The Denver Broncos are the No. 7 seed and the final team in the AFC playoff picture entering Week 12 of the regular season.
A stranger to the postseason since last securing a spot in the 2015 season, the Broncos (6-5) are ahead of the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) and Miami Dolphins (4-6) in the conference wild-card race. Denver is effectively two games behind the current No. 6 seed because of a head-to-head loss to the Baltimore Ravens (7-4).
Denver’s most recent postseason appearance came in Super Bowl 50 in 2016, when Peyton Manning — in his final career game — and the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers.
Resurgent Washington, led by first-year head coach Dan Quinn, holds the No. 7 seed in the NFC through 11 weeks.
To move up from that spot, the Commanders (7-4) would need to overtake the Green Bay Packers (7-3) and Minnesota Vikings (8-2), who trail NFC North-leading and NFC No. 1 seed Detroit (9-1).
Washington last won a playoff game after the 2005 regular season and has lost four straight postseason games since (following the regular seasons of 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2020), all in the wild-card round.
Current NFL playoff picture:
AFC
1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)
2. Buffalo Bills (9-2)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2)
4. Houston Texans (7-4)
5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)
6. Baltimore Ravens (7-4)
7. Denver Broncos (6-5)
NFC
1. Detroit Lions (9-1)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (8-2)
3. Arizona Cardinals (6-4)
4. Atlanta Falcons (6-5)
5. Minnesota Vikings (8-2)
6. Green Bay Packers (7-3)
7. Washington Commanders (7-4)
–Field Level Media