Denver boasts an elite defense and clutch performance, earning them a top Super Bowl contender ranking despite lingering questions.
The good news is that the Denver Broncos are the No. 1 seed in the AFC, have a first-round bye and will have home-field advantage all throughout the postseason.
The not-so-good news is that the Broncos have plenty of flaws, and a mediocre Week 18 win against the Los Angeles Chargers and their backups was not entirely promising entering the postseason.
Entering the postseason, Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com ranked all 14 playoff teams by most likely to win the Super Bowl.
He had the Broncos at No. 3 behind the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, respectively.
"Head coach Sean Payton has built a team that possesses two valuable traits that matter plenty in the postseason. This squad has an elite defense, and it also knows how to handle high-pressure situations (Denver is 11-2 in one-score games). The Broncos didn’t merely luck into being the top seed in the AFC this year. They did it by finding ways to make plays when it mattered most. Yes, skeptics can knock quarterback Bo Nix for his inconsistency. The loss of running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending injury also will be a hindrance once the playoffs begin. The nice thing for the Broncos is they don’t have to worry about playing in the Wild Card Round, and they have home-field advantage all the way to the Super Bowl. Those perks would have been invaluable in years past, when the road to a championship involved going through a heavyweight like Kansas City and some stronger contenders like the Ravens or Bills. In a season as crazy as this one has been, those benefits mean even more. With so much parity in the league, every little edge will make a major difference. That’s exactly what the Broncos have going for them. There’s also a reason why this team has won 13 of its last 14 games: Payton knows what it takes to capture a Lombardi Trophy. More importantly, he understands that nobody is going to care if that happens by winning ugly."
The Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots were at No. 4-7 on the list, but the Broncos are viewed as the top AFC team by Chadiha, at least for the time being.
The Broncos have been one of the best teams all year long, but there are questions about how far they can go. On the other hand, the AFC is wide open, and it is arguably as wide open as it has been in the past decade, with the Kansas City Chiefs not in the field this time around.
Can the Broncos make a run and play in the Super Bowl in February in Santa Clara? Only time will tell.