COLORADO, USA — The Broncos’ chances of ending their four-year playoff drought got a little better Tuesday when NFL owners approved the postseason expansion from 12 teams to 14.
That means one team from each conference will qualify for the postseason. There will now be 7 of 16 AFC teams that will play at least one playoff game and 7 of 16 NFC teams.
In theory, adding a playoff opponent to the tournament would not have been good for the Broncos during their Peyton Manning years from 2012-15.
The Broncos had won the AFC West Division title and received first-round byes all four years with Manning at quarterback, including 2014 when they were the No. 2 seed (they lost their opening, second-round home playoff game to Indianapolis, anyhow).
Under the new postseason format that will be put in play for the 2020 season, only the conference No. 1 seed will get a first-round bye. Week 1 of the postseason will now pit the No. 2 seed against No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. 5.
That’s fine by the current Broncos as their AFC West Division has been won the past four seasons by the Kansas City Chiefs. The past two Chiefs’ titles were led by their sensational young quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is only 24 years old.
One more chance to qualify for the postseason tournament is welcome for a Broncos team that hasn’t made the playoffs since their 2015 Super Bowl 50 title.
The Broncos' four-year postseason skid is tied for the fourth-longest playoff drought in the NFL. Only Cleveland (17 years), Tampa Bay (12 years) and the New York Jets (9) have longer droughts, while Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati have also missed the postseason the past 4 consecutive seasons.
Joe Ellis, the Broncos’ chief executive officer, president and owner delegate was among the NFL leaders who voted for the expanded playoff measure via conference call Tuesday.
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