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While it was a battle until the end, the Denver Broncos came up just short against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17, 34-20. Now, whether or not the Broncos make the postseason all comes down to Week 18.
Taking a loss is never a good thing. But now it sets Denver up in a must-win situation. And that's exactly where head coach Sean Payton wants to be, via Zac Stevens of DNVR.
“Right now finishing up on this game. Then we have to turn the page,” Payton said.
“This is what we do it for,” Payton continued. “Meaningful games, it's exciting.”
When the Broncos face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18, it seems likely that the latter will be resting a majority of their team. The Chiefs have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, meaning the matchup is for nothing more than pride. While Kansas City wants to retain their top dog AFC West status, they'd rather have a healthy team going into the playoffs.
Still, that's not say that the Chiefs will be pushovers. Even with Carson Wentz under center, the Broncos cannot take the matchup lightly. With a win guaranteeing Denver's spot in the postseason, they'll enter the matchup with a little extra juice.
The Broncos have been a team of streaks all season. They opened the year with two straight losses before firing off three wins in a row. Denver was on a four-game win streak before back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Bengals.
Their Week 17 loss opened up an opportunity for teams like the Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins to steal the last playoff spot. But the Broncos can shut down all the noise and make the Wild Card situation much easier to understand with a win.
After the team diagnoses what went wrong against the Bengals, Sean Payton is ready for the Broncos to lock in against the Chiefs.
