Broncos try to extend their winning streak to 9 games when they face the reeling Commanders

Coach Sean Payton reminded the Denver Broncos this week that only one team in the AFC receives a bye in the playoffs.

“That’s significant,” he said.

The Broncos (9-2), who have won eight games in a row, are a half-game back of the top spot entering Sunday night’s road game against the Washington Commanders (3-8).

“It’s right there in front of us,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said. “The job’s definitely not even close to being finished yet, but we have put ourselves in this spot to obtain it.”

The Commanders opened the season thinking they’d be chasing the top seed in the NFC, but key injuries and a struggling defense have contributed to six straight losses.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels will miss his sixth game of the season — and third in a row with a dislocated left elbow — but the Commanders did get some good news with top receiver Terry McLaurin returning Sunday after sitting out seven of the past eight games with a quad injury.

But another starting wideout, Noah Brown, remains sidelined.

For McLaurin, a turbulent season started when he missed training camp because of a contract holdout. He signed an extension in time for the opener, only to injure his quad in the third game. His return in Week 8 ended when he aggravated the injury.

“I feel better this time around than I did last time,” McLaurin said. “I don’t really have any tightness in my injury area. I feel like my acceleration is there, just kind of that next gear that I have. I’m just not really thinking about it at all.”

Brown left the team’s Week 2 game with a groin injury, and missed preseason time with a knee injury.

Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota said having McLaurin back will allow Washington to stretch the field and better utilize tight end Zach Ertz.

“I think being able just to create matchups in our favor and create advantages,” he said. “We like our matchups with any of those guys outside and then add that on top of what Deebo (Samuel) and Zach can do inside, I think that creates a lot of versatility.”

Both teams will enter the game coming off their bye week. Washington coach Dan Quinn said seeing almost his whole team out on the practice field Monday brought a sense of optimism for a strong finish.

“For me as a coach, having a full crew who can practice, man, like that’s exciting,” he said. “Monday, I felt, coming back, that was probably the first time we had a bigger group together for a practice for the entire season. So that was a big step forward.”

Payton doesn't plan to take the Commanders lightly, knowing every game is crucial if the Broncos want to secure the top seed.

“These guys are smart enough to know what these games count for,” the coach said.

Both quarterbacks on Sunday are former standouts with the Oregon Ducks.

Nix intersected with Mariota several times over the years in Eugene, and had praise for him.

“He’s a great guy,” Nix said. “When he was at Oregon I was back in elementary, grade school, loved watching him play. He was one of the best quarterbacks of his time, of his generation.”

Nix said Mariota was always approachable during offseason workouts, and said he’s “very humble for all that he’s done.”

Never one to leave anything to chance, Payton is preparing his team for potential cold and rainy conditions on Sunday night.

Payton noted that Sunday’s game is the annual “My Cause, My Cleats” benefit, but encouraged his players to evaluate if those cleats would be right for the conditions. He also noted that the Commanders resodded their field during a trip to Spain and the bye week, so it hasn’t been played on before.

“Whatever the conditions are, wherever we play, there’s a lot of things that travel,” he said, referencing defense and being able to run the ball.

At 3-8, Washington turns its attention to the future. Quinn is in his second season and said a strong finish would help build on the foundation and culture he's worked to establish during that time.

He indicated some of the team's younger players would get more opportunities down the stretch.

“There are some people that I think are making those steps,” he said. "Like (linebacker) Jordan Magee is one that I’m feeling that type of step going to the next spot.

“I was pleased to see (Jacoby) Jones make a big play ... at receiver. And so, when those moments come and you’re helping the guys develop, that’s a big deal.”

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Washington Commanders cornerback Jonathan Jones (31) tackles Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington (6), left, during the first half of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Miami Dolphins in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Washington Commanders cornerback Jonathan Jones (31) tackles Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington (6), left, during the first half of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Miami Dolphins in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin celebrates alongside teammate Troy Franklin, left, after scoring during the second half an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Denver Broncos place kicker Wil Lutz (3) is congratulated by teammate Jarrett Stidham, right, after celebrates making a 35-yard field goal to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.

The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.

“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.

Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.

Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.

She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.

The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.

The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.

Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.

“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”

Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.

The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.

That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.

Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.

"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”

An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)