{"id":660757,"date":"2026-01-07T09:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/660757\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T09:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:33:12","slug":"afc-no-1-seed-bracket-key-matchups-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/660757\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC No. 1 Seed, Bracket &#038; Key Matchups Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Do you know that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverbroncos.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Denver Broncos<\/a> have finished the 2025 NFL regular season on a high note by securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Not only this, but they earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. After a 1-2 start to the season, the Broncos won 11 games in a row to claim the AFC West title for the first time since 2015.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Goal No. 2 \u2705<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re still climbing. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VSEZgxmlSz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VSEZgxmlSz<\/a><\/p>\n<p> \u2014 Denver Broncos (@Broncos) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Broncos\/status\/2007974379452555353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">January 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This remarkable turnaround has set them up with home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, giving fans plenty to look forward to.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">With the playoffs just around the corner, let us read in this article what the No. 1 seed means, who Denver could face, and key stats to keep an eye on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What is the AFC Playoff Bracket &amp; Potential Opponents?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Being the top seed, the Broncos get a bye in the Wild Card round and will face the lowest remaining seed in the Divisional round.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Team<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Seed<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Notes<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">#4 AFC North<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Winner of Steelers vs. Ravens determines the AFC North representative<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Houston Texans<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">#5 Wild Card<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Strong defense and could challenge Denver\u2019s offensive line<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Buffalo Bills<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">#6 Wild Card<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Led by Josh Allen and James Cook, but defense has struggled late in the season<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">#7 Wild Card<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If they upset the Patriots, they would face the Broncos at home<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Source: Denver Broncos\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Therefore, the Broncos\u2019 first playoff opponent depends on who wins these matchups. For example, if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chargers.com\/news\/2025-wild-card-patriots-where-to-watch-listen-livestream\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Chargers beat the Patriots<\/a>, Denver would face them in the Divisional round, making for an exciting rematch after their Week 18 game.<\/p>\n<p>Why Denver\u2019s No. 1 Seed Matters?  <\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A first-round bye gives the team an extra week to rest, recover, and prepare.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Home field advantage: Playoff matches are staged in Denver up until the competition for the AFC Championship, hence improving their chances of winning, which is accurate.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Dynamic bracket: the Broncos face the lowest-seeded team, giving them a strategic edge in the first playoff game.<\/p>\n<p>You may also like to read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jagranjosh.com\/us\/explainers\/capital-of-colorado-1860001952\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What is the Capital of Colorado? Check Its History!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When do the Denver Broncos Play Next?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Denver Broncos will play their next game in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday, January 17, or Sunday, January 18, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>What are the Key Stats &amp; Players?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Denver\u2019s playoff run is powered by a defense ranked fourth in points allowed and third in yards allowed this season. Leading the charge:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Nik Bonitto: 12.5 sacks<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Jonathan Cooper, John Franklin-Myers, Zach Allen, Ja\u2019Quan McMillan, Malcom Roach, Dondrea Tillman, each with at least 4 sacks<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Offensively, the Broncos have turned close games into wins, finishing 11-2 in contests decided by eight points or less. Only two games were decided by larger margins, showing the team\u2019s consistency in tight situations.<\/p>\n<p>What is the NFL Playoff Timeline?  <\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Wild Card Weekend: Jan 10\u201312, 2026<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Divisional Round: Jan 17\u201318, 2026<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Conference Championships: Jan 25, 2026<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Super Bowl 60: Feb 8, 2026, Levi\u2019s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Broncos now also have all it takes to progress to a deeper level in the playoffs with a world-class defense in place.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Fans will be watching closely as they await their first playoff opponent, and do you know that Denver\u2019s home-field advantage has historically helped them in postseason games?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">With the No. 1 seed secured, the path to Super Bowl 60 is set, and excitement is building in Mile High City.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you know that the Denver Broncos have finished the 2025 NFL regular season on a high note&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[95614,232,95615,90990,95613,231,258,83996,2426,7,6,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-660757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-are-the-denver-broncos-in-playoffs","9":"tag-broncos","10":"tag-broncos-denver-news","11":"tag-broncos-game","12":"tag-broncos-in-playoffs","13":"tag-denver","14":"tag-denver-broncos","15":"tag-denver-broncos-playoffs","16":"tag-denverbroncos","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nfl-playoffs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115853132275536449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}