meaningless...hardly

Here I went and skipped writing about the game against the Chargers because I thought it was meaningless. I thought the Broncos were going to play their second-stringers for the majority of the game. The only intrigue was whether Tatum Bell was going to get a thousand yards (which unfortunately he didn't). I thought the Broncos were going to lose. I picked against them in the football pool, fool that I am. And in the midst of my mind-boggling numb-skulledness, I missed something important.

Momentum.

The Broncos played a strong game against a faltering opponent. They could have phoned this one in but they came to play and play hard. Momentum is an amazing thing. The Broncos haven't really had any going into the playoffs the last two years. That has been part of their downfall. But this year, even with a first-round bye, the Broncos have a tremendous amount of momentum going into their home-field game against Cincinatti, Jacksonville, or New England depending on a number of scenarios. And the Broncos are going to need all the momentum they can get. Cincinatti lost any modicum of momentum in their blowout to the Chiefs, while New England may be in trouble after losing to Miami as well as giving up four offensive touchdowns. Jacksonville blew out the Titans; they'll be rolling into the playoffs but with which QB? Based on the importance of momentum, here's the prediction: Pittsburgh will go into Cincinatti and beat up the Bengals. That leaves Denver with the winner of the New England / Jacksonville game. We beat both of them this season which is encouraging. I would prefer to play Jacksonville, only because QB dilemmas are a big deal in the playoffs. (Plus, Pats coach Bill Belichick is the smartest man in the world.) Man, I love the playoffs.

The playoffs start next Saturday, and there's a slew of great games. Definitely check out the two AFC wild-card match-ups. Both games have implications for Broncos fans, so be sure to see who we might face on the road to the Super Bowl.