The Denver Broncos remain in a "win and in" situation as far as the 2024 NFL playoffs are concerned. But they need to win one of their final two games after dropping an absolute heart-breaker to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.
The Broncos held a 21-10 lead and then a 24-13 lead before the Chargers scored 21 unanswered points and it was too late for the Broncos to make a comeback. The Denver defense completely let the team down and the offense sputtered when it mattered most on Thursday night.
While the Broncos are still currently the 7th seed in the AFC, they also face a bit of a rough scenario as the season comes to a close. Let's take a look at where things stand as far as the Broncos playoff chances after the annoying loss to the Chargers.
Broncos playoff chances still looking decent after loss, but they need to win one more
The Chargers and Ravens are both sitting with 9 wins right now and they've got tie-breakers over the Broncos. In theory, it's still possible that the Broncos could jump those teams if they win their last two and both the Chargers and Ravens lose the remainder of their games. Nobody is banking on that. Right now, it's still looking like the 6th or 7th seed for the Broncos, and maybe the 7th seed at best.
The Broncos play on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on December 28 and Broncos Country has to be hoping for a late Christmas gift with a win on the road there. A win against the Bengals would get the Broncos in the playoffs. They finish out the season at home against the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver.
The Bengals play the Browns this weekend with Cleveland throwing Dorian Thompson-Robinson out there at quarterback. It feels like that's a game the Bengals will win, but if they lose, they are out. One more loss for the Bengals will seal their fate. They play Cleveland this weekend and then the Broncos (in Cincinnati) and then the Steelers (in Pittsburgh).
The Indianapolis Colts, despite their head-to-head loss against the Broncos, could still get into the playoffs over the Broncos if all of the Colts, Dolphins, and Broncos have 9-8 records at the end of the year. The Colts play at home against the Titans this week, on the road against the Giants the following week, and then at home against the Jaguars to end the season. The Broncos need one of those terrible teams to pull off an upset to knock the Colts out of playoffs, because one more loss will sink them as well.
The Miami Dolphins might be the most likely team to be knocked out of the AFC playoff race this weekend with a home matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Even though the 49ers are battered right now, that's still a well-coached team. Still, you figure the Dolphins are probably good enough to beat them at home. We'll see. Their final two games are at the Browns and at the Jets, so one of those teams would have to pull off an upset.
Again, "all" the Broncos have to do to make the playoffs is win another game. And winning a 10th game puts pressure on everyone else (Chargers, Ravens). But winning against the Bengals on the road or at home against the Chiefs? Well, the Broncos might need to start hoping the Chiefs lock up the #1 seed in the AFC and bench starters at the end of the year.
The Broncos are going to understandably catch flak for being 1-6 against teams with records above .500 at this point, and it's justified criticism. Even though two of those games came from their first two opponents, the Broncos failed miserably on the road against the Ravens, they let both games against the Chargers get away from them, and they had a field goal blocked against the Chiefs.
Boy, how large does that loom at this point?
The Broncos just need to win one more and they are in. But how confident is anyone feeling about them getting that done after that epic collapse against the Chargers? This team needs to regroup quickly.