No. 2 – December 22, 2014 @ Cincinnati Bengals
Broncos 28, Bengals 37
Entering this Week 16 matchup, the 11-3 Broncos still trailed the New England Patriots in the AFC because of a 43-21 loss in Foxborough earlier in the year. Denver was going to need some help if it was going to potentially avoid another trip to the Northeast for the AFC Championship Game. Sadly, all of that became quite moot.
New England held serve on Sunday against the Jets to run their record to 12-3. Denver needed to answer with a win at Cincinnati to keep just a half-step behind.
Aqib Talib gave the Broncos an early lead with a pick-six, but Peyton Manning’s four interceptions on the day were too much for Denver to overcome on that rainy night. The Bengals converted two of those picks to points, including a 30-yard interception for touchdown by Dre Kirkpatrick inside of 2:00 that proved to be the nail in the Broncos’ coffin.
Any hope of home field advantage against the Pats was now dashed and the playoff-bound Bengals looked like a force to be reckoned with if another meeting was in store down the road.
Denver responded to the loss with a win against Oakland the following week, but the fear of traveling to New England (not to mention a coaching staff that had already effectively booked their next gigs) led to a lackadaisical effort in the divisional round against the Colts and another disappointing playoff end for the Manning-led Broncos.
