The Denver Broncos clinched the American Football Conference West division title in Week 17 after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and getting help from the Dallas Cowboys, which beat the Los Angeles Chargers.
With the division crown settled, the Chargers are resting several starters including quarterback Justin Herbert against the Broncos in the final game of the regular season.
That means backup QB Trey Lance will get the nod to start against a defense that is still fighting for something despite already securing the division. Denver and the New England Patriots are tied for the best record in the AFC at 13-3, but the Broncos own the tiebreaker, giving them the inside track at securing the first-round bye.
Head coach Sean Payton is so focused on earning the No. 1 seed that he didn’t even acknowledge the team’s achievement last week.
“Coach Sean Payton said he has conveyed to his team the importance of the No. 1 seed -- so much so that he didn't discuss clinching the AFC West title last week,” ESPN’s Jeff Legwold wrote Friday. “So, the Broncos need the pedal-to-the-metal effort they got in last season's finale, when they routed the Chiefs' backups 38-0 to earn a wild-card spot. And Payton wants that bye: ‘The first reason would be, you skip a game in which you're at risk to not play well or an opponent all of a sudden has a great game. You skip the threat of potentially losing a game, if that makes any sense, you skip right to the next round.’”
The Jacksonville Jaguars add another wrinkle to the No. 1 seed conversation. If the Chargers can upset the Broncos, and the Patriots lose to the Miami Dolphins, the Jaguars would clinch the first-round bye with a win over the Tennessee Titans.
Both the Broncos and Patriots are playing their starters, and with how much coach Payton wants home-field advantage and the first-round bye, I don’t see the Broncos losing this one.
Los Angeles’ offensive line is beaten up and onto third-stringers. Couple that with Lance starting at quarterback and Denver having the most sacks in the National Football League, the Broncos should have no problem getting constant pressure.
ESPN’s Seth Walder boldly predicts that Broncos star edge rusher and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Nik Bonitto will record multiple sacks. Bonitto has 12.5 sacks in 16 games this season. He has no incentives for sack total this season, but if he did, his current sack total would have earned him an additional $200,000.
Expect the Broncos to play with a lot of fire and control their own destiny heading into the postseason.