The Broncos won on Sunday afternoon while sitting on their sofas — even though they ended the afternoon falling out of the No. 1 spot in the AFC playoff race.
New England nudged past the Broncos into the AFC’s pole position with the kind of ugly-but-effective triumph Denver has made its habit, overcoming an early pick-six off Drake Maye to defeat Cincinnati 26-20 to earn its ninth consecutive win.
But the Broncos picked up space on the Colts thanks to their longtime rivals from Kansas City when the Chiefs stormed back from a 20-9 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Indianapolis, 23-20, capitalizing on some curious Indy playcalling that led to four consecutive three-and-outs in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Meanwhile, as the Colts flailed, Kansas City rallied for a pair of Harrison Butker field goals that sandwiched a 2-yard Kareem Hunt touchdown run and subsequent 2-point conversion pass.
Indianapolis fell to 8-3. With the Colts still holding a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage on the Broncos thanks to their Week 2 29-28 triumph over Denver, Kansas City’s rally could loom large in the AFC postseason chase.
And even though the Broncos stare up at the Patriots, the top seed is in their grasp.
IF THE BRONCOS WIN OUT, THE TOP SEED IS THEIRS
That’s because if the Broncos and Patriots both win out and finish 15-2, Denver would earn the No. 1 seed via the No. 3 tiebreaker: common opponents.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head play; that’s out the window because Denver and New England do not meet this season. If both teams win the rest of their games, the second tiebreaker — conference record — would be deadlocked at 12-2 for each club.
That leads to common opponents, the third tiebreaker. The relevant games for both clubs are those against the Cincinnati Bengals, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.
Denver already has wins over all of those foes, with one more game remaining at Las Vegas on Dec. 7. Thus, the Broncos winning out would include a win there, giving Denver a 6-0 common-opponents record.
Way back in Week 1, the Patriots absorbed a 362-yard gashing from Raiders quarterback Geno Smith, leading to a 20-13 home defeat. New England has wins over the Titans, Jets and Bengals with games against the Giants and a rematch with the Jets remaining, but the best the Patriots can do against common opponents with the Broncos is 5-1.
Thus, all the Broncos have to do is keep winning, and there’s nothing anyone else can do to keep them from the top seed.
And that’s how the Broncos lost the No. 1 seed for now — but gained control of the race for home-field advantage.
