Fourteen Starters at Quarterback, Five Head Coaches Later, Broncos Return to Postseason
The Denver Broncos are headed back to the postseason, ending the longest playoff drought following a Super Bowl victory in NFL history. The team clinched their first playoff berth since winning Super Bowl 50 to end the 2015 season with a 38-0 blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs, who were resting a litany of starters.
The Broncos, seeded seventh in the AFC, will now travel to face the second-seeded Buffalo Bills during Wild Card Weekend. With the win, Denver improved to 10-7 this season, reaching double-digit wins for the first time since the 2015 season.
Quarterback Bo Nix, who is the 14th player to start at QB for the club since Peyton Manning, said after the game, “It’s fun to clinch a playoff spot and the last game of the year, against a divisional team, and it’s just kind of a great story. But now playoff time starts, and our goal wasn’t just to make the playoffs, even though it hadn’t been done in a while. It’s for a lot more than that.”
The clincher came after two previous failed attempts, as Denver had a chance to sew up a playoff berth in Weeks 16 and 17, but lost to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively. Denver will now join Kansas City and Los Angeles as the third AFC West postseason squad.
Under the guidance of head coach Sean Payton, in his second year at the helm, the Broncos have made a successful return to the playoffs. The team’s defense-led Super Bowl 50 winners were coached by Gary Kubiak, while Peyton Manning started at quarterback for that team.