The Denver Broncos were able to grind out the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday en route to a 19-3 victory. It wasn't pretty, but it allowed the team to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, something that was nothing more than a pipe dream when the season started.
The Broncos will have the first week of the playoffs off to rest and prepare to defend themselves against all the naysayers that are out there. And, history is on their side.
The Broncos have clinched the AFC's No. 1 seed for the ninth time. In eight previous seasons in which they achieved that, they went to the Super Bowl in six of those. Denver is a difficult place to play in January and the Broncos can use that to their advantage the rest of this season.
Denver Broncos' history as the AFC's No. 1 seed
| Season | Result |
| 1977 | Lost to Dallas in Super Bowl XII, 27-10 |
| 1987 | Lost to Washington in Super Bowl XXII, 42-10 |
| 1989 | Lost to San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIV, 55-10 |
| 1996 | Lost to Jacksonville in Divisional Playoff, 30-27 |
| 1998 | Won Super Bowl XXXIII |
| 2012 | Lost to Baltimore in Divisional Playoff, 38-35 |
| 2013 | Lost Super Bowl XLVIII to Seattle, 43-8 |
| 2015 | Won Super Bowl 50 |
Six trips to the Super Bowl as the AFC's No. 1 seed is a great track record. Though they lost four of those six Super Bowls, the chance that the team gets to the big game has to be considered well above average.
"We got the best home-field advantage in the league... I'm excited that the playoffs run through Denver." - Nik Bonitto to @tracywolfson following the Broncos No. 1 seed clinching victory pic.twitter.com/n5QVkQr7Sw
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 5, 2026
In addition, the last time the Super Bowl was in Santa Clara, the site of Super Bowl LX, the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. That team was led by it's top-ranked defense, much like this year's team has been.
There is plenty of history on the side of the Broncos going into this year's playoffs, but included in those six trips to the Super Bowl, where the team was the No. 1 seed, are arguably the two most disappointing losses in team history aside from Super Bowl losses. That is what many critics expect to see happen to the Broncos this season, and in a deep AFC playoff bracket, they will get a tough opponent in the divisional round.
READ: Predicting which team Broncos will face in their first playoff game
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