The Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars went back and forth in a very competitive Wild Card Round, as both teams were good enough to make a deep run this year. A late Josh Allen touchdown and a Trevor Lawrence interception sealed the deal and iced the game for the Bills.
With the Jags out of the mix now, the Denver Broncos saw one team that beat them this year get eliminated, and with the Bills' win, the team got a bit more clarity on their Divisional Round opponent. No matter what, though, the Broncos will have all of their playoff games at home, so keep that in mind.
Let's get into the AFC Playoff Picture with the Jaguars falling to the Bills during the Wild Card Round.
The Denver Broncos get a bit more clarity on their Divisional Round opponent
There are two more AFC Wild Card games left to play - the Los Angeles Chargers are visiting the New England Patriots, and the Houston Texans are visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here is the most simple remaning scenario for the Broncos - a Chargers' win over the Patriots forces LA to return to Denver for a rematch.
The Broncos are playing the lowest remaining AFC seed no matter what, and with the Chargers being the lowest, a victory over the Patriots means LA returns to Denver yet again. However, if the New England Patriots are able to win, the Broncos would then host the Buffalo Bills, as Buffalo would be the lowest remaining seed.
In that case, the Patriots would then host the winner of the Houston Texans-Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football showdown. At this point, it feels very likely that Denver is hosting Buffalo - and they are guaranteed to play either LA or Buffalo in the Divisional Round.
The neat thing about the Jaguars losing is that the Broncos may have seen their toughest potential opponent get bounced out of the playoffs. And on the bright side, LA isn't a great team, and Buffalo seemed to get banged up in this game, so the Broncos are likely going to face a pretty beat up team either way.
Overall, I actually personally think a Jaguars win would have been a bit more beneficial to the Denver Broncos, but with Buffalo winning, the Broncos are now guaranteed to either play the Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Chargers in Denver for the Divisional Round.