Denver is a Broncos town. While football doesn’t define a great city, nothing brings Denver a greater sense of community than football. So on this Sunday, on a stadium off Federal Blvd., when 75,000 fans are reunited in orange with the team for the first time since COVID-19 forced us apart, how great is it going to feel?

“It’s going to be cool. We love Broncos country, Broncos Country loves us. It’s going to be great arriving there 2-0. I know the fans can appreciate that. We’re just going to keep trying to ride the wave,” linebacker Von Miller said.

During the pandemic, we’ve all made sacrifices, all experienced loss, all felt isolated, all wondered when going to a big party would happen again.

For the Broncos and everyone that loves them in this football-crazy town, that time has arrived.

Denver vs. the hapless New York Jets, slated to start for a few ticks of the clock past 2 p.m. Go ahead. Get a little crazy. When was the last time the Broncos, five long years without a playoff appearance, were double-digit favorites against any foe?

How joy is defined at the home opener of the 2021 NFL season can be as unique as each one of 75,000 fans and the 11 Denver players that take the field for the opening kickoff, as Empower Field at Mile High rocks and rolls, riding an orange wave of emotion.

Maybe that joy can be defined by something as simple as a fist bump exchanged in the South Stands between fans that haven’t seen each other since before the coronavirus drove a wedge between us. Or maybe it’s the return of hope that big things are again possible in Broncos Country, a sense of hope that new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has instilled with back-to-back road victories.

But what will make me smile will be the sight of every No. 14 and No. 58 jersey worn proudly throughout the stadium, welcoming back Courtland Sutton and Von Miller from injuries that crushed the team’s chances of success in 2020.

“You talk about ‘Court,’ how he’s worked, the sacrifice he’s made to get back to this point,” Bridgewater said.

After playing only 31 snaps in 2020 before tearing his ACL while attempting to make a tackle after an interception, Sutton made a bold statement in Week 2 at Jacksonville, catching nine passes for 159  yards almost a year to the day from his injury.

“There’s nothing like having success in the game, for the mental. Mentally, you can say: “I’m back, I can do it,’ ” said Miller, who missed all of last season with a freak injury suffered on the turf of the team’s indoor facility, where the Broncos were practicing during a freak September snowstorm.

While the influence of Bridgewater on the team’s 2-0 start can’t be overestimated, what could make even a bigger impact on the Broncos going forward is the return of Sutton and Miller to their Pro Bowl form.

Bridgewater, who saw his own career threatened by injury in 2016, talks frequently about the sense of purpose athletes such as Miller and Sutton bring after fighting back to resume playing a game they love. In Miller and Sutton, the sense of urgency felt by the most talented player on each side of the football for the Broncos can permeate and inspire a locker room.

“I thank God every day that I’m in the position I am in right now because there’s a lot of hard work that went into it,” Sutton said. “And a lot of support staff from the trainers, my family, my friends. I’ve had a lot of people in my corner supporting me throughout the whole process. And to be able to go out there and compete in games, it’s just a blessing.”

Fearless prediction: If Sutton and Miller both go to the Pro Bowl, the Broncos will follow them into the NFL playoffs.

“If we can play our best ball, I feel comfortable with our odds in any game. We’ve got a great squad, we’ve got great fans,” said Miller, whose three sacks in two games have been the exclamation points on his clean bill of health. “It’ll be good to get back in Mile High and play in front of those guys. I know it’s going to be rocking and I’m looking forward to it.”