The Denver Broncos came away with the No. 1 seed in the AFC after a huge win over the San Diego Chargers. What will the power ranking experts place the team this week?
It was a tough season. Plenty of ups and downs, but your Denver Broncos managed to fight through it all until the very end (and get some help) to secure the top seed in the American Football Conference.
From Manning to Osweiler and the right back to Manning, the Broncos got to 12-4 on the year. Not the record I had predicted, but if it gives the team the No. 1 seed, I will not hesitate to take it.
With the Wild Card Weekend off, the Broncos will spend the time to rest and recover before they take the field on Sunday January 17th. The Broncos will not know who they play until late Saturday night, but that team will most likely bring them a challenge.
With the regular season in the books, we take a look at the Power Rankings for the final time. Where do the Broncos sit going into the Postseason? Let us take a dive into it for the final time this season.
Bleacher Report: Broncos Jump To No. 3
Sean Tomlinson of Bleacher Report gave the Broncos a bit of a jump this week putting them back in the top five at number three in the final rankings.
This is quite a solid jump. The Broncos sit behind the Chiefs and Panthers for him. Which does make sense seeing as how the Chiefs are on a roll and the Panthers are 15-1 going into the playoffs.
Tomlinson points out that he believes that Manning should start the playoff game in two weeks. Not only because he is the “significantly better quarterback, but the significantly safer quarterback on the roster.”
This is pointing out the five turnovers that the Broncos had when Brock Osweiler was on the field for 38.5 minutes of the game. In my personal opinion, he failed to see that not all the turnovers were because of Osweiler. Three fumbles and two interceptions and all of the sudden he is mistake-prone?
To recap this portion of the article, he states about the quarterback and their weaknesses. Which I can agree that whomever starts will have to limit the mistakes. But let’s not blame it all on the quarterback now.
NFL.com: Broncos enter the Top 5
Elliot Harrison of NFL.com has placed the Broncos back into the top five as well. He rose them up three spots to No. 5. A fair place to put them, but also an interesting that he has the Broncos above the Patriots this time around.
He talks about how the Broncos have gone from nearly missing the playoffs to the No. 1 Seed in the AFC. But he also references the Patriots more than the Broncos in this power rankings. Are the Broncos weaker than the Patriots? The Patriots will have a healthy Edelman, Gronk, and Amendola if they meet again.
Can we talk more about the Chargers game than how the Broncos might lose to the Patriots in the postseason with a healthy receiving corps?
With that said, let the postseason play out and we shall see if this topic gets revisited.
For ESPN, they point out the Broncos defense. In all honesty, I was wondering when this would get pointed out. The Broncos defense finished first in total defense for the first time in franchise history.
ESPN surprisingly put the Broncos just behind the Carolina Panthers as the No. 2 team in their power rankings. They bring out an important point in regards to the quarterback situation.
“The Broncos just need someone to protect the ball.”
I could not agree more. As long as the signal caller that starts can protect the football, the Broncos can win any game. And it even ties into their next point, which I pointed out earlier.
“The Broncos ranked first in total defense for the first time in franchise history.”
Let that sink in for a moment there. And this as well, “Defense Wins Championships.”
I believe that the Broncos defense will play a key part to the Broncos playoff run. And if you say otherwise, I would have to disagree with you.
The MMQB- Broncos Stay at No. 4
With how impressed he has been with the Seattle Seahawks, Peter King decided to keep the Broncos at No. 4 for his final power rankings, also called the Fine Fifteen.
I do not blame him for doing so. I give credit to Seattle for the complete beatdown on Arizona. But with that beatdown, I am a bit surprised, with how he has done his rankings, that Denver would not be above the Cardinals.
Either way, I’ll take them being in the top five in his power rankings. For his analysis, he points out that he would not be surprised to see Manning taking first team reps and that he expects Kubiak to make that move.
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In all honesty, I would not be surprised myself. But the question lies, granted his playoff history, does Manning give the Broncos the best chance to win in the postseason. The answer is obvious, but I am interested to see this.
What will six and a half games on the bench do to Manning? In all honesty, it may not do that much seeing as how hard of a worker he is. Something for us to keep an eye on.
What do you all think of the final regular season rankings? Leave your comments below. Go Broncos!