Broncos clinch AFC West title as Texans knock off Chargers in LA

The Broncos crossed off one of the items on Sean Payton’s checklist of goals — and they did so while sitting on their sofas Saturday.

When the Houston Texans defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 at SoFi Stadium, Denver clinched its first AFC West crown since 2015, which was also the last time the team made and won a Super Bowl.

At 13-3, the Broncos hold a two-game advantage on the 11-5 Chargers. With the division crown also comes the Broncos’ first playoff home game since January 2016.

Denver will be no worse than the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. With a Week 18 win over the Chargers, the Broncos will clinch the top seed, home-field advantage for the AFC postseason and the wild-card round bye that comes with it.

Had the Chargers defeated the Texans, the Broncos could have dropped as low as the No. 6 seed with a loss to Los Angeles next week.

BRONCOS WOULD GET A HUGE EDGE BY EARNING THE TOP SEED NEXT WEEK

The top seed guarantees the Broncos nothing, of course. But it does provide a massive advantage.

Since the NFL expanded its postseason to 14 teams in 2020, giving only the No. 1 seeds in each conference byes, 50 percent of the teams to earn wild-card byes have advanced to the Super Bowl.

In that span, no team seeded lower than No. 5 has advanced to a Super Bowl, and teams seeded 2 through 5 have combined for five Super Bowl appearances — a collective 12.5-percent success rate.

The Chargers could still have something at stake next week, but they will need help; a win at Denver coupled with a Texans loss to the Indianapolis Colts (along with a Jacksonville Jaguars win) and two defeats by either the Buffalo Bills or New England Patriots would allow Los Angeles to avoid the No. 7 seed, keeping alive the Bolts’ hopes of hosting a playoff game at some point.

Given how banged up the Chargers are, that may not be enough motivation for a full-throttle effort, providing Denver a significant advantage as it looks to salt away home-field advantage.

Meanwhile, another lengthy skein for the Chargers will continue; since moving from San Diego to the Los Angeles area in 2017, the Chargers have not hosted a playoff game. In fact, the franchise hasn’t played a home playoff game since January 2010.

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