The Week 18 game has meant a ton for the Denver Broncos over the past two seasons. Back in 2024, the Broncos were 9-7 entering Week 18 and had to beat the Kansas City Chiefs to get into the playoffs. Had Denver lost that game, they would have fallen out of the playoffs in favor of the Cincinnati Bengals.
And in this year's Week 18 showdown, Denver has the total opposite scenario to play for - the 2024 game clinched the seventh and final playoff seed for the Broncos, but this year's Week 18 game is, funnily enough, for the top seed in the conference.
It really just goes to show you how far this team has come in such a short period of time, and there are other jaw-dropping similarities that will wrap you up in some deja vu.
Broncos' Week 18 game in 2024 and in 2025 have shocking similarities
The first obvious element that is the same is what we just talked about above - the playoff ramifications are huge. If Denver beats the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, they'll earn the top seed.
Secondly, in both Week 18 games, the Broncos will be in their legendary 1977 throwback jerseys, some of the best uniforms in all of sports. Many have called for those to be the permanent home uniforms.
Another huge similarity here is how the Los Angeles Chargers are approaching this game:
Jim Harbaugh said there could be some usual #Chargers starters who dress for Sunday's game vs. Broncos but fill a "backup role."
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) January 2, 2026
The Chargers plan on resting a ton of starters, as they cannot clinch the AFC West division, so, to an extent, they don't have much to play for. In 2024's Week 18 showdown, the Broncos hosted a Kansas City Chiefs team resting many of their starters.
At the time, the Chiefs were locked into the no. 1 AFC seed. This time, Denver is seeking to clinch it. Something else that remains the same is that Bo Nix has gone into both Week 18 games with 25 touchdown passes.
He threw four in Week 18 of 2024 and finished with 29 on the year. There isn't any reason why Nix couldn't throw for another four in this one. Overall, there are a ton of similarites between last year and this year's Week 18 showdown.
Perhaps that does indicate Denver is going to blowout the Chargers? That'd be nice, as the team could then themselves begin to take some starters out of the lineup, but the first order of business is to actually get out to a lead and get this game out of reach.