The Denver Broncos enter their Week 13 game against the Cleveland Browns in an advantageous position: they remain more than one game up for the final AFC Wild Card seed and are closer to the teams ahead of them in the standings than the teams behind them.
The AFC playoff picture now looks as follows:
1) Kansas City (11-1)
2) Buffalo (10-2)
3) Pittsburgh (9-3)
4) Houston (8-5)
5) Los Angeles (8-4)
6) Baltimore (8-5)
7) Denver (7-5)
The next three teams out are Indianapolis (6-7), Miami (5-7), and Cincinnati (4-8).
Denver Broncos playoff chances get slightly better after Sunday action in Week 13
Behind the Broncos, the Dolphins lost convincingly in Green Bay on Thanksgiving, pushing them to 5-7, while the Colts squeaked out a miracle win over the lowly Patriots in the final moments of the game to move to 6-7. The Colts’ win keeps them in the AFC playoff picture, while the Dolphins loss effectively eliminates them.
Just below Miami are the 4-8 Bengals, who like Miami, will need some form of a miracle to reach January football. The Bengals lost in Week 13 to old friend Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are now 5-1 when Russ starts.
Above Denver at the top of the conference, the Chiefs narrowly defeated the Raiders thanks to questionable officiating (hear of that one before?), and the Bills knocked off the 49ers in true Christmas fashion (while playing in a blizzard). The division-leading Steelers clinched an 18th straight winning season under coach Mike Tomlin, and the Texans escaped Jacksonville with a solid win, despite laying one of the dirtiest hits in the NFL in recent years.
In the Wild Card picture, the Ravens played one of the more high-profile games of the year against the Eagles, resulting in a well-earned victory for Philadelphia. Vic Fangio’s defense stifled the dynamic Baltimore Ravens offense. Once dominating kicker Justin Tucker had a terrible game, and there is an incredibly sound argument that his missed kicks cost the Ravens a chance at winning at all.
The Chargers took their turn with the Atlanta Falcons and were able to seal a narrow road victory thanks to a gifted pick-six off of Kirk Cousins. Cousins did not look his best, but that is now two straight games where the Falcons offense has laid a dud against an AFC West playoff team.
The Broncos head into their Monday Night Football battle with the Browns at 7-5 and received a few favorable results in the playoff race. For all intents and purposes, the Wild Card race shrunk to a four-team race, with the fourth team, the Colts, struggling to a one-point victory over one of the NFL’s worst teams. A win on Monday night would push the Broncos back to two full games up in the playoff picture and would make them heavy favorites to break the second-longest active playoff drought in the NFL.
