Although a longshot to make the AFC playoff field at 7-8, the Denver Broncos remain alive for the postseason with two Sundays left in the regular season. There’s even a way for the Broncos to get the No. 1 seed for the AFC West.

But Denver will have no path to the playoffs if it loses to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

That’s one reason the Broncos are “desperately trying to win,” Denver coach Sean Payton said, and will have a different starting quarterback against the Chargers than for the previous 15 games this season.

On Wednesday, Payton announced nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson would be replaced by Jarrett Stidham, who has two starts in five NFL seasons.

“We need a spark,” Payton said. “We need something right now. …

“I’m hopeful it gives us a spark. I’m hopeful that we do some other things better. And it’s not just going to be on him. The O-line, the receivers, the running backs, those guys are going to have to play well. That’ll be important.”

The Broncos made the change after losing to the New England Patriots 26-23 on Sunday for their third loss in four games. Denver didn’t top 287 yards in any of the three setbacks and lost six turnovers in those games.

“I don’t think I need to overthink it,” Stidham said. “Just do what I’m coached to do. We have a great staff, a great group of guys around me. I’m just going to do my job to the best of my ability, do the certain things I need to do on each and every play and move the ball down the field and hope we score a lot of points so we can get a win.”

RELATED: NFL WEEK 17: SCHEDULE, TV, ODDS

Stidham entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick from Auburn in 2019. Since then, he’s played in 14 regular-season games, including four snaps in one in 2023.

“He’s someone who’s got real good poise,” Payton said when asked what gave him confidence that Stidham would deliver for the Broncos. “He’s got real good feet. You see his arm strength, decision-making. Take a peek at the 49er game, or take a peek at the Chiefs game. Some of those things we saw, and, obviously, we get a chance to see him every day against our defense.”

In 2022, Stidham started the final two games of the season for the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I guess they’re similar, but they’re also completely different as well,” Stidham said of his end-of-season opportunities. “Again, I think it just goes back to preparing like I have been throughout my entire career. Nothing this week changes now that I’m a starter versus a backup last week. I’ve had my routine that I stick with that I know gets me prepared, gets me ready to play, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Las Vegas lost 37-34 to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 1 and 31-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 7 as Stidham completed 45-of-70 passes for 584 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 84 yards on 14 carries against two of the NFL’s best teams.

Stidham became the second player in NFL history with at least 350 passing yards and three touchdown passes in his first start and the 11th player in the league’s AFC-NFC era with at least 584 passing yards and four touchdowns in his first two starts – and the only one of those 11 quarterbacks to rush for 84 yards, too.

“As a quarterback in the NFL, you don’t ever really know, like you think you know what you can do, but until you can go out there and actually do it,” Stidham said, “and, obviously, that was my first start in four years, at the end of my fourth year. I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself. That’s never wavered or anything. Like I said, I lean a lot on the guys around me. I’m only one guy, and this is an 11-man sport, so it takes all 11 of us to execute and do what we can do on each and every play to move the ball and score points.”

Last season, Stidham took over for Derek Carr, who was sent home for the final two weeks of his ninth season with the Raiders. With a 6-9 record, Las Vegas was trying to keep Carr healthy because his contract was guaranteed against injury. With Carr’s 2023 salary of $32.9 million plus $7.5 million of his 2024 salary set to become fully guaranteed in the offseason, the Raiders needed the quarterback to remain healthy to retain their option to release him, which they did.

But Las Vegas did not re-sign Stidham in the offseason either. Stidham joined the Broncos in free agency for a two-year, $10 million contract.

Wilson’s salary of $37 million for the 2025 season becomes fully guaranteed if he’s still on the Broncos’ roster five days after the NFL’s 2024 fiscal year starts in March. It’s already guaranteed against injury.

“I understand all the speculation and everything that surrounds a move like that,” Payton said. “I can tell you, look, we’re desperately trying to win. Sure, in our game today, there’re economics and all those other things. But the No. 1 push behind this — and it’s a decision I’m making — is to get a spark offensively.

“Obviously, it’s difficult. All of us feel like, ‘Man, we didn’t do well enough.’ But one of the things we saw when we signed Stidham in the offseason was not only film from preseason games, but regular-season games, and he’s a guy that I’m anxious to see play. If I didn’t feel like he gave us the chance to win, then we wouldn’t be making that move. The irony is obviously he was in a situation that many would say is very similar, and yet I would say it’s somewhat different. …

“In regards to the future, we haven’t had a sit-down. I’m sure we will. (Owner) Greg (Penner) and I and (general manager) George (Paton) speak frequently. But this is about now. This is about trying to get our eighth win, and we’ll go from there.”

The Broncos and Chargers kick off at 3:25 p.m. Sunday in Denver.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.