The 2024 NFL regular season has officially ended. The playoff picture is now set, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions claiming the top seeds and bye weeks in their respective conferences.
Another team that secured a spot in the playoffs is the Denver Broncos, who earned the AFC’s seventh seed. The Broncos are our final Team of the Week.
The Broncos Exceeded Expectations
At the beginning of the season, the NFL media predicted that the Broncos would win only four or five games and toward the bottom in the AFC West. However, as the regular season progressed, the Broncos surpassed those expectations and ultimately achieved a 10-win season. The praise for this success can be given to the team’s coaching staff and front office leadership, particularly general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton.
“Young and Hungry can sometimes be pretty dangerous”
– Sean Payton on the Broncos outperforming expectations pic.twitter.com/1KEvkUeF4E
— DNVR Broncos (@DNVR_Broncos) January 6, 2025
Second-Year Head Coach Goes To Playoffs
Prior to joining the Broncos in 2023, Sean Payton served as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2022. Over his 16 seasons as the head coach in New Orleans, Payton guided the Saints to three NFC Championships, won a Super Bowl title in 2010, secured nine playoff berths, and claimed seven division titles. When the Broncos hired Payton, they hoped to achieve similar success, and in his second year with the Denver Broncos, after a tumultuous season the year before, he has clinched a playoff berth.
We ‘Bolieve’
The success of the Broncos this season can be attributed in part to their rookie quarterback, Bo Nix. Nix thrived this year, proving to be an excellent fit for Sean Payton’s offensive scheme. Throughout the season, he has thrown for 3,775 yards, ranking 12th among quarterbacks, and has delivered 29 passing touchdowns, placing him sixth in that category.
In the Broncos’ final regular-season game against the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, Nix delivered the best performance of his young career. He completed 26 of 29 passes for 321 yards and threw four touchdowns. One touchdown was caught by wide receiver Courtland Sutton, two were caught by wide receiver Marvin Mims, and one was caught by wide receiver Devaughn Vele.
LEGEND: #Broncos QB Bo Nix had the HIGHEST completion percentage in NFL history by a rookie, with at least 25 passing attempts in a game.
🤯
Nix had an 89.7 completion percentage. Pretty damn great. pic.twitter.com/Njnf7wjwn9
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 7, 2025
As the famous Monkees song goes, “I’m a Boliever, and not a trace of doubt in my mind.”
Broncos Against the Bills
For the first time since 2015, the playoffs will feature the Denver Broncos, who are entering as the seventh seed. They are facing a challenging 1 p.m. matchup on CBS against the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Bills. The game is in Buffalo, which is known as one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. Bo Nix will have a difficult task ahead of him. However, if the Broncos can effectively utilize their run game and apply pressure on Bills quarterback Josh Allen, they have a chance to win and advance to Kansas City for a Week 18 rematch.
If the Broncos want a chance to beat the Bills this Sunday, Nik Bonitto is gonna have to put on a clinic like he did here pic.twitter.com/gDvv1reeG6
— Denver Broncos 365 (@DailyBroncos) January 6, 2025
This is the last Team of the Week article for the 2024 NFL season. Now, we enter the best part of the year: the NFL playoffs. At the end of the playoffs, a Super Bowl champion will be crowned in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025.
Main Image Credit:
Embed from Getty Images
