Broncos can clinch No. 1 seed and AFC West this weekend, need lots of help

The Denver Broncos, in theory, can clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs this weekend.

They’ll need lots of help to get it done.

First, the Broncos must beat the banged up Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas night. The game is at Arrowhead Stadium, but considering the Chiefs are in QB chaos, Denver is an overwhelming favorite. If the Broncos take care of business then there will be a plethora of scoreboard watching.

Denver needs the Chargers to lose or tie the Texans on Saturday. Then they need the Patriots to lose to the Jets on Sunday, the Bills to lose or tie the with the Eagles and the Jaguars to lose or tie against the Colts.

While it’s a lot, five things to happen to be precise, the good news is the Broncos still control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed. Win their final two games and the road to the Super Bowl goes through Empower Field at Mile High.

The Texans topping the Chargers is actually the most important result. If that happens and Denver beats Kansas City, the Broncos are AFC West champions for the first time since 2015.

However, if L.A. gets past Houston, Week 18 in Denver will be for the division crown. Regardless of what happens in the Broncos game with the Chiefs, the Chargers could catch them due to a head-to-head tiebreaker.

It’s possible Houston could beat Los Angeles, with Philadelphia besting Buffalo and perhaps Indianapolis over Jacksonville. By far the trickiest one is New York upsetting New England — that’s hard to envision with the Patriots at 12-3 and the Jets at 3-12.

This is all a little complicated and involves tracking multiple results, but just remember, two victories for the Broncos is the goal and then nothing else will matter.

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