The Denver Broncos are sitting at 9-2, coming off their bye week, and preparing to face the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football. The team is in a fantastic position heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The Broncos are in line to have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and according to Next Gen Stats, the team currently has a 40 percent chance to do just that. That is the highest number of any team in the AFC. The New England Patriots currently sit at 34 percent and the Indianapolis Colts are at 16 percent. No other team has a double-digit percentage chance to be the AFC's top team.
If the Broncos beat the Commanders on Sunday, that number will only go up and their odds of making the playoffs, currently sitting at 97 percent, jump up to 99 percent, nearly a sure thing.
As described by Ali Bhanpuri of NFL.com, the bye week could not have gone much better for the Broncos, who moved up in the weekly power rankings without even playing.
"Unlike the teams above, the 9-2 Broncos have a lot less to worry about this holiday weekend, in part because of what transpired in Week 12 while they were off the grid. As far as bye weeks go, the Broncos couldn't have asked for a better break -- or for more things to break their way. The Colts fell to Kansas City, dropping them to one game behind Denver in the conference standings, which is notable because Indy has the head-to-head tie-breaker in its pocket. The Bills and Steelers also both lost, essentially clearing out two potential challengers for the conference's No. 1 seed (Buffalo figured to be more of a problem than Pittsburgh, but still). As a result, the probability that Denver will finish atop the AFC increased by 14 points from last week. Sure, Sean Payton would've preferred a Patriots loss, too, given that Mike Vrabel's crew currently occupies the top spot -- but New England is simply a placeholder at this point, at least until both teams have played the same number of games".
The Broncos have a tough schedule down the stretch, as four of their final six opponents would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. However, getting home-field advantage should provide additional motivation for Sean Payton's bunch.
Historically, the Broncos have cashed in when being the No. 1 seed in the AFC. That has happened eight times, and the Broncos have reached the Super Bowl in six of those seasons.
Having the league's best defense and forcing teams to come into Denver in January to beat them would be a tall task for any team this season.
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