The Denver Broncos may have a path to win nine games in the 2024 NFL Season. Let's outline that path here. The Broncos may be able to make the postseason with a 9-8 record. To give you some perspective, that would force the team to go 4-3 over their final seven games to finish with nine wins.
In my opinion, nine wins can absolutely get the team into the postseason in 2024, but they may need to benefit from a tiebreaker or two. After starting 0-2, Denver has won five of their last eight, but they have also lost two games in a row.
The Broncos play four of the final seven games at home, and will need to win at least nine to get into the playoffs. Let's quickly outline a potential path to nine wins for the Broncos in 2024:
Week 11 vs. Falcons - L
Week 12 @ Raiders - W
Week 13 vs. Browns - W
Week 14 - BYE
Week 15 vs. Colts - W
Week 16 @ Chargers - L
Week 17 @ Bengals - L
Week 18 vs. Chiefs - W
I understand that the Broncos can very easily beat the Falcons, but that is not the point here. This is just one scenario where Denver wins nine games. They finish with wins against the Raiders, Browns, Colts, and Chiefs. Vegas, Cleveland, and Indy are not as good as Denver, and the Broncos are in a spot now where they have been able to win the games they should.
I don't see much controversy in predicting the Broncos to beat the Browns, Colts, or even the Chiefs at home. There could be a very real scenario where KC decides to rest their starters in Week 18 due to them clinching a certain playoff seed, and the last time Denver and KC met in Denver, the Broncos blew them out.
This would leave Denver with losses against the Falcons, Chargers, and Bengals. The Broncos have to travel to face the Chargers and Bengals, and my guess is that the betting markets would have the Broncos as underdogs in those two away games.
The game against Atlanta is the true Wild Card to me, as you could argue that the two teams are about as evenly-matched as possible. The Falcons have a very strong offense, but a bad defense and non-existent pass rush.
The Broncos have an iffy offense but a stellar defense and a stellar pass rush. If the Broncos are able to beat the Falcons in Week 11, there is a real shot that they enter their bye with a strong 8-5 record, which could definitely set them up to finish with 10 wins.
There are many scenarios for the Denver Broncos to finish with nine wins, and this just happens to be one