The Denver Broncos are atop the NFL world right now and have a strong 9-2 record at the bye. The Broncos get to sit back and relax for a week before regrouping for the final six games of the regular season, and Denver may have set themselves up nicely to not have to win a whole lot to clinch the AFC West.
That surely isn't the way they are thinking, but the Broncos might only need to win three of the final six games to clinch the division. Obviously, if they were to win out or win five of their remaining six games, they would clinch the AFC West.
There is a clear path to the division title, but unless Denver gets these three things cleaned up, they won't win it in the end.
The Denver Broncos could see the AFC West lead disappear unless they fix the following
All the penalties
The penalties are a huge issue, as the Broncos have the most in the NFL with 93 and eight more than the next closest opponent. Funnily enough, Denver has been the beneficiary of 91 penalties, so it's actually not totally throttling them as much as it could. However, it's easy to see how being called for the most penalties in the NFL can harm this team late in the season.
It would only take one penalty in a must-win game to seal the deal for the other team, so perhaps the Broncos being on the bye in Week 12 can help them reset their minds and play some clean football.
Figuring out the run game with no JK Dobbins
It seems like JK Dobbins will miss the rest of the season unless the Denver Broncos make the Super Bowl. RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin figure to be the top two backs in the room going forward, but are we sure those two will be enough? The Broncos would be smart to bolster the RB room with a free agent signing like Jamaal Williams or Zack Moss.
Dobbins was on pace to shatter the 1,000-yard mark. He had an excellent season up until getting hurt, and I would be shocked if Denver didn't make a roster move at some point. Getting the run game figured out with no Dobbins is a must if the Broncos want to keep the lead in the AFC West.
Special teams
The Denver Broncos' special teams unit had themselves a game in Week 11. Jeremy Crawshaw had a series of amazing punts pinning the Chiefs deep in their own territory, Marvin Mims Jr had a long punt return, and Frank Crum dropped and extra point.
Wil Lutz was also 5/5 on his field goals as well, including the game winner, but, as a total body of work, the ST unit has still been a bit shaky this year, and now is the time for Darren Rizzi's unit to button up. Denver still isn't strong with their kick and punt coverage, and they simply cannot get burned by a long return late in a game that they have to win.