Destiny is so big after all, that whole seemingly inevitable or necessary succession of events thing is a lot to wrap themselves around.

So the Broncos might want to turn their attention to something other than being in control of their future because the here and now is kicking in their teeth.

Yes, after a 30-23 loss to Buffalo on Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High, the Broncos sit at 8-7 with one game remaining and only one more chance to win their way into the playoffs.

The Broncos need to leave destiny on the higher ground, roll up their sleeves and get some dirt under their fingernails.

"You want it to be easy, do something else," linebacker Jamie Winborn said. "Welcome to the NFL, you know, that's what I say. It's never going to be easy, so let's go do something when it's hard."

What the Broncos need to do between now and Sunday evening's kickoff with the Chargers (6:15 MST, Ch. 9) is to be better on special teams. They need to score more touchdowns when they push the ball inside somebody's 20-yard line.

And they need to slam the door on somebody on defense once in awhile. Get a sack, force a fumble, maybe even take an interception across a few of the yard lines.

The Broncos just need to control themselves and not worry so much about destiny.

"All three areas of the game, we just weren't good enough . . . ," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "That's all you can say."

For the most part, folks have embraced the youngest Broncos team in coach Mike Shanahan's tenure. For the most part, the team has lived with mistakes, miscues and injuries as some players who didn't expect to play worked through the growing pains of having to play.

And for the most part, the Broncos approached each valley in their Dow Jones season - bear one day, bull the next - with the idea they still were leading the AFC West, still had "a lot of Football left to be played."

They wrapped themselves in the comfort of that thought through a three-game losing streak as October turned to November, through a dismal home loss to the dismal Raiders and even as they sifted through the pieces after being trampled in Carolina a week ago.

"But now we have one game," receiver Brandon Stokley said. "That's it. One game."

Just 60 Football minutes against a San Diego team that has won three in a row to put itself back in the postseason discussion. A San Diego team that has scored 38 more points than the Broncos have this season, surrendered 70 fewer and, at this moment, just might sit a little higher on destiny's curve than the Broncos do.

When Shanahan gathered the Broncos around him just minutes after Sunday's loss, he said they would all learn what the team is made of this week.

Because even after all that's happened, that's still a sentence with a question mark at the end.

Special delivery

The Bills came into the game as the best all-around special teams unit in the NFL, sitting in the league's top three in most of the major categories.

One of those was kickoff returns, where rookie Leodis McKelvin came into the game leading the league at 29.3 yards per return.

The Broncos let him touch their first kickoff and he promptly split their coverage unit for 31 yards and kicker Matt Prater had to tackle him to avoid what almost certainly would have been a touchdown.

They tried to push the next one toward the sideline, and McKelvin still got that one back to the Buffalo 30.

After that, they tried to play keep away with an assortment of short kicks that didn't have the intended effect.

"Obviously, they had a couple opportunities, almost broke the first one, and then we did kick it deep to the right side a couple times, but overall, we had a couple kicks that were a little short, not high enough," Shanahan said. "I don't know how many yards it was, but it was a lot."

To start the second half, the Bills took the kickoff, a groundball, back to their 44-yard line and nine plays later, they had a field goal.

Fullback Fred Jackson, right, even took a short fourth-quarter offering, just after the Broncos had tied the score 23-23 with 11:03 to play, back to the Broncos 45-yard line.

The Bills covered the short field in four plays, scored a touchdown, and that was that, the so-called hidden special-teams yards not so hidden in a one-touchdown loss.

"We didn't want to kick deep to that guy because he has the potential to score every time," Prater said. "We wanted to mix it up and get it out of his hands, but then (Jackson) did a good job, too."

Added Bailey: "We've got to play better than that in the kicking game."

Back to backs

The Bills came into the game having completed 80 passes combined to their starting running back and fullback this season - 28.8 percent - and while the Broncos kept Marshawn Lynch and Jackson under wraps for much of the game in the passing attack, one bobble was costly.

With the Broncos holding a 20-16 lead and the Bills at their 32-yard line as the fourth quarter opened, Lynch was out of the game because of a shoulder injury, so Jackson was lined up as the lone running back in the backfield against the Broncos' base 4-3 look.

He flared out after the snap and up the right sideline one-on-one with Winborn in pursuit.

But Jackson got the space he needed, Trent Edwards got him the ball, and 65 yards later, Dre Bly tackled Jackson at the Broncos 3.

Three plays later, the Bills scored a touchdown to make it 23-20 and put the pressure back on the Broncos.

"It's a play in the game I wish I could take back, but, unfortunately, I can't," Winborn said. "I think that was a pivotal point in the game. We weren't able to overcome it. . . . We knew they throw to their backs all the time, and that play happened with me, he made a great play, he beat me, it won't happen again as far as I'm concerned. We had that shut down most of the game, but one play did us in."

Lynch didn't have a catch in the game and Jackson's other two receptions went for 5 yards combined.

Numbers game

4-4record at home for the Broncos during the regular season, a total that now includes losses to three teams that already have been eliminated from the postseason - Jacksonville, Oakland and Buffalo.

INFOBOX

30-something

The Broncos surrendered at least 30 points for the eighth time this season. They are 3-5 in those games but 0-3 in those games during the past five weeks.

Date Result

Sept. 14 Broncos 39, Chargers 38

Sept. 21 Broncos 34, Saints 32

Sept. 28 Chiefs 33, Broncos 19

Oct. 20 Patriots 41, Broncos 7

Nov. 6 Broncos 34, Browns 30

Nov. 23 Raiders 31, Broncos 10

Dec. 14 Panthers 30, Broncos 10

Dec. 21 Bills 30, Broncos 23