning streak. To count them out of the Super Bowl discussion would be disrespectful to the team and what they have accomplished through 13 weeks of regular season play.

Whether they can play like they have and still advance past the first round, play in a conference championship game, or even hoist the Lombardi Trophy playing the brand of football that they are is the real question.

Until someone puts an end to a winning streak tied for the longest in the league with New England, the answer would seem to be “yes.”