Denver Broncos' remaining schedule still sets up quite favorably to reach top goals

The Denver Broncos are dejected following a 34-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, but the team needs to regroup quickly and get ready to finish out the 2025 regular season. 

The remaining schedule sets up nicely for the playoff-bound Broncos, who are still in control of their own destiny. 

The Broncos are being chased by the Los Angeles Chargers for the AFC West division crown. The Chargers already beat the Broncos once this season and the teams close the regular season out against each other at Empower Field. However, that game could become meaningless, at least in terms of the division race, depending on what happens in Week 17. 

The Broncos will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas night. When the 2025 schedule was unveiled, it seemed that it would be the biggest game of the Broncos' season. But that game doesn't look nearly as important as it once did, as the Chiefs have sunk to 6-9 and Patrick Mahomes was lost for the season due to a knee injury last week. 

To add insult to injury, literally, his replacement, Gardner Minshew, is feared to have torn his ACL in the Chiefs' loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. 

That means that on Thursday night, the Broncos will go up against the Chiefs' No. 3 quarterback, Chris Oladokun. The Broncos are actually familiar with Oladokun, as he made his NFL debut against them in the 2024 season finale. 

As for the Chargers, they will have to win to keep pace in the division, but they will have to do so against a much more difficult opponent, the Houston Texans. Houston has won seven games in a row and they bounced the Chargers out of the playoffs last season. If the Broncos win and the Chargers lose, the Broncos will clinch the division title. 

The Broncos could still need a victory in Week 18 to clinch home-field advantage, so the team won't rest starters against the Chargers in the season finale if that is the case. Of course, if both the Broncos and Chargers win or they both lose in Week 17, then the AFC West title will be up for grabs in Week 18. 

READ: How Broncos' Week 16 loss to Jaguars can be turned into a positive

It will be an interesting finish to the season, but the odds are still in favor of the Broncos to win their first division title in 10 years and to clinch the AFC's No. 1 overall seed. 

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