It has been an up-and-down season for the Denver Broncos so far in 2023. Denver sits at 7-7 with everything they want still out in front of them, but it hasn’t been easy getting to this point for the franchise.
With a new head coach in his first year with the team, coupled with a new system and the players connecting with that staff, there certainly has been a fair share of bumps in the road as the Broncos head into Week 16.
Despite all that, the NFL playoffs are right there for the taking — a feat that the Broncos haven’t conquered in quite some time.
When Did the Denver Broncos Last Make the Playoffs?
The Broncos are a proud franchise with a championship history. Look back to the days of John Elway and Terrell Davis, and Broncos fans think back to when they were on top of the NFL holding the Lombardi Trophy.
To get back to those days, you first need to make it to the playoffs. That is something that the Broncos have found increasingly hard over the last decade to do.
Denver hasn’t been back to the playoffs since 2015. It has been seven seasons since their Super Bowl title season and a real struggle to find any type of success even close to that.
At the time it was then quarterback Peyton Manning’s final game in the NFL. Now it’s up to another Super Bowl-winning QB, Russell Wilson, to try and get them back to the dance.
The only team in the NFL with a longer playoff drought than the Broncos is the New York Jets who haven’t been to the postseason in 13 years.
Importance Stretch Coming for Broncos
There are only three games remaining on the NFL schedule, and with the Broncos currently sitting at 7-7, every game is an important one.
First up for Denver is a home date with the lowly New England Patriots. The Patriots are coming off a tough loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but have found a way to look competitive since inserting Bailey Zappe into the starting lineup.
MORE: Can the Denver Broncos or Las Vegas Raiders Hunt Down the Kansas City Chiefs?
The Broncos cannot afford to lose another game from here on out. Yet, a loss to the 3-11 Patriots would not only effectively end their season, but do so in an embarrassing fashion that would be a tough pill to swallow through the entire offseason.
Denver has a winnable stretch of games to possibly allow them to break the seven-year streak, but you can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one. And that’s where their focus should be this Christmas Eve.
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