The Denver Broncos have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2025 NFL season. Expectations were huge for the Broncos before the season and Denver has totally delivered. Denver is now 12-2 with just three games left to play in the regular season. The Broncos have pulled off a magical season and it isn't because they have a soft schedule.
Denver entered the season with a middle-of-the-road strength of schedule. They also play in a division with the Chiefs and Chargers, which are far from easy games. Simply put, the Broncos are just playing really good football right now.
The Broncos are one of the few NFL teams who have already secured their place in the playoffs.
But they still need to compete for a top seed. The No. 1 seed in the AFC is firmly within their reach, so there is still plenty to play for.
Playoff seeding is incredibly important in the NFL as it can guarantee home-field advantage in at least one game. Meanwhile, the No. 1 seed guarantees that advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
Denver has the best home-field advantage in the league at Mile High, so winning the top seed should be a huge priority.
But what happens if everything goes wrong to end the regular season? Just how far could the Broncos tumble?
Below we will explore the worst possible nightmare scenario for the Broncos during the last three weeks of the regular season.
Broncos drop huge game against Jaguars in Week 16
The theme of Denver's nightmare scenario is other AFC superpowers going on winning streaks while the Broncos pile up loses.
Denver's matchup against Jacksonville in Week 16 is the perfect example. Losing on Sunday would hurt the Broncos and put the Jaguars one win closer to catching up in the race for the No. 1 seed.
Meanwhile, seeing the Chargers beat the Cowboys would put pressure on the Broncos in the AFC West division race.
Other unfortunate results from Week 16 could include the Patriots beating the Ravens and the Bills stomping the Browns.
How could the Broncos lose to the Chiefs in Week 17 without Patrick Mahomes?!
The Week 17 portion of Denver's nightmare scenario is by far the most far-fetched chapter.
To start, the Broncos manage to lose to the Chiefs despite Patrick Mahomes' recent ACL injury. That means Denver loses against backup QB Gardner Minshew, which feels extremely unlikely. But hey, this is a nightmare scenario after all. So let's roll with it.
The Chargers keep the pressure on the Broncos by beating the Texans in a huge AFC showdown. That would put the AFC West title on the line in Week 18.
Finally, the Patriots beating the Jets and Bills beating the Eagles would both hurt the Broncos.
A victory for New England could put the No. 1 seed out of reach for Denver. Meanwhile, another win for Buffalo would hurt Denver's seeding for wild card position.
Broncos finish nightmare scenario with Week 18 loss against Chargers
Week 18 is the final nail in the coffin for Denver.
In this scenario, the Broncos lose to the Chargers in Week 18. That allows the Chargers to win the AFC West and guarantees that the Broncos become a wild card team in the playoffs.
This would arguably be the most painful of Denver's three fictional loses, purely because there's so much on the line.
To add insult to injury, let's have the Bills beat the Jets and Patriots beat the Dolphins.
How far can the Broncos fall over the next three weeks?
There's no question that this scenario would be devastating for the Broncos. It would not only hurt their playoff position, but also could hurt the team's morale before the playoffs.
So where exactly would a 0-3 finish to the regular season leave the Broncos? Weirdly enough, Denver's fate has a lot to do with the Houston Texans.
The Broncos have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Texans. Even if Houston wins out, and Denver loses out, they will still end up with the same record. Therefore, Houston is not a problem for Denver.
This is important because the Texans are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs in the AFC. Denver's floor for playoff seeding then becomes No. 6, as they cannot be No. 7 if Houston makes the playoffs.
But there is one scenario that could crush Denver and send them all the way down to the No. 7 seed.
If the Bills, Texans, and Broncos all finish the regular season at 12-5, then tiebreakers place Denver at the No. 7. seed.
This could happen if Buffalo beats Cleveland and New York, but loses to Philadelphia in Week 17.
Of course, winning just one game will put the Broncos in a great position to win the AFC West or secure the No. 1 seed. So the nightmare scenario is not bound to happen.
It will be fascinating to see if Denver can escape this nightmare scenario over the next three weeks.
