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The Broncos were given a gift before they kicked off Sunday. The New England Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins in their regular season finale, leaving the door open for the top seed. The Broncos just had to win to clinch that spot and many of the players were watching that game prior to meeting the Chargers. When asked if they were able to watch the Patriots Sunday, former Patriot Aqib Talib said, “All of it, every second, every second we could.”
The Broncos thrilling 27-20 victory clinched their fifth-consecutive AFC West title even with the Kansas City Chiefs winning their ninth-straight game and earned them a bye while also guaranteeing them home-field throughout the AFC playoffs. The Broncos and the Patriots will have an off week to watch the Chiefs face the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card games.
In the NFC, the Carolina Panthers clinched a bye and top seed more than a week ago and the Arizona Cardinals also will get a week’s rest despite a 36-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday. The Seahawks will face the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers will take on the Washington Redskins.
The highest remaining seed (Broncos in the AFC) will face the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round.
The Broncos main focus this week will be the health of their team. Darian Stewart, Brandon Marshall and Louis Vasquez all left the game at times and several others are nursing injuries as well. The main attraction for fans and the national media will obviously be the quarterback controversy, but the they will take time to evaluate the game film before announcing a starter.
“That is something that has not been discussed. I’m sure [Head] Coach [Gary] Kubiak will look at things over the next couple days,” Osweiler said after the win. “My belief is whether I’m the starter, whether I’m the backup, I’m going to show up the same exact way. I’m going to prepare the same exact way and I’ll always be ready to go.”
Sunday’s opposing quarterback, Rivers maybe summarized the now awkward situation for both quarterbacks after he lost to the Broncos.
“So yeah, did [Manning] give them a spark? Sure. The place obviously went crazy, but Brock’s put in a tough spot. He’s done a heck of a job getting them here. Brock’s done a heck of a job. I hate it for Brock in this position. I know it’s awkward for him, but I was happy to see Peyton back out there playing. I didn’t want to see Peyton go out that way either.”
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