The Denver Broncos kind of collapsed in the second half and fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16, dropping to 12-2 on the season and seeing their leads dwindle atop the AFC and in the AFC West. The Broncos are now approaching a situation where the final two games feel like must-wins, and if they do that, they would be the top seed in the conference.
Overall, the Broncos do control their own destiny, so in a way, they could afford a loss, but this was still tough to stomach. Whether it was miscues on both sides of the ball, poor officiating, or a mixture of both, the Broncos largely got bullied.
But in a way, did the Broncos need this? Was Denver riding too high of a horse? They were winning many of these games by slim margins, so perhaps this loss was something necessary for this team this late in the season. The loss does not really hurt the Broncos in the grand scheme of things, so perhaps the Football Gods knew what they were doing here...
Broncos have a quick taste of losing that may have come at just the right time
The Broncos have had many close calls at home this year, including that sloppy Thursday Night Football performance in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the recent home win against the Kansas City Chiefs, that electric Giants' game, and the Packers' game last week.
Many were right in saying that the wins would stop at some point, and it stopped in Week 16. The Jaguars were riding a win streak of their own and are a very good team, perhaps better than the Broncos thought.
Now that this loss is out of the way, the Denver Broncos got humbled a bit and can now experience what it's like to take another brutal loss, and they can use it as some key motivation in four days when they play the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.
That game is definitely going to be a must-win, and with the Chiefs starting a third-string quarterback, it could be a prolific, bounce-back performance from the team. Maybe not all is lost with this defeat.
The last time Denver lost a game, they won their next 11, so perhaps this loss could kickstart a short two-game winning streak into the playoffs, perhaps leading to a deep run and even more?