While Sunday's loss in Houston was a heartbreaking one for lots of Denver Broncos fans around the world, there remains reassuring hope that the team can still grab a spot in the AFC Wildcard round of the playoffs. In the remaining five games of the season, the Broncos have a favorable schedule of opponents ahead of them as they currently hold the ninth seed in the AFC.
The race for the fifth, sixth, and seventh seed in the AFC is currently wide open between the Texans, Browns, Steelers, Broncos, Bills, Colts, and Bengals who are still alive. Luckily for the Broncos, they have wins over the Browns and Bills and can potentially boost their chances with a sweep over the struggling division-foe Los Angeles Chargers. While they'll likely need a few competitors to plummet in the power rankings during the next five weeks (Browns, Steelers most likely), the playoffs are still very realistic for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.
3 reasons why Broncos can still make playoffs:
1. Strength of schedule
In the remaining five games of the Denver Broncos schedule, they have a very favorable pool of opponents including the Chargers (5-7) twice, Lions (9-3), Patriots (2-10), and Raiders (5-7). Three of their next four opponents have losing records on the season and all four opponents have a combined record of 26-34 which consists of a low 43.33% winning percentage. At a 6-6 record, the Denver Broncos are a much better football team than their record suggests and have a very realistic chance of coming out this stretch with a 4-1 record in the remaining five games.
While division games are typically a lot closer and more competitive than expected, on paper the Broncos should sweep a poor Chargers team and potentially end their losing streak against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18. Week 16 against the New England Patriots will be in Denver and will likely be a blowout win in favor of the Broncos.
As for the Lions, it is definitely a winnable game for the Broncos considering how Detroit is struggling defensively and dealing with some key injuries, but it certainly would not be the end of the world if Denver loses in Detroit against an NFC team (assuming Broncos win their remaining games). A loss would still impact Denver's seeding in the AFC however, would not be as worse as a loss to the Chargers or Raiders.
2. Sean Payton
As long as Sean Payton is the head coach of the Denver Broncos, the team is going to be competitive in almost every football game. With a new offensive identity that helped propel the Broncos to a five-game winning streak, the Broncos have found their own way to win football games. Pound the football in the run game, throw the ball quickly and efficiently, and take occasional deep shots in the proper moments of games. It has been a recipe for success that has left opposing defenses feeling helpless at times.
However, in Week 13 against the Houston Texans, the execution by Denver's offensive line and quarterback Russell Wilson was poor, to say the least, and was not representative of a good football team looking to contend for a playoff spot. Even when the defense made the proper adjustments at halftime and played a great second half, the offense still struggled to get the job done.
But lucky for Broncos Country, Sean Payton has been coaching and calling plays at a high level for a long time. Of the 15 seasons Payton was the head coach in New Orleans, the Saints clinched nine playoff berths. Considering we saw him rally this Broncos team and bounce back from a 1-5 start, he'll find a way to lift his team into its first playoff birth in eight years.
3. Stout defense
Defense wins championships and the Broncos have the defense to potentially take them to one. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has marked one of the greatest defensive turnarounds in NFL history as his defense leads the NFL in takeaways (22) this season and has bounced back from allowing 70 points in Week 3.
Despite Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud having a field day throwing the football in the first half in last Sunday's matchup, the Broncos defense made the necessary adjustments and made multiple key stops to help put their offense in beneficial positions to score points and win the game however, the outcome did not result as hoped.
If Russell Wilson and the passing attack can fix itself and increase their scoring total over the next five games, the Broncos will have a much better shot at a good spot in the playoffs judging by how well Vance Joseph's defense has played as of late. They still have their inconsistencies with tackling and stopping the run however, have single-handedly kept the Broncos in games by creating takeaways and forcing punts. They'll look to carry this momentum moving forward down the stretch with the playoffs at the end of the tunnel.