The Broncos went undefeated in the hypothetical playoffs.
On Sunday, the Denver Broncos' season came to an end with a blowout loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs. The Broncos got off to a strong start to this one, taking an early 7-0 lead with a Bo Nix touchdown pass, but unfortunately, Denver was outscored 31-0 for the rest of the way.
Had the Broncos won that game, they would have set themselves up for a matchup with the two time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, and for his part, Denver head coach Sean Payton appeared relatively optimistic about his team's prospects if they had been able to get to that point.
“There’s a lot of confidence in this team if we could get past that game, the next game we felt real good about,” said Payton, per Romi Bean of CBS Colorado.
While the Broncos almost assuredly would have been heavy underdogs in a playoff matchup with the Chiefs, it's worth noting that Denver did play them tough in their two regular season matchups. First, in Kansas City, the Broncos very nearly handed the Chiefs their first loss of the season, before ultimately dropping that game on a blocked potential game winning field goal.
In the final week of the season, the Broncos beat the Chiefs to secure their spot in the playoffs, although it should be noted that Kansas City was resting most of its starters for that contest.
A solid season for the Broncos
2024-25 marked the first time since their 2015-16 Super Bowl that the Denver Broncos made it to the postseason, and the surprising play of Bo Nix was a large reason why.
After a relatively slow start to his rookie season, Nix came on strong down the stretch and likely would have been the frontrunner for Offensive Rookie of the Year were it not for Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The Denver defense was one of the elite units in the NFL, leading the league in sacks and showcasing their depth of talent, talent that unfortunately didn't show up in the road loss to the Bills.
In any case, the Broncos now face an optimistic offseason as they look to improve on what seems to be a promising young team.
