The Broncos already this season have dug themselves out of a 1-5 hole. Moving on from a 6-6 mark would seem to pale by comparison.

Broncos players obviously were disappointed when their five-game winning streak was snapped in a 22-17 loss Sunday at Houston. But they remain confident heading into the second game of a three-game road stretch Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers (5-7).

After all, the Broncos proved to be quite resilient after their 1-5 start, beating Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, Minnesota and Cleveland to get back in the playoff race. Center Lloyd Cushenberry III said what they did then can assist with their mindset now.

“It helps us a lot,’’ Cushenberry said. “All year long we said we were a tough group, a resilient group and we’ve shown that. The next five games (to close the season), it’s put up or shut up. We got to come out with all of these wins to get in the playoffs and once you get in, you’re zero and zero and anything can happen.”

To close the season, after going to Los Angeles, the Broncos will play at Detroit on Dec. 16, at home against New England on Dec. 24 and the Chargers on Dec. 31 and then play at Las Vegas on Jan. 6 or 7. Like Cushenberry, running back Javonte Williams talked about running the table in order to make the playoffs.

“We got to win all of them pretty much,’’ Williams said.

It’s not out of the question, though, that the Broncos could afford one loss and still make the postseason for the first time since 2015. With seven teams making it in the AFC, they are in the No. 9 spot, a game behind No. 6 Cleveland (7-5), No. 7 Indianapolis (7-5) and No. 8 Houston (7-5). Denver is assured of winning a season tiebreaker over the Browns, assured of losing one against the Texans and currently trail the Colts in a tiebreaker due to conference record (5-3 to 3-5).

The Broncos have the same record as No. 9 Buffalo (6-6) and No. 10 Cincinnati (6-6) but have won the season tiebreaker over the Bills and lead the Bengals in the tiebreaker due to conference record (3-5 to 2-6).

“We’re still in the middle of everything,’’ Cushenberry said. “We’re in a decent spot.”

Safety P. J. Locke agreed. He expects it will help the Broncos now having gone through what they did early in the season.

“Just going through that type of adversity at the beginning of the season (helps because) you’ve been through it, you know how it feels,’ he said. “You know the type of mentality you got to have to get out of that situation, to get out of that hole.

“Honestly, I’m really not worried. Obviously, I’m disappointed that we lost and we ended the streak that we had. But I’m not worried by any means (because) as bad as we played (Sunday) and it still came down to a game-winning drive, that’s amazing.”

Denver had a chance to win until Houston safety Jimmie Ward picked off a pass from Russell Wilson with nine second remaining on third-and-goal at the 8. That was the Broncos’ third turnover of the game and they had no takeaways.

Next up are the Chargers, who also are trying to stay in the playoff race. The Broncos haven’t beaten them on the road since 2019 but they are looking to start some new streaks Sunday.