Broncos chances of making the playoffs down to 1.4%
Denver's 26-23 loss on Christmas Eve to the New England Patriots pretty much drained any hope the Broncos had of making the playoffs. Denver followed their impressive 5 game winning streak with three losses in four games. But they aren't mathematically eliminated yet with two games left.
SportsLine is out with its updated list of the chances for each team who hasn't been eliminated from playoff contention, and in the AFC the Broncos have the lowest percentage chance -- 1.4%.
"Losing to the 3-11 Patriots on your home field on Christmas Eve as a playoff hopeful? Yikes," Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports wrote in unveiling the updated percentage. "I know Denver put together a 16-point fourth quarter, but it still wasn't enough."
The Broncos are better under Sean Payton than they were with Nathaniel Hackett as head coach, although Payton has made a series of curious calls, such as using two timeouts on defense in the final minute Sunday night when Bill Belichick seemed content to take the game into overtime.
"Sean Payton is making some curious decisions regarding play-calling and timeout usage, and I don't have much faith in quarterback Russell Wilson," Dajani wrote.
This season things might have gone differently if the Broncos hadn't lost at home to underdogs led by the likes of the Raiders' Jimmy Garoppolo, the Commanders' Sam Howell, the Jets' Zach Wilson and the Patriots' Bailey Zappe. They're a less-than-fearsome foursome of quarterbacks who are a combined 9-23 against everybody else this season.
"Then there's the issue of the defense, which has allowed 34.0 points per game over the last two games after allowing 15.6 points per game in the previous seven contests," Dajani wrote.
