The Denver Broncos are in a must-win game against the Los Angeles Chargers to close out the regular season. The good news for them is that the Chargers don’t need this game as bad and have decided to rest key starters for this game. Judging from their report today, those players will include QB Justin Herbert, WR Keenan Allen, S Derwin James Jr., and OLBs Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack. We’ll see if they decided to play Omarion Hampton too even though he appears to be a bit banged up himself.

For Denver, they need this first round bye to...

Happy ChristmaHanaKwanza to all those who celebrate! I missed last week so you will be getting a double dose this week. First the snaps from the home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The inactives for this game were Sam Ehlinger, Cody Schrader, Reese Taylor, Justin Strnad,
Geron Christian, Jordan Jackson, and Sai’vion Jones.

This was the first game back for Ben Powers and he played about one third of the offensive snaps, splitting time with Alex P. The other four OL starters and Bo Nix played all the offensive snaps. Frank Crum got 4 snaps as the 6th OL.

Courtland...

It’s not often in football that you get the sort of chance to redeem yourself that Alex Forsyth got last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. A little over a year later he gets to return to the spot where he, in part, cost his team a win, and this time around he helps get them in position to clinch a divisional championship.

When Luke Wattenberg was listed out during the week, I was disappointed on behalf of Wattenberg, but there was a part of me happy for Forsyth and confident that he’d be able to get the job done....

Sean Payton, Bo Nix, and the Denver Broncos are AFC West champs.

Now the Broncos (13-3) can secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers this Sunday. With that comes home-field advantage and a bye. It’s already been announced that Justin Herbert will not play the season-ending game, and Jim Harbaugh also announced that other LA starters with “the most bruises” and need “the most healing” won’t play.

It’s no surprise then that Denver is a huge -11.5-point favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook. The total sits at over/under 36.5 points, with a...

Week 18 provides the opportunity for the Denver Broncos to earn the top seed in the AFC. If so, the Broncos will earn a first-round bye and enjoy the perks of homefield advantage throughout the postseason. That’s certainly a major reason why Denver is treating it like a playoff game. Here are some of my thoughts on what Denver has to do in order to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

Dial up the pass rush to rattle Trey Lance and force some turnovers

With Justin Herbert sitting out for Sunday’s gridiron matchup, that means backup quarterback Trey...

The Denver Broncos are tied for the best record in football and control their destiny for the top seed in the AFC. And yet, you’d think they are a fringe playoff team if you asked most media members outside of Denver. It’s a strange situation that seems remarkably close to how things were back in 2015, but with Peyton Manning’s star power it was far more subdued.

The funny thing is these 2025 Broncos have more wins and fewer losses than that fabled 2015 squad. I like where they are at and if they are getting faded by the national...

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Broncos fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Please take our survey

The Denver Broncos are one win away from the #1 seed in the AFC. They only need to beat the Los Angeles Chargers who will be resting some starters since the game will not have much of an effect on their playoff seeding.

They will be the 5th, 6th or 7th seed depending on the wins of losses of the Texans and the Bills in the final week of the regular season. Their starting QB, RB and LG will all be resting during the game to heal nagging injuries. This will make it easier to beat the Chargers, although the...

The Denver Broncos’ defense has been among the best in the NFL this season. They allow the 7th lowest pass rating to quarterbacks, 8th best in passing yards allowed per game, the second best run defense, third best total defense, 3rd best scoring defense, 2nd best red zone defense, tied for the best third down defense with the Seahawks, and of course lead the entire NFL in sacks with 64. Even with their recent struggles, they still are one of the better defenses in the NFL.

However, there is one area where they are surprisingly not very good at, and...

The Broncos beat the Chiefs on Christmas Day but had to wait until Sunday when the Los Angeles Chargers lost to the Texans to become the champs of the AFC West.

That anticlimactic finish atop the division was met with an equally anticlimactic reaction from the coach when the “champions” gear showed up in Denver.

“I said, ‘Just put them in the lockers.’ We actually didn’t even talk about it,” Sean Payton said, adding that it was his understanding the gear was “pretty ugly.”

But no matter. The Broncos will be rocking their Throwbacks at the game anyway, and Payton...

It took a decade for the Denver Broncos to get back to the top of the AFC West. After hoisting the franchise’s third Lombardi Trophy by winning Super Bowl 50, there hasn’t been much to write home about for the Broncos who have floundered in obscurity most every season since 2015.

However, all that has changed. The past is the past, and the future looks quite bright for the Broncos. They are once again rightful kings of the AFC West after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas coupled with the Los Angeles Chargers falling to the Houston Texans this...

The Los Angeles Rams had their one seed hopes dashed with the San Francisco 49ers winning on Sunday. The 49ers have the superior division record, while the Seattle Seahawks have the superior record overall. It doesn’t matter to the Rams which of them wins next week. They are fairly locked into the sixth seed, though they do have a chance for the fifth seed. The Atlanta Falcons, meanwhile, have been eliminated and will be playing for pride.

Kickoff is set for Monday, December 29, 2025 at 6:15 p.m. Mile High time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and will air...