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iknowftbll
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Forgive my absence, but I've divided my attention between work and politics with this week being an election. I know we have people on both sides of Tuesday's decision here and won't pollute the board with my thoughts on that, seeings how I'd rather focus on what makes us alike: our love (and right now maybe concern) for the Denver Broncos!
With that said, our beloved team sits at 6-3 and in third place in the AFC West. Let that sink in: a 6-3 team is in THIRD PLACE! And even though the Broncos have traffic in front of them in the division, it's important to remember this: The standings really only matter at the end of week 17. That's the first thing. The second thing is the Broncos still control their own destiny with respect to reaching the playoffs even if they fail to win their division.
Now let me pause here to say this: By no means have I conceded this division. The Broncos are still very much alive in the division race. But let's be realistic: there is legitimate cause for concern. Once again the Broncos lead the league in 3 and outs. The run defense has been suspect (at best) all year, and now injuries are beginning to take a toll. There is a strong possibility the Broncos fail to make it 6 straight. But a look at the standings suggest the Broncos are still easily one of the favorites to reach the playoffs as a wild card team. Again: I am not counting out the Broncos chances of taking the division again. There is a lot of football still ahead. I am just looking at other possible (even probable) outcomes on the season.
To that end, I offer this: keep on eye on some of those mischievous 5-3, 4-4, 4-5 teams out there. In many cases these are the teams that are going to compete for those wild card slots. This includes the only AFC West team the Broncos don't lead, the 4-5 Chargers. And this is also the cause for the thread title. It's not like rooting for a given team affects the outcome at all. But it's never too early to start considering how every win or loss affects the Broncos. Because (and don't look now, but...) a lot of the above described teams are teams the Broncos have beat!
The Texans: 5-3 and currently in the division lead. Because the Broncos have beat them, Consider rooting against them and for the Titans.
The Colts: 4-5 and like the Texans, the Broncos own the tie breaker. Consider rooting for the Colts or the Texans to maintain that 2nd place position in the AFC South so that if a WC slot were to come down to it, tie breakers would favor the Broncos.
The Titans: 4-5 and still ahead on the schedule. Now if the Broncos beat the Titans it's sort of irrelevant to us who ends up in 2nd place here and would otherwise be competing for a wild card slot. Until that contest later this season, consider rooting for the Titans to take the lead in the South, pushing teams the Broncos have already beat into the race for a wild card spot.
The Bengals: 3-4-1 and just half a game out of first. Consider rooting for the Steelers or Ravens to take the lead, while the Bengals elbow back into 2nd and the push for a wild card. With that said, unless the Broncos play a game to a tie, they won't tie final records with the Bengals at the end of week 17 so the tie breaker discussion is actually irrelevant here. (10-6 would be better than 9-6-1 for example.)
There are other teams at 4-4/4-5 and that makes sense at this point in the season. As of right now, these are the teams the Broncos have already played and beat or will play. Each ensuing week adds a little more clarity and some of that "bubble traffic" will fall by the wayside as the season progresses. But going down the stretch we want these non AFC West teams to be the teams competing for wild card slots because these are the teams over whom we know the Broncos will own tie breakers.
Once again, I'm not dismissing entirely the Broncos shot at winning this division. I also appreciate the potential that the landscape of the AFC will be quite different in just a few short weeks. But for now, these are some teams to keep a close eye on.
With that said, our beloved team sits at 6-3 and in third place in the AFC West. Let that sink in: a 6-3 team is in THIRD PLACE! And even though the Broncos have traffic in front of them in the division, it's important to remember this: The standings really only matter at the end of week 17. That's the first thing. The second thing is the Broncos still control their own destiny with respect to reaching the playoffs even if they fail to win their division.
Now let me pause here to say this: By no means have I conceded this division. The Broncos are still very much alive in the division race. But let's be realistic: there is legitimate cause for concern. Once again the Broncos lead the league in 3 and outs. The run defense has been suspect (at best) all year, and now injuries are beginning to take a toll. There is a strong possibility the Broncos fail to make it 6 straight. But a look at the standings suggest the Broncos are still easily one of the favorites to reach the playoffs as a wild card team. Again: I am not counting out the Broncos chances of taking the division again. There is a lot of football still ahead. I am just looking at other possible (even probable) outcomes on the season.
To that end, I offer this: keep on eye on some of those mischievous 5-3, 4-4, 4-5 teams out there. In many cases these are the teams that are going to compete for those wild card slots. This includes the only AFC West team the Broncos don't lead, the 4-5 Chargers. And this is also the cause for the thread title. It's not like rooting for a given team affects the outcome at all. But it's never too early to start considering how every win or loss affects the Broncos. Because (and don't look now, but...) a lot of the above described teams are teams the Broncos have beat!
The Texans: 5-3 and currently in the division lead. Because the Broncos have beat them, Consider rooting against them and for the Titans.
The Colts: 4-5 and like the Texans, the Broncos own the tie breaker. Consider rooting for the Colts or the Texans to maintain that 2nd place position in the AFC South so that if a WC slot were to come down to it, tie breakers would favor the Broncos.
The Titans: 4-5 and still ahead on the schedule. Now if the Broncos beat the Titans it's sort of irrelevant to us who ends up in 2nd place here and would otherwise be competing for a wild card slot. Until that contest later this season, consider rooting for the Titans to take the lead in the South, pushing teams the Broncos have already beat into the race for a wild card spot.
The Bengals: 3-4-1 and just half a game out of first. Consider rooting for the Steelers or Ravens to take the lead, while the Bengals elbow back into 2nd and the push for a wild card. With that said, unless the Broncos play a game to a tie, they won't tie final records with the Bengals at the end of week 17 so the tie breaker discussion is actually irrelevant here. (10-6 would be better than 9-6-1 for example.)
There are other teams at 4-4/4-5 and that makes sense at this point in the season. As of right now, these are the teams the Broncos have already played and beat or will play. Each ensuing week adds a little more clarity and some of that "bubble traffic" will fall by the wayside as the season progresses. But going down the stretch we want these non AFC West teams to be the teams competing for wild card slots because these are the teams over whom we know the Broncos will own tie breakers.
Once again, I'm not dismissing entirely the Broncos shot at winning this division. I also appreciate the potential that the landscape of the AFC will be quite different in just a few short weeks. But for now, these are some teams to keep a close eye on.
