The Denver Broncos were embarrassed by the Detroit Lions in a 42-17 loss on Saturday evening, but the NFL playoffs are still within reach for the Broncos — if they win out.
Denver would need to win each of its final three games and then get some help from other teams to squeak into the postseason with a 10-7 record. Using ESPN’s NFL Playoff Machine, we mapped out a scenario in which five teams end with a 10-7 record and the Broncos get in based on tiebreakers.
Here’s a look ahead to hypothetical results over the next three weeks that would result in Denver making the NFL playoffs.
Week 16
Potential results with the biggest significance are bolded.
Broncos vs. Patriots: Denver win (8-7)
Steelers vs. Bengals: Cincinnati win (9-6)
Buccaneers vs. Jaguars: Jacksonville win (9-6)
Chargers vs. Bills: Buffalo win (9-6)
Texans vs. Browns: Cleveland win (10-5)
Dolphins vs. Cowboys: Miami win (11-4)
Falcons vs. Colts: Indianapolis win (9-6)
Week 17
Broncos vs. Chargers: Denver win (9-7)
Browns vs. Jets: Cleveland win (11-5)
Ravens vs. Dolphins: Baltimore win (12-3)
Bills vs. Patriots: Buffalo win (10-6)
Seahawks vs. Steelers: Pittsburgh win (8-6)
Colts vs. Raiders: Indianapolis win (10-6)
Chiefs vs. Bengals: Kansas City win (11-5)
Jaguars vs. Panthers: Jacksonville win (10-5)
Texans vs. Titans: Houston win (9-7)
Week 18
Raiders vs. Broncos: Denver win (10-7)
Ravens vs. Steelers: Baltimore win (14-3)
Dolphins vs. Bills: Miami win (12-5)
Bengals vs. Browns: Cincinnati win (10-7)
Colts vs. Texans: Houston win (10-7)
Titans vs. Jaguars: Jacksonville win (11-6)
3-game results
In addition to winning out, the Broncos would like at least one loss from each of the Bills, Texans, Colts, Bengals and Browns. Over a three-game stretch, that’s not a wildly unrealistic scenario given the schedules of those teams. Especially crucial results for Denver would be Kansas City beating Cincinnati (Week 17) and Miami beating Buffalo (Week 18). If everything else in this projection remains the same but either of those results are swapped, the Bengals or Bills could jump the Broncos with an 11-6 record.
AFC Playoffs (projected)
If all of the projected win-loss results above came true, this is what the NFL playoffs would look like, according to ESPN:
The playoffs are still within reach for the Broncos, but the most crucial part is that Denver needs to win out and finish with a 10-7 record. They’ll aim to take the first step against the Patriots on Christmas Eve in Week 16.
