The Denver Broncos were surely watching Monday Night Football in Week 14, as the Philadelphia Eagles were the team to root for. The Los Angeles Chargers came into that game 8-4 on the season and really hanging by a thread for the AFC West title.
The ideal clinching scenario for the Broncos would have been for the Chargers to lose in Weeks 14 and 15, and then the Broncos taking care of business in Week 15 against the Packers. Well, the Chargers beat the Eagles in overtime, and Jalen Hurts had five total turnovers.
It was a messy game. LA improves to 9-4 with the win, still trailing Denver by two games, but the Broncos' chances to clinch the title this year just got a little bit harder, so we'll dive into that here.
Broncos now cannot clinch the AFC West title in Week 15
Here are the upcoming opponents for the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers in the coming weeks:
Broncos
Week 15 vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 16 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Chargers
Week 15 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Week 16 @ Dallas Cowboys
With the MNF result, the Broncos could now clinch the AFC West title as soon as Week 16. Denver winning their next two games gets them to 13-2 on the season, and, in that case, the Chargers would need one more loss, as they have four. A fifth Chargers' loss and 13th Broncos' win seals the deal.
Fortunately, the Chargers do have some tougher opponents on their schedule in the coming weeks, as the Kansas City Chiefs are going to be playing a desperate brand of football to save their season, and the Cowboys do have a high-flying offense.
But the Broncos' upcoming opponents are quite difficult. Both teams have nine wins after Week 14. If nothing else, each game being at home plays to the Broncos' advantage. Perhaps it was too much to ask the Eagles to beat the Chargers, but there is still a great chance that Denver does win the AFC West.
They might not be able to rely on anyone else but themselves, though, so they have to take care of business, which is something they have done the entire season thus far.