The Denver Broncos played their tail off in the regular season and earned a first-round bye into the Divisional Round. Not only does this mean that the team has already advanced further into the playoffs than they did last year, but it also means that this team has an extra week to prepare and get healthy.
Bye weeks are a neat thing in the NFL - many of the best coaches in the league know how to navigate the bye with their players and typically win at a high level after the break. Fortunately, Sean Payton has excelled after the bye in his head coaching career.
Denver had the bye back in Week 12. At that point, the Broncos had won eight games in a row and had just beaten the Kansas City Chiefs on a walk-off field goal. The following game after the bye saw the team get into a high-scoring battle with the Washington Commanders, but the team's offense was excellent.
The Broncos' offense looked like a new unit after the bye earlier in the season
Denver beat Washington by one point, so it wasn't an ideal outing, but Bo Nix and the offense were exceptional in this game. Week 12 did begin the concerns with the defense, but the unit has allowed just 16 total points over the past two games.
The offense is what I want to focus on, though, as this unit played extremely well against the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks prior, and that came after a 10-day rest period. Denver had played the Las Vegas Raiders on TNF the week prior. This unit has responded well to the additional time to prepare, and this could be the key in sparking a Super Bowl run.
Against Washington, Bo Nix was 29/45 for 321 yards and a touchdown. He threw an interception, but he was otherwise exceptional in that game, and he had to do more heavy-lifting than usual, as the Broncos couldn't get a ton going on the ground.
And even after the team's 'mini-bye' before the Chiefs game two weeks prior, Nix was fantastic, going 24/37 for 295 yards. The offense scored 49 points in those two games combined, so averaging nearly 25 points per game after these breaks is huge.
If Denver could score 25 points in the Divisional Round, it could be plenty enough to win. With the strong defense, especially at home, the Broncos are in a great position to make a Super Bowl run this year.