Broncos get help from the Ravens just four days after getting smoked by them

The Baltimore Ravens absolutely smoked the Denver Broncos on Sunday to the tune of 41-10. It was undoubtedly a humbling loss for the Denver Broncos and a learning experience that will hopefully make them better going forward. The Ravens are almost certainly going to be one of the last four teams standing in the NFL this year if not the last ones standing, and they stuck it to the Broncos in their matchup last week.

But even though the Ravens hurt the Broncos' playoff chances on Sunday, they helped the Broncos out in a big way on Thursday night.

Well, the Bengals had a little something to do with it as well.

Broncos playoff hopes improved with Ravens win over Bengals

Let's just take a quick look-see at the AFC playoff standings, shall we?

1. Kansas City Chiefs (8-0)
2. Buffalo Bills (7-2)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
4. Houston Texans (6-3)
5. Baltimore Ravens (7-3)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)
7. Denver Broncos (5-4)

There are a couple of teams sitting behind the Denver Broncos in the playoff race right now, including the Cincinnati Bengals. Going into Thursday night's matchup, the Bengals were 4-5 after having beat the Las Vegas Raiders (thanks) on Sunday afternoon. A win against the Ravens on Thursday night would have legitimized the Bengals as this year's version of what we saw last year from the Buffalo Bills, but a loss for them is brutal.

And the Bengals went for a two-point conversion to try and steal a win in Baltimore, but to no avail.

Even though the Ravens should have been penalized twice on that two-point play, nothing was called and Baltimore emerged victorious.

And for the time being, the Broncos have a little bit more distance from the teams behind them in the playoff chase. The Broncos have four losses heading into the weekend while teams like the Jets, Bengals, and possibly soon to be Colts have six losses (the Colts have five).

It may not seem like that big of a deal but these little things all add up at the end of the year. The Broncos need to take care of business in their remaining AFC games, and they are frankly in a similar position here this weekend against the Chiefs as the Bengals were going into their matchup against the Ravens. It's not a "must win" for the Broncos, but their playoff chances decrease to less than 50 percent with a loss and they go up over 70 percent with a win.

Getting a win in Kansas City would go a long way, and it would be even more satisfying considering it would be the first loss of the year for the Chiefs.

So, for the time being -- thanks Ravens.