Broncos Will Need 14 Wins To Get First Round Bye, Can They Get There?

The Denver Broncos have their fan base dreaming big and then some. The Broncos are riding an eight-game winning streak, and with the threat of the Kansas City Chiefs disposed of for the moment, thoughts are turning to what it would take to get that crucial first-round bye.

Beat writer Nick Kosmider of The Athletic tackled this question in his latest Broncos mailbag, and he made a couple of strong points. He sees 14 wins as the number it would take to secure the bye, but getting to that number will likely be tougher than it looks.

Start with the next two games. The Broncos go on the road to play the Washington Commanders this Sunday night, and East Coast road games are always a challenge. The Commanders probably won’t be one to any great extent, although there is a vague rumor that Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels could play.

The Las Vegas Raiders are next up, so that one’s a slam dunk, right? Possibly, but the Raiders game is also more important than it looks. A win would give the Broncos the tie-breaker over the New England Patriots, who actually lost to the Raiders, somewhat unfathomably, in their season opener.

If both teams finish 13-4, Kosmider notes, that kind of scenario would bring the tie-breaker into play, and there are other scenarios where these two teams could finish with identical records.

That’s where the fantasy of easy wins comes to a close. Denver’s next three games are against the Green Bay Packers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Chargers, and all three of those teams are tracking toward the playoff. That part of the schedule has teeth, as Kosmider notes, and it’s the big obstacle to get to those 14 wins.

What about the Colts, you ask? Well, they were kind enough to shoot themselves in the foot yesterday against the Kansas City Chiefs, so there’s that, but the Broncos lost to the Colts, so that tie-breaker is gone. The Colts also have a brutal schedule, starting with this Sunday’s home game against the Houston Texans, so this might be a problem that justifies Denver’s concern.

There’s also that little Christmas game in Kansas City against the Chiefs. The Chiefs may be in the rear view for the moment, but after their comeback win against Indianapolis yesterday, it’s hard to imagine that game not having some kind of playoff implications.