Denver Broncos eliminated from postseason contention

The Denver Broncos will miss the playoffs for an eighth-straight season, keeping one of the longest postseason droughts in sports active.

The Broncos win on New Years Day was too little, too late. Because of the results of Week 17, Denver has been eliminated from the playoffs in Sean Payton’s first year leading the Broncos. Fofr a moment, there was a ton of hope as the team won five straight games, but the sour ending headlined by the pulling of Russell Wilson spelled a disappointing end.

Despite a very poor start to the season, the midseason win streak nearly gave Denver a 50% chance to dance just a few weeks back. The losing combined with a muddled AFC meant doom in Denver. What’s worse is that the AFC West was winnable for the first time in a while this year as Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes’ Cheifs sputtered and both the Chargers and Raiders finished below .500. Both the Broncos chance for a wildcard and their hope at the West was erased on Sunday thanks to the Colts, Steelers and the final nail in the coffin for this year’s Broncos team was from Kansas City. The Cheifs won the West for the eighth straight season, the longest streak among the franchise in the West.

Now the offseason comes with a lot of questions. The biggest one may have already been answered as Russell Wilson’s benching seemingly has telegraphed that the Broncos will move on from the veteran star quarterback. Denver will have to work around a massive salary cap hit and will have to figure out who their man is again. It’s a question that’s plagued the Broncos since Peyton Manning retired after winning Super Bowl 50, Denver’s last playoff appearance.

The Broncos do not have a full complement of draft picks and have several bigger free agents to extend. Still, a win in Week 18 would tie Denver for most wins in a year (9) since that Super Bowl win.

The only NFL team with more years in a row missing the playoffs than the Broncos? The New York Jets.