2. Denver Broncos
Once again, the Denver Broncos never make it easy, but this team is now 14-3 on the season, and with that comes the no. 1 seed for the AFC playoffs. The AFC postseason now runs through Denver for the first time since they won the Super Bowl back in 2015.
In many instances, the Broncos won this year by doing just enough on offense and closing the game out on defense. Funnily enough, that’s the same blueprint the 2015 won 12 games in the regular season with and a few more in the playoffs to capture Super Bowl 50.
Many aren’t yet ready to look at the Denver Broncos as a contender, and the team didn’t really do enough to silence those haters. However, no team is ever going to apologizing for winning, no matter how ugly it might look.
There were just two other teams in the NFL that had at least 14 wins. The Broncos will now get a bye into the Divisional Round and play the lowest remaining seed. This is the case for the Seattle Seahawks, as well.
1. Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are now the first seed in the NFC thanks to their 10-point win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18. The Seahawks ‘little brothered’ the 49ers, as the Niners just could not match the explosive roster talent that Seattle has.
The NFC will go through the NFC West champs, and now that the one seed is wrapped up, Seattle will be on the bye through the Wild Card Round and will only have to win two home games to reach Super Bowl LX.
It’s an ideal scenario, and ever since the NFL went to the seven-team playoff format, only the top seed gets the first-round bye.
Seattle has been very good all year and have earned this, but the one thing that I can see derailing their season is Sam Darnold’s turnover issues.