Saturday’s day represented a painful blow for the teams that were looking to take a step in the race to the postseason.
The race to the NFL playoffs is often cruel, no matter how good a team a team is on, the difference between playing in January and going home can be just one loss.
It is not that the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings have been evicted, but certainly this Saturday with their defeats they took a step back, a lot back to be honest.
In the night game the Broncos (7-7), who had won six of their last seven games, needed a win to move to 8-6 and force a three-way tie with the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts — who won earlier — for the last two wild card spots, but with their loss they now no longer control their destiny and need combinations of results — in addition to continuing to win — to claim a spot in the playoffs.
The Denver Broncos exited the AFC playoff picture with their loss to the Detroit Lions. AP Photo/David Dermer
According to ESPN Analytics, Denver had a 43 percent chance of advancing to the playoffs entering the game and leaves Detroit with a 29 percent chance.
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The advantage for the Broncos is that their last three games of the season are winnable against the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Chargers and a visit to the Las Vegas Raiders.
In the case of the Steelers (7-7), their chances of advancing to the playoffs plummeted to 11 percent after suffering their third consecutive loss.
Additionally, Pittsburgh is at risk of ending the season with a losing record for the first time since 2003, which would represent the first losing season in the career of head coach Mike Tomlin, who joined the franchise in 2007.
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The least dramatic case is that of the Vikings, who are currently the No. 6 seed in the National Conference.
Minnesota’s chances fell from 63 to 52 percent and now their margin for error is small with a schedule in which they have two games against the Lions and one at home against the Green Bay Packers.
As for the winners, the Colts (8-6) improved from a starving 10 to 63 percent, while the Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) have a 34 percent chance of advancing to the playoffs.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in the writing of this note.
2023-12-17 05:33:18
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