Here\u2019s what the big three outlets think about the Broncos entering Week 10, with the Las Vegas Raiders coming to town for a Thursday night throwdown. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Broncos get the Raiders on a short week. While I\u2019m never trying to look too far ahead, does a potential three-game lead on the Chiefs (and with the Chargers continuing to get hammered by injury) start to become insurmountable?\u201d Connor Orr wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard not to look ahead and get excited about the possibility of the Broncos wrapping up the division and sticking it to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos have put themselves in a favorable position to secure the AFC West crown, but first, they must take care of the Raiders and Chiefs in back-to-back weeks. <\/p>\n The Raiders are floundering, but the Broncos can\u2019t take any division foe lightly, especially those trying to play spoiler.\u00a0<\/p>\n What happens next for the Broncos? Don’t miss out on any news and analysis!\u00a0Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!<\/a><\/p>\n Nov 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) throws against Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) during the second half at NRG Stadium. \/ Sean Thomas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n \u201cGlass half full, the Broncos held the Texans to 3-for-17 on third downs in an important road victory and didn\u2019t give up a touchdown even though they were without the injured Pat Surtain II. Glass half empty, Bo Nix struggled until the fourth quarter, Denver\u2019s special teams cost the club points and more than half of the Broncos\u2019 defensive efforts came against a backup QB. Sunday\u2019s game was sort of a microcosm of this organization’s season: Denver won a big game, but it came littered with questions and shortcomings. You can\u2019t deny the Broncos\u2019 fourth-quarter magic in 2025, but it\u2019s the rest of the game that often makes them look human. Denver is minus-1 in point differential in the first three quarters, but a stunning plus-60 in the fourth. That\u2019s both good and glaring, and it\u2019s held me back from elevating the Broncos farther,\u201d Eric Edholm wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Broncos have been winning close games, and while that\u2019s a positive, you have to wonder how sustainable this style of play is. Denver\u2019s defense can save Nix and the offense from tripping over themselves for three quarters, but what happens when they have a rough night? <\/p>\n The offense hasn\u2019t proven that it can play a complete game, and if the defense has an off day, the Broncos could be in deep trouble. As long as the Broncos keep winning, they can shrug off their deficiencies to some extent, but if they lose down the line, there will be many questions to answer.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, the Broncos have their first meeting against the Chiefs in Week 11 as well as a Week 15 matchup with the Packers and the regular-season finale versus the Chargers (after Los Angeles beat Denver in Week 3). But the Christmas night tilt at Kansas City could have a lot on the table. Perhaps most notably — beyond any playoff seeding implications — is that a victory at Arrowhead Stadium could mean the Broncos are truly over their eight seasons of struggles following Peyton Manning’s retirement. The Chiefs have won every AFC West title since the Broncos last claimed the divisional crown in 2015, and Denver hasn’t triumphed at Arrowhead since Sept. 17, 2015,” Jeff Legwold wrote. <\/a><\/p>\n The Broncos have to prove that they can beat a contender this season, and that starts next week against the Chiefs. The Broncos have played almost every team close this season and have defeated only one team with a winning record \u2014 the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. <\/p>\n That was a confidence-boosting win, but the Broncos need to prove that they can consistently compete with the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills of the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Broncos face the Raiders on Thursday night in what could be a blowout just as likely as a close contest, given the propensity of Denver’s offense to play down to its opponent. If the Broncos can pull out the victory, they\u2019ll maintain their position at the top of the AFC West. \u00a0<\/p>\n More Must-Read Denver Broncos Coverage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Denver Broncos are the kings of the comeback, besting the Houston Texans 18-15 after falling behind 7-15…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-267340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n