Broncos rooting guide for Week 7

Welcome to another ‘rooting guide’ for Broncos fans.

Here in Week 7 the Denver Broncos will host their AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs in the snow. Aside from that obvious rooting interest, I’ll break down every other games on the docket this weekend as well.

Broncos game

Chiefs at Broncos. The Broncos need a win to reach .500 and a win would also narrow the Chiefs lead in the division over Denver to 2.5 games. The problem is, the Broncos are one of the lowest scoring teams and the Chiefs one of the highest. That has to change on Sunday if Denver is to have a chance. Root for the Broncos.

AFC West

Buccaneers at Raiders. I have been surprised at how well the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played under Tom Brady. I assumed his play would fall off a cliff, but this team is legit. I’m obviously rooting for them to curb stomp the stupid Las Vegas Raiders in this game. Root for the Bucs.

Jaguars at Chargers. The Jacksonville Jaguars are a terrible football team, while I think Justin Herbert is pretty good and the Los Angeles Chargers a dangerous 1-win football team. I’ll still root against them. Root for the Jags.

The rest

Steelers at Titans. Both teams beat the Broncos earlier this year, so it’ll end up being a net nothing on the SOS side of things. The secondary rooting situation would be for a potential playoff spot. The Titans have the lead for the AFC South, but the Steelers have to contend with the Baltimore Ravens. In a Wild Card scenario, the Broncos need the Steelers to lose some games. Root for the Titans.

Cowboys at Football Team. The Broncos play neither team and they are both NFC teams, so it doesn’t really matter who wins. I’d say root against the team you like the least. For this fan, I can’t stand Dallas Cowboys fans. Root for the Washington Football Team.

Bills at Jets. Denver beat the New York Jets earlier this season and will play the Buffalo Bills later this season in Week 15. There is a two-part rooting interest here. One for draft position and the other playoff position. If the Broncos end up having a bad year, the Jets need to win some games. If the Broncos end up surging late, then the Bills need to lose some games. Root for the Jets.

Panthers at Saints. The Broncos play both teams this season, the New Orleans Saints in Week 12 and the Carolina Panthers in Week 14. That means it won’t matter much for SOS who wins this game. I’d say a less desperate Drew Brees and Saints team they face later this season the better. Root for the Saints.

Packers at Texans. A classic AFC vs NFC team that Denver doesn’t play. In those situations, you always want to root against the AFC opponent unless the need for a better draft position is in play. Denver isn’t quite in draft pick position mode after back-to-back wins. Root for the Packers.

Browns at Bengals. The Broncos won’t be playing either the Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Bengals this year, so go for the team with the better record to lose. If Denver does turn things around, they’ll be looking at the sixth seed. Root for the Bengals.

Lions at Falcons. In Week 9, the Broncos will play the Atlanta Falcons on the road. The better record Atlanta has the more it helps the Broncos SOS situation when it comes to playoff eliminations. Root for the Falcons.

49ers at Patriots. Hey, look! It’s the 2-3 New England Patriots. I won’t miss seeing them dominate the AFC for two decades. However, the Broncos did play them and beat them, so the better SOS the Patriots end up with the more it helps Denver. Having that tie-breaker could be huge. Root for the Patriots.

Seahawks at Cardinals. Two more NFC teams the Broncos won’t be playing this year, so we can pick against whatever team we dislike the most. 43-8 will always be fresh on my mind, so the Seattle Seahawks can pound sand. Root for the Cardinals.

Bears at Rams. Repeat everything above about two NFC teams playing. I lowkey like the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay, so I’ll probably lean their way in this game. You can root for whoever, because it won’t make a different as far as the Broncos are concerned. Root for the Rams.