The Denver Broncos beat the Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 on Sunday afternoon, but they actually handed multiple teams a loss.
Not only did the Broncos get a crucial win against the Raiders, but that win against the Raiders was pretty much as good as a head-to-head win against the New England Patriots when it comes to playoff seeding. If the season ended today, the Broncos would be the #1 overall seed in the AFC thanks to a 6-0 record against common opponents with the Patriots.
New England only has two losses this season, but they lost in Week 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders, of all teams. That's given them a 5-1 record against common opponents with the Broncos, which would give the Broncos a higher seed if the two finish the season with the same record.
Broncos win vs. Raiders is as good as a head-to-head win vs. Patriots for playoff picture
Go figure: A Raiders win could help the Denver Broncos secure the top seed in the AFC playoffs. Wouldn't that be something?
The Broncos have fought extremely hard to win their last 10 games in a row, and with an 11-2 record this season, they've already managed to surpass last season's win total. Sean Payton has this team playing much better offensively over the last three games, and they had some of the best all-around balance we've seen this year in the win against the Raiders.
If the Broncos can continue making strides on the offensive side of the ball, they are going to be extremely difficult to beat this season. It might not end up being an issue of overall record with the Patriots when all is said and done, but the Broncos have done their part to control the controllable.
New England was on a bye in Week 14, but they still managed to suffer a loss thanks to the Denver Broncos. Every Patriots fan out there was undoubtedly rooting for the Raiders to pull off an upset, but they couldn't pull it off.
Even more annoying for the Patriots? The Bills managed to find a way to win against the Bengals, so they've kept the pressure on with just a few games left to play. And guess who New England plays when they come back from their bye on December 14?
The Buffalo Bills.
Things are shaping up to be very, very interesting in the AFC. As great as the Patriots have been this season, their bye week could not have gone worse in terms of the other teams around the conference winning, but especially the Broncos.
It pretty much works like two wins for Denver in the overall standings, where they are #1 in the AFC.