Broncos Pick 'Em: How many games will the Broncos win the rest of the season?

After Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Chiefs, the AFC West title is quickly slipping out of the Broncos’ grasp.

However, Denver’s only one game back of the wild card.

Will the Broncos be able to make a push for the playoffs or is last week a preview of what’s to come?

The DNVR Crew breaks it down in the 14th edition of Broncos Pick ‘Em.

All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

What will Denver’s record be in their final five games?

Zac: 2-3 — Let’s get this out of the way right away—the Broncos will beat the Lions on Sunday. That’ll put them right in the thick of multiple wild card spots and above .500 with four games left.

However, their final four games are all against teams currently either in the playoffs or in the hunt. The worst team remaining on their schedule, after the Lions, is the 6-6 Raiders, who blew the doors off the Broncos in Week 6 in Denver.

Unfortunately, the Broncos are 3-6 this year against teams in the chase for the playoffs. If Kansas City is still playing meaningful football come Week 18, which I expect them to be, Denver will lose their 13th-straight game to the Chiefs.

In their other three games—home against the Bengals and on the road against the Chargers and Raiders—the Broncos will pull off one upset and drop the other two. Denver will finish with their most wins (8) since 2016, but will fall short of the playoffs once again.

Mase: 3-2 — The Lions game should be a Sharpie “W.” If the Broncos lose, then the team’s problems are deeper than even the most pessimistic of souls can imagine. And the Raiders game, even though it is on the road, is one that appears trending toward the win column, as their performance last week in a narrow loss to Washington means that Vegas has failed to reach 20 points in four of its last five games. That’s a trend, and the Broncos should be able to eke out a measure of revenge against the team that smoked them in Week 6.

That leaves games with the Bengals and the Chargers. Both appear to be coin-flip games. I’ll play the 50-50 percentages and predict that Denver will win one and lose the other.

Thus, the season could come down to whether the Chiefs have a high-stakes game in Week 18. If they are locked into their seed entering that game, expect a slew of reserves — and the Broncos’ best chance to snap their ego-sapping 12-game skid against Kansas City. But if the Chiefs have motivation — and the Week 18 scheduling could ensure that if they have a possibility of moving up or down the seed line, they’ll kick off at the same team as other teams with which they are completing — expect fifth gear from them, and a difficult path to victory.

The bet here is that the Chiefs have reason to come out punching, dealing the Broncos a season-ending loss and consigning them to a 9-8 finish.

RK: It all comes down to Week 18 — If the Chiefs are trying in Week 18, I have the Broncos at 2-3, if the Chiefs have their seed locked up that day and rest their starters, I have the Broncos at 3-2.

To get to 3-2, you start with an easy win over the Lions on Sunday. Then, you split with the Bengals and Raiders, I have it as a win over the Bengals and loss to the Raiders (Broncos always have some weird things happen on holiday road games). Then you lose to the Chargers in LA and beat the Chiefs at home to finish things off.

This would get the Broncos to 9-8, their first winning season since 2016, a huge step in the right direction despite the fact that it likely wouldn’t be enough to get them into the playoffs.

In my opinion, this would be enough for Vic Fangio to keep his job.

Picks Picks Picks

Pick one anytime touchdown scorer: Javonte Williams (-175), Melvin Gordon (-175), Jerry Jeudy (+160), Godwin Igwebuike (+200), Courtland Sutton (+190), Tim Patrick (+190), Tim Patrick (+190), T.J. Hockenson (+250), Albert O. (+450), Broncos’ defense (+360)

Zac: Jerry Jeudy. It finally happens.

Mase: Gordon.

RK: Courtland Sutton.

Teddy Bridgewater passing yards over/under 229.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under. Too much running.

Jared Goff passing yards over/under 207.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over. Lots of garbage time yards.

Teddy Bridgewater + Jared Goff combined passing touchdowns over/under 2.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Jerry Jeudy receiving yards over/under 53.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Courtland Sutton receiving yards over/under 36.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Tim Patrick receiving yards over/under 35.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Amon-Ra St. Brown receiving yards over/under 51.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Kalif Raymond receiving yards over/under 29.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Brandon McManus points over/under 7.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Broncos total points over/under 25.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Lions total points over/under 16.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy under.

Broncos-Lions over/under 42

Zac: Under. Under. Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Largest lead of Broncos-Lions game over/under 14.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

First-half spread Lions @ Broncos (-6)

Zac: Broncos.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Lions @ Broncos (-10)

Zac: Broncos.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Raiders @ Chiefs (-9.5)

Zac: Raiders.

Mase: Chiefs.

RK: Raiders.

Giants @ Chargers (-10)

Zac: Chargers.

Mase: Chargers.

RK: Giants.

Leaderboard

Last week

Zac: 12-5

RK: 11-6

Mase: 8-9

Overall

Zac: 90-102

RK: 89-103

Mase: 84-108