If the Denver Broncos miss the playoffs, it probably won't be by more than a game. The team missing the postseason would be a total travesty for the NFL. The Broncos have a chance to be one of the single best stories the NFL has seen in years. The team started 1-5 and has a realistic, perhaps even likely shot at making the postseason.
They've gone 6-1 in their last seven games on the backs of an improved defense and an efficient offense that limits turnovers and brutalizes opponents on the ground. Right now, the Broncos are 7-6. Among the three current AFC Wild Card teams and other contenders, there are a whopping seven teams within a game of each other.
The Browns are 8-5, and all of the Steelers, Colts, Texans, Broncos, Bengals, and Bills are 7-6. This is one of the tightest playoff races in NFL history. When you look at each of these Wild Card contenders, some of these teams are, well, not exactly what you want to see from playoff teams.
The Browns have a backup QB as the starter in Joe Flacco. The Steelers have absolutely no one at QB. Both Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett are truly awful and the team has one of the worst offenses in the NFL. The Colts are starting a backup QB in Gardner Minshew and have a rookie head coach. The Houston Texans have a rookie QB and HC. The Cincinnati Bengals have a backup QB and a bad defense. The Bills have a turnover-happy, overrated QB and a coach who compared football to the 9/11 attacks on our country.
The Denver Broncos have a Super Bowl-winning head coach AND quarterback. You see, no one wants to see Gardner Minshew, Kenny Pickett, or Jake Browning in the playoffs. Why would anyone want to watch that nonsense? The Denver Broncos have the best QB/HC duo of any Wild Card contender in the AFC and would be the most competitive Wild Card team if they were to make it to the dance.
NFL fans in general want to see close, competitive games, especially when the playoffs roll around. Wouldn't the Denver Broncos pose the toughest competition of any Wild Card team? I think they would. This team has gone 6-1 in their last seven games and now has one of the best defenses in the NFL over that stretch. They're forcing a ton of turnovers and are getting the best QB play of any Wild Card contender. Russell Wilson and Sean Payton going up against, let's say, the third-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round certainly sounds like better football than a team like the Indianapolis Colts facing the Chiefs.
I think it would be a travesty for the NFL if the Denver Broncos do not make the postseason.