As the 2025 regular season winds down, the Denver Broncos are atop the AFC West for the first time in almost a decade. Denver not only leads the pack in the AFC West, but is also one of two contenders for the top seed in the conference. Their dead sprint with the Patriots is going to be one of the more entertaining storylines down the stretch in the NFL.
For Broncos fans, the many irons in the fire make it hard to track who to root for each week. The Broncos are far from locking up the AFC West, but a Chargers loss would give them a significant boost. The Chargers are not yet sure if they will be without top-flight starting quarterback Justin Herbert, who is currently dealing with a break in his non-throwing hand.
The Chiefs are holding onto their divisional hopes by a thread and are now facing the red-hot Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football. A loss could functionally eliminate the Chiefs from the playoffs, considering they would sit at 6-8. Lastly, a massive AFC South matchup between the Jaguars and Colts could have playoff seeding implications for Denver.
Here's who the Denver Broncos should root for in Week 14 across the NFL
3) Pure madness between the Jaguars and Colts
Who doesn't love a crazy game, right? The Jaguars and Texans are surging, while the Colts are free-falling into the abyss. Daniel Jones is hurt, regressing, and the team overall is looking much more like the one many expected we would see for the majority of the year. If anything, a Jaguars win pushes the Colts further down the ledger, and makes their head-to-head win over Denver less relevant in the case of tie breakers. Jacksonville would be the only other, albeit minimal, threat for the top seed. The Broncos would be able to squash that with a December win in Denver.
2) Houston Texans over the Kansas City Chiefs
It might make more sense for Broncos fans to root for a red-hot Texans team to stumble on their way to the playoffs, but priority one is eliminating the Chiefs. The only way that the Broncos can assure they won't run into the best version of Patrick Mahomes, playoff-Mahomes, and the Chiefs is if they aren't in the postseason. A loss pushes Kansas City to 8 losses, and a 9-8 team very likely would not make the AFC playoff field, especially with the amount of head-to-head losses the Chiefs have to other contenders.
1) Philadelphia Eagles over the Los Angeles Chargers
In a world where the Chargers lose and the Broncos win this week, Denver's chances of winning the AFC West jump from 86% to 95%, which could all but wrap up the division. The Broncos enter their matchup in Las Vegas as substantial favorites, and the Chargers will be home underdogs on Monday Night Football against the Eagles. The injury status of Justin Herbert is still very much up in the air, and a starting Trey Lance could completely flip the status of that game on their head.