NFL Playoffs if season ended today: Broncos would face a familiar foe

As of now, the Denver Broncos are in a playoff spot. Who would they play if the NFL Playoffs began today? Not only are they in a playoff spot, but the team currently has a 52% chance to make the postseason, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Denver has the 6th-best odds in the AFC to make the postseason, and those odds would go up if the team takes care of business in Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers.

Denver getting to 5-3 is not at all out of the question, but in Weeks 9 and 10, they have two-straight away games against the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. Denver doesn't necessarily need to win either of those games, but being able to win one of them would outstanding to say the least, and if Denver gets to 6-4 over the next three weeks, I would be shocked if they missed the playoffs.

Anyway, the current AFC Playoff Picture looks like this with the following matchups:

1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. Houston Texans
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Buffalo Bills
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
6. Indianapolis Colts
7. Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos @ Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Buffalo Bills

The Broncos would face an old foe in the Wild Card round

Denver played Houston last year in a game that went down to the final plays. The Texans iced the game when Russell Wilson threw an interception in the end zone on third and goal. It was a gross ending and a painful loss, but anyway, here we are now!

Both the Broncos and Texans got better this past offseason, so I'd imagine a hypothetical matchup in the Wild Card round would be quite interesting. I've picked Houston to win the Super Bowl this year, and I'm sticking with that pick, but the Texans have some holes and some questions to answer. Well, they'll need to answer them if they hope to make a deep playoff run.

The Broncos will have some work to do if they hope to make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. They still have to play the Ravens, Chiefs twice, Chargers once more, Cincinnati Bengals, and Atlanta Falcons, among other games. Denver won't have an easy path into the postseason, but them sitting in a playoff spot at the near-halfway point of the 2024 NFL Season is outstanding, no matter what you thought this team would do this season.