The Denver Broncos (10-2) meet the Las Vegas Raiders (2-10) in Week 14 in a game that looks quite lopsided on paper. But the Broncos had a tough time with the Raiders a few weeks ago and of course, it is one of the league's best and oldest rivalries.
But the Broncos could be playing for something big in this game aside from handing the Raiders yet another loss.
While the New England Patriots are on their bye week, the Broncos could gain some major leverage over them. The Patriots are technically the No. 1 seed in the AFC in the playoffs as a right now, it is only because they have played one more game than the Broncos and have 11 wins on the season, while the Broncos have 10. However, if these two teams end up with the same record, the Broncos currently own the tiebreaker over them. How is that?
The Broncos have a better record against common opponents, and with a win over the Raiders this week, the Broncos would clinch that tiebreaker. That is because the Patriots lost to the Raiders all the way back in the season opener.
While #Broncos cannot clinch a playoff spot with win vs Raiders, they CAN clinch something of importance.
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) December 3, 2025
A win Sunday assures Denver of winning any two-way tiebreakers with Patriots based on common opponents (Titans, Bengals, Jets, Raiders, Giants).
Of course, many things can still change between now and the end of the season, but the Broncos and Patriots seem to be the top teams vying for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. If they finish the regular season with the same record, it will be the Broncos who get that No. 1 seed, so long as they beat the Raiders this week.
It would be quite the shocker that the Patriots lose out on that No. 1 seed due to a loss in their very first game of the season, but that is the way things would shake out right now.
READ: Broncos may have finally unlocked a huge piece of their offense in Week 13
The Broncos have won each of their last three games against the Raiders and though the team faced a lot of criticism after barely beating them back in Week 10, the team has a chance to make up for that in a big way this Sunday.
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