at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night pushed Denver into a tie with the New England Patriots (9-3) atop the AFC standings.
That’s because Tom Brady and the Patriots fell 26-21 to the Packers at Green Bay earlier in the day. That still leaves the Patriots in control of their own destiny for the No. 1 seed, because they own the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of beating the Broncos 43-21 when the teams met in Foxborough on Nov. 2.
If the Patriots win out, the road to the AFC championship will go through Foxborough, Mass., where the Broncos have had little success.
The toughest remaining test for the Patriots is likely to come when they play at San Diego (8-4) on Sunday. The Chargers remain one game behind the Broncos in the AFC West race.
New England’s only other road game will come Dec. 21 at the New York Jets (2-9). The Patriots have the Miami Dolphins at home on Dec. 14 and close the season vs. the Bills on Dec. 28.
The Broncos have two tough road games remaining, at San Diego on Dec. 14 and at Cincinnati (8-3) on Dec. 22. Both of those teams are battling for the playoffs, with the Bengals sitting atop the AFC North. Denver has home games against the Buffalo Bills (7-5) on Sunday and the Oakland Raiders (1-11) on Dec. 28. The Denver Post
