Mark Kiszla: Nobody in America wants to see Denver in the NFL playoffs, except Broncos Country | Mark Kiszla

Instead of wishing for a gift from a football enemy, Broncos coach Sean Payton would be better off getting his own damn birthday present.

Payton turns 61 on Sunday.

The Broncos play in Cincinnati on Saturday.

If Payton wakes up on his birthday without a playoff spot, it’s a lost weekend.

Denver owns nine wins. The Broncos need one more to end the franchise’s eight-year playoff drought.

If they beat either Cincinnati or Kansas City, they will clinch their first postseason berth since the 2015 NFL season.

“These are important games,” Payton said Thursday. “And we say it all the time. We’ll play in bigger games.”

So why wait?

While Cincinnati is not, by definition, a must-win game, the Broncos will need to bring playoff urgency to their trip to Ohio.

Because it would be foolish to expect a win in the final game of the regular season against Kansas City.

Yes, we can all read the league table.

With a 15-1 record after making our buddy Russell Wilson look old and incompetent with a 29-10 win over Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, the Chiefs have secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and secured home-court advantage.

So there’s every reason to believe that Kansas City coach Andy Reid will use Week 18 to give struggling quarterback Patrick Mahomes and key players a rest at Empower Field at Mile High.

There’s no point in risking injury when what really matters to the Chiefs is that everyone stays healthy in their quest for a three-peat in the championship and accomplishing something unprecedented. No team in the Super Bowl era, from the Steel Curtain Steelers of the 1970s to Tom Brady’s Patriot dynasty of this century, has won the Lombardi Trophy three seasons in a row.

But expecting the Chiefs to turn around and do an AFC rival a favor is nonsense. Carson Wentz is far from a backup quarterback. In case you forgot Wil Lutz’s gimme field goal that was blocked in November, Kansas City has made a habit of stealing Ws all season long.

Why hope and pray to get into the playoffs through the back door when rookie quarterback Bo Nix and his teammates can prove their mettle by pulling off an upset win over Joe Burrow and the Bengals?

To say the Broncos haven’t beaten anyone this season would be wrong, although it’s not far from the truth.

While all nine wins certainly count in the standings, the overall record of opponents Denver has defeated is 42-78 (and it would be even worse if we counted Las Vegas’ 3-12 mark twice). Of the 14 league teams currently in the playoffs, only Washington has a winning record worse than Payton’s team.

While Broncos Country is desperate for its favorite football team to be back in the playoffs and doesn’t particularly care about the details, it’s been a shockingly long time since Denver has been respected or admired in NFL circles.

If you believe in penalty flags to benefit NFL stars, don’t expect the Zebras to give Nix and the Broncos a break in Cincinnati.

As ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday said during a “First Take” segment on Christmas Eve, “Nobody’s trying to watch Bo Nix, a rookie quarterback, play against Joe Burrow.” Everybody tunes Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase , Tee Higgins a… If (the Bengals) get to the playoffs, that’s a much better story. Nobody wants to watch a rookie quarterback in the playoffs.”

The Broncos get no respect.

Here’s your chance to earn it.

And here I am wishing Payton a happy birthday.

Please don’t screw it up, coach.