No. 1 – New York Jets at New England Patriots (Dec. 27)
If the Broncos have any hope of regaining the No. 1 seed in the AFC, they need to win out and hope that the Patriots lose a game; Denver holds the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head win, so they need to finish with an equal (or better) record than New England. As unlikely it is that the Broncos win out, it’s perhaps even more unlikely that the Pats lose one of their last three games; they host the dreadful Titans on Sunday and finish at the lowly Dolphins, so the middle game is the only conceivable spot where they might drop one. For one, the Jets always seem to play New England tough. For two, New York will be vying for a playoff spot, so they’ll be focused. And for three, “any given Sunday” is a cliché for a reason.
What This Would Help: If Denver wins on Sunday at Pittsburgh, this would bring the chance to capture the No. 1 seed back into play.
