Saturday AFC Showdown Comes With Massive Stakes for Broncos

The Denver Broncos will be paying close attention to the Houston Texans vs. Los Angeles Chargers game on Saturday.

Dec 14, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks with quarterback Bo Nix (10) during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Empower Field at Mile High. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Night, but their inconsistent performance may not inspire confidence in the season finale. The Broncos will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, which could be the deciding game for the division title, where the winner takes all. 

However, since the Broncos beat the Chiefs, they remain a game and a half up on the Chargers, so if the Chargers lose to the Houston Texans on Saturday, Denver clinches the division. For Saturday only, Broncos Country will join Texans fans in rooting for Houston.

Chargers Are a Tough Matchup

Based on how the Broncos played against the depleted Chiefs, the Chargers will be a tough out in the season finale. The Chargers have been playing clean, efficient football over the past six or so weeks, and Bo Nix has yet to defeat them.

Of course, the games are played for a reason, and the Broncos could step up, address their issues over the next 10 days, and put together a great game plan to walk out with the win vs. L.A. 

Unless several additional Week 17 games go Denver's way, the Broncos will still have a lot to play for in that final game against the Chargers. However, having the division locked up going into Week 18 could take some of the pressure off the Broncos, who are pushing hard for the division title. 

The Broncos need to play more freely, as everyone seems to be feeling the late-season pressure, which has led to the kind of silly mistakes they weren’t making earlier in the campaign. Teams want to reach critical mass in late December and be playing their best football, not the other way around.

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Issues to Fix During the Mini-Bye

Dec 25, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun (19) throws against Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) during the fourth quarter at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Now, the Broncos' defense is a much bigger issue and has been since they faced the Las Vegas Raiders in their first game. A lot of what made Denver's defense so scary and hard to handle — the pass rush — hasn't been the threat it was.

The Broncos have allowed the possibility of breaking the single-season sack record to slip through their hands, even though they've already beaten the franchise record set in 2024 (63). The single-season sack record is 72, and the Broncos have 64, after only sacking Chiefs third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun once.

The Broncos' offense has been more efficient and consistent since Week 10, but the unit struggled to capitalize on the four scoring drives of 14-plus plays against the Chiefs, hitting paydirt on only 2-of-4 red-zone possessions. The Chiefs' defense had a great game plan, forcing the Broncos to inch down the field, but it's not as threatening as the Chargers'.

The onus is on the Broncos to show drastic improvements over this mini-bye. The offense needs to find consistency again, or hope that this latest Chiefs game was a fluke. 

What's at Stake

To be clear, either way, the Broncos will have a lot on the line in their season finale against the Chargers, but if the Texans can win on Saturday, giving the Broncos the division, it would be one less thing at stake. If the Broncos clinch the division with a Texans' victory over L.A., they can only be the No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 seed.

If the Texans don't beat the Chargers and the Broncos lose next week, they could fall as far as the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. So, Saturday is an important day throughout Bronco-land, even though the team has already played this week.

The Takeaway

Internally, the Broncos have had Super Bowl aspirations since the end of last season, and they were none too quiet about those goals during training camp. The AFC is up for grabs, and home-field advantage could go a long way to making it to the Super Bowl. 

Denver would secure the top seed and division crown with a win next week, regardless of what happens on Saturday at SoFi Stadium. However, if the Texans can give the Broncos a little help by taking the division out of the equation, it would be a Mile-High gift this holiday season, and perhaps even take some of the fight out of the Chargers for Week 18.