The Denver Broncos should be all-in on getting the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
My stance on that hasn’t changed in weeks.
Two games at home is by far the easiest path to the Super Bowl. That remains the goal for this Broncos team. Earn a bye, get some rest and let every other AFC contender beat each other up in the wild card round.
However, would losing one game down the stretch really be that bad for Denver?
We saw in 2012, the first year of Peyton Manning, when then Broncos took an 11-game winning streak to the postseason. They got a bye, which was great, but then looked tight against the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.
Everyone knows what happened, one of the most infamous plays in franchise history ended their season. The Joe Flacco fling over safety Rahim Moore sent the game to OT and Denver eventually fell in double overtime.
It’s the loss of a lifetime for a lot of Broncos Country. They were going to win the Super Bowl that year. And instead, a miracle heave brought it all to a stunning and heartbreaking conclusion.
When teams enter the playoffs on long winning streaks, it feels like the pressure is cranked up. All of a sudden, one and done can cook a season. Players are too worried about being perfect rather than just continuing the good habits that created the winning streak in the first place.
And remember, each time the Broncos have won the Super Bowl, they’ve had a two-game losing streak in December. The 1997, 1998 and 2015 teams got it out of their systems, if you will.
This year’s squad losing two in a row wouldn’t be okay, as it could cost them the AFC West, but one might not be the worst thing in the world. But that comes with a giant caveat.
If the New England Patriots somehow run the table to get to 15-2 then throw this idea out the window. The Broncos have worked hard to earn all the tiebreakers with the Patriots, so if it takes 15-2 to secure then No. 1 seed, so be it.
Still, New England has to play Buffalo and Baltimore. The Bills probably feel like they have an outside shot at the AFC East, so that game is massive. The Ravens are fighting for their postseason lives and will show up in a big way. It’s easy to see the Patriots dropping one, if not both, and finishing 14-3 or 13-4.
If that’s the case and Denver can lose a game and still be the top seed in the AFC, then a loss actually wouldn’t be a bad thing.
It would be a nice opportunity to hit the reset button and take a deep breath. When you’re on a winning streak, all you can think about is extending it. If it gets wiped clean then the Broncos won’t have it hanging over their heads, adding expectations.
Does anyone really want the CBS graphic on divisional weekend to say Denver has taken 14 games in a row, unless it’s absolutely necessary? At that point everyone is 0-0. The winner moves on and the loser goes home for a long, cold and disappointing offseason.
And the Broncos schedule is tough down the stretch. There are no sure things against the Packers (9-3-1), Jaguars (9-4), Chiefs (6-7) or Chargers (9-4). Even if Kansas City is out of it by Christmas, it’s hard to see them not trying to play spoiler in Arrowhead.
No one is rooting for a loss. That’s understandable. It’s hard to go into a game thinking that a defeat might actually help your favorite team down the road.
At the same time, provided the Patriots falter once, don’t panic if the Broncos drop a game in December or early January.
It could be a blessing in disguise, just like it was to all three teams in franchise history that eventually hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
