The Denver Broncos unfortunately endured the worst-case scenario in Week 16, as they lost but all of the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars won, obviously. The Los Angeles Chargers also beat the Dallas Cowboys. Since the Broncos got off to such a great start, they have built up a bit of a cushion.
And, believe it or not, they were able to afford a loss, and they did get bullied for 60 minutes by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the playoff-clinching scenarios are still on their side heading into Week 17, which is awesome news.
Denver needs a few things to go their way to clinch the no. 1 overall seed, but the simplest solution is to simply win out - the Broncos would then clinch the top seed in Week 18, but the Week 17 clinching scenarios are possible, and we have those covered right here.
Denver Broncos' playoff rooting guide for Week 17 of the 2025 NFL Season
For the AFC West title:
1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie OR
2. DEN tie + LAC loss
For the No. 1 overall AFC seed:
1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie + NE loss + BUF loss or tie + JAX loss or tie
The Steelers, Texans, Panthers and Packers all have playoff-clinching scenarios in Week 17. pic.twitter.com/bDz2v17TNY
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 23, 2025
Here are the opponents for all of the teams mentioned above:
Broncos @ Chiefs
Chargers vs. Texans
Patriots @ Jets
Bills vs. Eagles
Jaguars @ Colts
The easiest path forward for the Denver Broncos is to take care of business on Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs and then root for the Houston Texans to beat the LA Chargers. Denver then becomes the AFC West champions, which is one huge goal accomplished. In order to clinch the no, 1 seed, then, Denver would have to root for the Jets to beat the Patriots, and for the Eagles and Colts to at least tie with the Bills and Jaguars.
There are some interesting matchups here in Week 17, as the Texans are perfectly capable of beating the Chargers - they did in the Wild Card Round. The Bills may also have a tough time with the Eagles, and the Colts are proving to be a tough out even with Philip Rivers under center.
Thanks to the tiebreaker Denver has with the New England Patriots and also being one game up on the Chargers, Bills, and Jaguars, the Broncos are in the best spot of all of these teams. The Week 16 loss was tough to endure, but it does not really change the big picture that much...