2023 NFL playoff picture: How Broncos can sneak into the postseason even after benching Russell Wilson

USATSI

With Russell Wilson heading to the bench, you might think that the Broncos’ season is over, but that’s not actually the case just yet. With two weeks left to play in the season, the Broncos are still mathematically alive to earn a playoff berth. 

If Jarrett Stidham can lead the Broncos to a win over the Chargers this week and then another win in Week 18 against the Raiders, Denver will have a very real shot of making the playoffs, but will need a few things to go its way. 

Here’s what has to happen over the final two weeks for Denver to get in (This is just one scenario and we went with this one because it calls for the fewest upsets): 

Week 17
Broncos beat Chargers
Seahawks beat Steelers
Raiders beat Colts
Texans beat Titans
Chiefs beat Bengals

Week 18
Broncos beat Raiders
Ravens beat Steelers
Dolphins beat Bills
Texans beat Colts
Titans beat Jaguars

If the all of this happens, then the AFC playoffs will look like this: 

1. Ravens (14-3)
2. Dolphins (12-5)
3. Chiefs (11-6)
4. Texans (10-7)
5. Browns (11-6)
6. Bills (10-7)
7. Broncos (9-8)

If you look at what the Broncos need, it’s not that crazy They only need two true upsets to happen: Raiders over Colts in Week 17 and Titans over Jaguars in Week 18. The Raiders are currently a 3.5-point underdog, but they’ve won two straight, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them pull off an upset. As for the Titans, they’re 5-3 in their past eight games against the Jaguars. 

There’s also a path for the Broncos to get the sixth seed and that could happen in this scenario if the Patriots beat the Bills in Week 17. In that case, the Broncos would move up to the sixth spot and the Bengals would get the seventh seed as long as they beat the Browns in Week 18 (A Bengals loss would give the spot to…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2023-nfl-playoff-picture-how-broncos-can-sneak-into-the-postseason-even-after-benching-russell-wilson/

Author : John Breech

Publish date : 2023-12-28 17:06:13

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.