The Denver Broncos did their part and finished off the regular season with a 19-3 home win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the Week 18 regular season finale to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs.
Now, it’s time to play a waiting game.
The Broncos are in the AFC Playoffs for the second consecutive season after an 8-year drought and tied the franchise record for most wins in a regular season by going 14-3 overall.
Having the No. 1 seed means home field advantage throughout the playoffs, which will open with the Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round on either Saturday, January 17 or Sunday, January 18.
The Broncos will play the lowest seed remaining after the Wild Card round games; Chargers (7) at New England Patriots (2), Buffalo Bills (6) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3) and the Houston Texans (5) against the winner of the Pittsburgh Steelers (4) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4) game on Sunday Night Football in Week 18.
“The Broncos have matured, they’ve grown up,” CBS Sports play-by-play commentator Jim Nantz said during the Week 18 broadcast. “Now they’ve earned the right to play at home through the playofffs.”
Key details (quick answers)
- Wild Card Weekend: January 10-12
- Divisional Round Weekend: January 17-18
- Broncos seed: The Broncos are the AFC’s No. 1 seed and will have home field advantage through the playoffs
- Why it matters: The Broncos will play the lowest seed remaining throughout the
- Official game times: expected late Sunday night once the bracket is fully set
Broncos Haven’t Hosted Playoff Game Since 2015
The Broncos haven’t hosted a home playoff game since they defeated the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady, 20-18, in the AFC Championship Game on January 24, 2016.
In their AFC Divisional Round game that year, the Broncos defeated the Steelers, 23-16.
Two weeks after defeating the Patriots, the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California — the site of this year’s Super Bowl.
Most Important Things to Watch for Broncos
The biggest question surrounding the Broncos headed into the playoffs is how their up-and-down offense will perform after only scoring 19 points against the Chargers and dealing with a smattering of boos in the home win.
If you want to boil that concern down to one player, it’s quarterback Bo Nix.
Nix is in his second season as a starter and his 24 regular season wins through his first 2 NFL seasons are a league record but his performance in the last 2 games of the regular season — both wins — is a cause for concern.
After he averaged 296.4 yards passing over the previous 5 games, Nix averaged 160.1 yards passing over the final 2 games and only had 1 touchdown pass in wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Chargers.
On the flip side, some might point to the Broncos’ lack of elite offensive skill players and say Nix has been thriving.
“Bo Nix deserves the MVP I don’t care anymore,” Just Talkin Ball wrote on its official X account following the win over the Chargers. “He won 11 STRAIGHT GAMES, with a JV high school level of supporting cast. It’s genuinely insane what he has done with this team.”
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