Only 183 shopping days remain until New England comes to town and good times are rolling again.

T’will be the night before Christmas and the eve of the new year when the Broncos are back in a holidaze. ‘Tis the season.

For only the fifth time in franchise history the Broncos will play on December 24th and 31st.

For only the third time they will win both on Christmas Eve and New Years’ Eve.

And for the first time since 2015 the Broncos are back to business in the playoffs.

Eleven is heaven.

The Broncos will beat the Patriots at Mile High in a nationally televised game on the NFL Network at 6:15 p.m. Dec. 24 and the Chargers in a 2:25 p.m. final regular-season home game on CBS Dec. 31.

A third Denver professional sports team will make the playoffs in 2023. All three have won world championships over a nine-year span in our Titletown that no longer is old and dusty and full of cows.

The Broncos have played on Christmas Eve 11 previous seasons (1977, 1983, 1989, 1994, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2017 and 2018 — but won only four. The worst was an ’83 playoff loss in Seattle, the 2006 home finale when the Broncos fell to the 49ers in overtime and missed the postseason and in 2011 as the Broncos were busted in Buffalo, 40-18.

The best was the Broncos’ first playoff game and victory in ’77. They defeated the Steelers 34-21.

The Broncos have played on New Year’s Eve only five years — 1977 (AFC championship victory vs. the Raiders), 2000 (playoff loss in Baltimore), 2005 (regular-season victory in San Diego over the Chargers), 2006 (one-point trimming of the Bengals in Denver) and a miserable end to the 2017 season, 27-24 in Patrick Mahomes’ first NFL start. The 20-17 upset over Oakland sent the Broncos to their first of eight Super Bowls.

The Broncos won their first two 24th-31st combos, split the third and dropped the last in ’17 in the first season of Vance Joseph, who was chosen by John Elway over Kyle Shanahan, and very close to being Joseph’s only season when Elway tried to replace him, as I originally reported, with former coach Mike Shanahan.

The Christmas Eve-New Year’s Eve amalgamation returns to Denver this holiday season in the 16th and 17th weeks of the NFL schedule.

The Broncos open the season against the Raiders Sunday Sept. 10 here and close in Las Vegas (with date and time to be determined). The Broncos’ bye is week 9.

The over-under number in Vegas for Broncos victories has been set at 8.5. If I were a gambler, I would wager the over, a lock, and reserve the Elvis Suite at the Westgate Resort, Casino & Sports Book the weekend of the Raiders-Broncos game. The over will be over by then — despite fools rushing in to predict that the Broncos will finish 6-11, 7-10.

The Broncos couldn’t have picked a more receptive first two games if they had designed their own Nebraska-style schedule. After the opener with the Raiders the Broncos play a team called Commanders.

That’s a 2-0 start. Broncos defensive coordinator Joseph and head coach Sean Payton control another former Broncos head coach, Josh McDaniels, then command the Commanders.

The third game, and first on the road, won’t be so easy in South Florida in the Sept. 24 heat against the Dolphins. The Nuggets did win two games there, but the Broncos bow to Colorado’s own and Miami’s Mike McDaniel. The Broncos then lose at Chicago and win at home against the psychedelic Aaron Rodgers Jets before a 16th consecutive defeat to the Chiefs. With a victory over the Packers, who are without Rodgers, the Broncos then orange crush the Chiefs to end the streak and possess a 5-3 mark at the bye.

After intermission the Broncos lose to Josh Allen (who should be the Broncos quarterback) and win over Kirk Cousins (who could have been the Broncos quarterback). The Broncos beat the Browns and the Texans and fade on the road against the Lions and the Chargers.

At 8-6 before Christmas and New Year’s Eves, The Broncos punk the Patriots and crush the Chargers to clinch the wild card, then end with their 11th victory, against the Raiders.

Merry and happy season.