NFL Divisional Round could shift Broncos offseason course in 2025

There are a couple of major battles that need to be won over the course of a grueling 18-week NFL season in order to be competitive in the AFC in 2025 and beyond. Not only do you have to have a team that is good enough to win 10-plus games and just make it too the NFL Playoffs in the first place, but once you get to the postseason, you've got to be able to weather the storm.

Literally.

It's not enough to just have a good enough team to win regular season games and put up big-time numbers. The Denver Broncos took a huge leap on both sides of the ball in 2024 with a top-10 offense for the first time since 2014 and they had one of the best defenses in the league all year.

And they were still beaten by 24 points in the playoffs by Josh Allen and the Bills.

As Broncos Country collectively watched the NFL Divisional Round of the playoffs, one thing stood out as much as anything and should be considered a consistent factor moving forward: If you're not built to win in the elements, you're toast.

Broncos need to be built for all terrain in 2025 offseason

What did we witness in Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Buffalo this past weekend? The ability to win in the trenches and play bully ball matters. And the snowy conditions in Buffalo and Philadelphia were a great reminder that even the most well-oiled machines offensively are going to struggle in the elements.

As our own Lou Scataglia wrote, this is a multi-faceted issue which also necessitates having a stud at the running back position. You need to load up at the position, of course, but having a stud you can lean on is a common theme for some of the best teams in the NFL this season. The Broncos tried -- and failed -- to land Josh Jacobs in the 2024 offseason. Even though the latest talk is that not many NFL teams have a "bell-cow" back anymore, I wouldn't be shocked to see Denver go after a guy who can be featured in the offense substantially.

But these teams that are built to run the ball well and dominate in the trenches are the ones still standing in 2024.

The Houston Texans got beat in Kansas City because they couldn't block for CJ Stroud. The Detroit Lions got absolutely wrecked on the defensive front in their loss to the Commanders. The Baltimore Ravens had their worst game of the season defending the run against the Bills. The Los Angeles Rams couldn't stop Saquon Barkley.

You get the idea here.

As much as everyone wants to put offensive weapons at the top of the Denver Broncos' 2025 offseason to-do list -- and justifiably so -- they might have to put an equal emphasis on the defensive front seven in order to assure that a playoff collapse is not inevitable.

Being able to control the line of scrimmage when guys cannot get their footing and the running game is the best source of offense for both teams? It's the difference this time of year.

In the AFC, where are you going to be playing come January? You're going to be playing in Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, heck -- maybe even Denver someday soon. It feels less and less likely that you're going to be getting matchups in warm-weather climates when it comes to the AFC playoffs and much more likely that you're going to face blizzard-like conditions where ball security and winning in the trenches matter a lot more than really anything else.

The elements changed the way teams played in the Divisional Round. Josh Allen had 127 passing yards. Guys were uncharacteristically dropping passes. Receivers couldn't keep their feet when running routes. Defenders couldn't change direction because they were basically playing on skates.

There is always a chance you could play a playoff game in the upcoming years in a place like Los Angeles, Houston, or Miami, but the likelihood of that seems pretty slim. And because of that, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Broncos put more of an emphasis on the defensive front in 2025 than anyone is really expecting.