The Denver Broncos will face either the Kansas City Chiefs or Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday in the Divisional round playoff game.
That's because the Chiefs beat the Texans 30-0 on Saturday.
The Broncos will face the lowest remaining seed next weekend. That will be either the 5-seed Chiefs or 6-seed Steelers, depending on the outcome of the Steelers-Bengals game tonight.
STEELERS (10-6, 6-SEED)
The Steelers have the best offense of the three contenders, ranked #3 in the NFL in total offense.
Big Ben has arguably the best trio of receivers in the league in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Markus Wheaton.
The Broncos jumped out to a 27-10 lead over the Steelers behind a great first half by Brock Osweiler back on December 20. Big Ben brought the Steelers back with 380 yards passing and 3 TD passes. Brown had 16 catches for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns as he torched Chris Harris Jr.
This offense scares me. The Steelers defense, not so much.
Ranked 30th in pass defense, Peyton Manning has a chance to do some damage, but the Steelers beat the Broncos already this season, and they’ve got an elite QB and receivers who make big plays. All it takes to win in a close playoff game is a big play or two.
I don’t want them to have another chance at beating the Broncos in Denver.
CHIEFS (11-5, 5-SEED)
Finally, the Chiefs. The same Chiefs who started the season 1-5, and finished the season 10-0 with a 29-13 win over the Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Nov. 15.
The game that was the end of Peyton Manning (until now of course).
Peyton threw 4 interceptions and ended up with a 0.0 quarterback rating before he was benched for Brock Osweiler. The Chiefs defense is impressive, finishing in the top 10 in all categories.
KC was #1 in scoring defense with 6 touchdowns on the year, but their offense is a different story. Chiefs finished 27th in total offense.
Quarterback Alex Smith is efficient if not explosive. But any team that would be on an 11-game win streak would be cause for concern.