All of a sudden, the Broncos are right there in a very crowded AFC
Sep 27, 2022, 10:32 AM | Updated: 12:17 pm
(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
The NFL never fails to deliver when it comes to being unpredictable.
If anyone told you through three weeks the Dolphins would be the only undefeated team in the AFC, you wouldn’t have believed them. Same for the Jaguars leading the AFC South. And the Raiders being the lone 0-3 team in the entire league? Well, that one is actually believable.
Still, it’s been a wild and wacky September, and this entire season is going to be a crazy journey. That goes for the Denver Broncos as well, sitting at 2-1 after three tight contests. The Broncos could easily be 3-0. They could also be 0-3, so we’ll take the above .500 record thus far.
And that mark has the Broncos currently sitting as the No. 5 seed in the AFC in the way-too-early playoff standings. They’re tied atop the AFC West with the Chiefs, who lost to the Colts in a surprising result on Sunday. Kansas City wins some arbitrary tiebreaker with Denver, for now, but the teams will see each other twice much later in the season.
The schedule remains relatively easy for the Broncos before their bye in Week 9. This Sunday brings a trip to Las Vegas to play the aforementioned winless Raiders. Then it’s the Colts (underachieving) on Thursday Night Football, followed by the Chargers (struggling and injured), Jets (not very good) and Jaguars (a surprise) in London.
In fact, it’s kind of crazy Denver’s toughest game between now and then actually might be Jacksonville. That one is no longer a cupcake, as it looks like the Jaguars getting rid of Urban Meyer made them significantly better. It also helps they’ve been able to stack top-5 picks year after year for a little while now.
The Broncos are one of six 2-1 teams right now in the conference. There’s still a ton of football to go before we can even really start talking playoffs, but it’s never too early to peek at the standings. And right now, they’re favorable.
The next step is burying the Raiders with an 0-4 record on Sunday while improving to 3-1. That would put a nice gap between Denver and Las Vegas, and also remind the NFL world no one should have ever given Josh McDaniels another chance.
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