Who will the the Broncos play in the AFC Divisional round?

The Denver Broncos are back in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, but this season expectations have grown considerably. A year removed from a 10-7 record and Wild Card Round exit against the Buffalo Bills, the Broncos are back with a 14-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC bracket.

The No. 1 seed brings a first round bye, which means they have an extra week to get healthy for their first playoff game. This will be of particular help to their defense, which was without linebacker Dre Greenlaw and defensive end John Franklin-Myers at the close of the regular season. Franklin-Myers seemed closer to a return, but even Greenlaw has a shot at returning.

Denver Broncos’ next playoff opponent

The NFL re-seeds the bracket after the first round of games. That means that we won’t immediately know the specific team the Broncos will face in the Divisional Round. Instead, Denver will face the worst remaining seed when the Wild Card Round concludes on Monday. If all the higher seeds win this first weekend, the Broncos would play the No. 4 seeded Pittsburgh Steelers. If all the lower seeds won upsets, Denver would play the No. 7 seeded Los Angeles Chargers. The No. 5 Houston and No. 6 Buffalo Bills are also in the mix as Divisional Round opponents depending on how the higher seeds perform.

The earliest the Broncos will know their opponent is the end of Sunday after the Patriots-Chargers 2/7 matchup. If LA wins, they would travel to Denver in the Divisional Round. Otherwise it depends on the results of Bills-Jaguars and Texans-Steelers.

History vs. potential opponents

vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: 15-11-1 regular season, 5-3 postseason all-time — They last played in 2024, with the Steelers winning 13-3 in Denver. Pittsburgh has won three straight in this regular season series. They last played a playoff game in 2016, with the Broncos beating the Steelers 23-16 in the Divisional Round.

vs. Houston Texans:7-4 regular season all-time — Denver beat Houston 18-15 in Week 9 this season. The Broncos came back from an eight point deficit, winning the game on a Wil Lutz field goal as time expired. They have never faced each other in the playoffs.

vs. Buffalo Bills: 17-22-1 regular season, 0-2 postseason all-time — The last time these two teams met was in last year’s Wild Card Round. The Bills thumped the Broncos 31-7. it was their first meeting since the Broncos won a 2023 Monday Night Football game, and their first playoff meeting since the Bills won the 1992 AFC Championship.

vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 7-7 regular season, 1-1 postseason all-time — The Jaguars won the last meeting between these two in impressive fashion. They won 34-20 in Denver in Week 16. They last met in the playoffs in 1997 when the Broncos thumped them 42-17 in the Wild Card round. They had met the previous year in the Divisional Round when the Jaguars shocked them in Denver in only their second season in existence.

Denver Broncos playoff history

The Broncos reached the playoffs as a wild card team last season and lost to the Bills in the first round. The last time they reached the playoffs prior to that was in 2015, when Peyton Manning led them to a Super Bowl victory. Coincidentally, that Super Bowl was in Levi’s Stadium, which is the site of this year’s Super Bowl. That was the close of a five-year run of playoff appearances.

That Super Bowl year was also the last time the Broncos were a No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff bracket. This year marks their AFC record ninth time as the top seed in the conference. Two of their three Super Bowl victories have come as the No. 1 seed, and they’ve advanced to the Super Bowl in six of the eight previous seasons in which they were the No. 1 seed.