The AFC has been a jumbled mess to start the year, and almost nothing has made any sense. Atop the conference with a pair of incredible victories is an upstart Colts team, led offensively by one of the biggest quarterback busts in recent memory, who is suddenly reaching his full potential in 2025. At the bottom of the standings at 0-2 sits the NFL's modern dynasty and arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. Who saw this one coming?
Somewhere in the middle are the Denver Broncos, who are a respectable 1-1, but could very easily be 0-2 or 2-0. Denver would probably be more than willing to sit somewhere in the middle of the two at 1-1, but it is becoming more and more clear that the AFC many of us expected might not come to fruition.
To add another layer to this, injuries are piling up across the NFL, and older players are clearly hitting the end of their road. Whether it is Joe Burrow's foot injury that could sideline him until the new year or Travis Kelce quite literally handing the ball to Eagles defenders on the goal line, the NFL landscape has changed in 2025.
Denver's playoff odds are hard to make out this early
There was, and still should be, plenty of hope for the Broncos in 2025. Their loss to the Colts was a difficult pill to swallow, and could put a coordinator's job in jeopardy early on. However, if this Colts team continues to play at the level they have, it could be a miracle in hindsight that Denver was in a position to win that game.
The AFC West could very likely come down to whether or not the Chargers and Broncos can pick up victories over the Chiefs and each other. LA plays a tougher schedule than the Broncos, so they might need to sweep the Chiefs to win the division, and Denver will definitely need at least one victory. The first matchup between the Chargers and Broncos is set for this Sunday, and most see the Chargers as some degree of a favorite.
In the likely scenario that Denver doesn't win the West, they'll need to stack up conference wins. They already hold one over the Titans and have a few weaker AFC opponents on their schedule. The Broncos still have the Jets, Jaguars, Burrow-less Bengals, and two with the Raiders on their slate. If Denver can take advantage of these games, they should still be able to secure the AFC's 7th seed, at worst.
Before the Broncos can even get to that point, much of the AFC still needs to be sorted out. Several questions remain, including the validity of teams like Jacksonville and the Patriots, if Geno Smith and the Raiders can hang with the rest of the AFC West and pick up in-division wins, and if teams such as the Texans and Steelers have the offensive units to make a playoff push. Until these questions begin to get answered, the playoffs are within grasp for the Broncos, but to an unknown level.