During meetings Wednesday morning, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan told two stories to his players.
One was about the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season at this time, the Steelers were 7-5 and coming off a three-game losing streak. To emphasize the message nobody missed, Shana- han said the Steelers’ special teams were statistically worse through Game 12 in almost every area than the Broncos are now.
The second story was about the 1988 San Francisco 49ers, who at one point where 6-5. It was a season so taxing, Bill Walsh would retire as coach when it was finished. It finished with a Super Bowl title.
“We know a few things have to happen, but as long we keep winning football games we’re going to have a chance,” Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler said.
What Shanahan didn’t bother to discuss was the complicated playoff tiebreaker scenarios.
There is a little-known Kansas City Chiefs factor in the tiebreaker formula that makes this a potentially do-or-die week for the Broncos.
In contention for the AFC’s two wild-card spots are five teams, including the Broncos, with 7-5 records. Ordinarily, the Broncos would have the top tiebreaker from this quintet because they have the superior conference record at 7-3.
However, there is an exception to the conference-record rule when the tiebreaker includes two teams within the same division. In this case, the Broncos and Chiefs both are 7-5, so division record trumps conference record as the primary tiebreaker. Because the Chiefs have a better division record (3-1) than Denver (3-2), the Broncos are considered a third-place team in the AFC West.
The other 7-5 teams – Jacksonville, Cincinnati, New York Jets and the Chiefs – are second- place teams in their respective divisions. This means the Broncos, as a third-place team in their division, are fifth among the 7-5 teams.
So the game against the Chargers is the Broncos’ last chance to improve their division record. Lose, and the Broncos will be 7-6 overall and 3-3 in their division. If the Chiefs beat Baltimore, they would be 8-5 and would only have to beat Oakland (2-10) on Dec. 23 to secure a division record superior to Denver’s.
At that point, the Broncos’ best hope would be if they won the three remaining games to finish 10-6 and Kansas City lost to San Diego on the road and Jacksonville at home to finish 9-7.
“We’re just looking at it as we have to win them all,” Broncos tight end Stephen Alexander said.
Roster move
To fill the roster spot vacated by the season-ending leg injury suffered by fullback Cecil Sapp, who had surgery Tuesday, the Broncos will promote safety Steve Cargile today from their practice squad.
L.T. and TDs
With 26 touchdowns, including four in the Chargers’ first game against the Broncos this season, running back LaDainian Tomlinson needs two to tie the NFL season record set last year by Seattle’s Shaun Alexander.
The Broncos know that if Tomlinson gets three touchdowns Sunday, NFL Films will never let them forget.
“It’s human nature that you don’t want records to happen against you because you’ll be forever etched in history,” safety John Lynch said. “That’s a tough task, the way he’s going right now, but most important, it’s going to be key to us winning. I’d venture to say if we keep him out of the end zone, our chances are pretty good.”
Shotgun vs. snap
On the checklist of items Cutler is working on this week, nothing is taken for granted. In his debut Sunday night against Seattle, Cutler muffed one snap exchange from center Tom Nalen.
While Nalen is used to snapping to veteran Jake Plummer, Cutler often operated out of the shotgun at Vanderbilt.
“I’m still feeling out Tommy a little bit, and he’s still trying to get used to me,” Cutler said. “My hands are a little bit different than Jake’s.”
Cutler said most quarterbacks like to operate out of the shotgun, but the Broncos haven’t used it much since John Elway retired, primarily because Shanahan’s offense is built around deception.
“When you are in the shotgun, you are telling people that you are throwing the football,” Shanahan said. “But there’s nothing wrong with that in passing situations, and I think it will be a strong part (of Cutler’s) game as time goes on.”
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
