After another dreadful performance by Tim Tebow (6-22, 60 pass yards, 20.6 passer rating) Sunday in a 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos fell to 8-8 on the season.
Miraculously (a word we have used to describe the Broncos WAY too many times this year), the Broncos STILL ended the day as AFC West champions as a result of the Oakland Raiders' home loss to the San Diego Chargers.
Although what the Broncos did is the very definition of "backing into the playoffs," they will indeed be known forever as divisional champs. In doing so, they join an illustrious amount of lists. The first is the select club of teams to win their division but finish at or below .500:
Teams to Win Division with .500 Record or Worse, Post-Merger (Since 1970)
1985 Cleveland Browns (8-8)
2008 San Diego Chargers (8-8)
2010 Seattle Seahawks (7-9)
2011 Denver Broncos (8-8)
One of the most amazing things about the Broncos season was their ability to win close games, but their utter incompetence in blowout losses against teams like the Lions and Bills. In fact, the Broncos were actually OUTSCORED this season:
Worst Point Differential, NFL Division Winners, Post-Merger (Since 1970)
-97, 2010 Seattle Seahawks
-81, 2011 Denver Broncos
-16, 1982 Atlanta Falcons*
-12, 1978 Minnesota Vikings
*strike-shortened season
SRS is a rating system used to calculate the relative strength of a football team based on point margin and the average strength of the opponents on each team's schedule. Not surprisingly, the Broncos have one of the worst SRS ratings for a division champ in NFL history:
Worst SRS Rating, NFL Division Winners, Post-Merger (Since 1970)
-9.4, 2010 Seattle Seahawks
-5.3, 2011 Denver Broncos
-4.1*, 1982 Atlanta Falcons
-3.6, 2006 Seattle Seahawks
-2.9, 2004 Seattle Seahawks
-2.8, 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
*strike-shortened season
This is not to say that the Broncos are royally screwed when the playoffs start. By winning the division, Denver will play host to Pittsburgh on Wild Card Weekend, even though the Steelers have the better record. Home-field advantage has to mean something, right?
Another reason for hope is the presence of last year's abysmal Seahawks team on many of the preceding lists. That Seahawks team actually WON a playoff game, defeating the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, 41-36.
Finally, I have railed on Tim Tebow's accuracy problems before. But there IS a template for playoff success onto which optimistic Bronco fans can hold. Despite only completing 46.5% of his passes, Tim Tebow is NOT the most inaccurate quarterback to lead his team to a division title. In 1979, Doug Williams completed just 41.8% of his passes, but led the Bucs to a 5-game winning streak to start the season and an NFC Central title. Tampa Bay won its first round game to the Philadelphia Eagles before bowing out to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game.
As last year's Green Bay Packers showed us, once you get into the playoffs, it's anybody's title to win.
Still, judging by the numbers, a tall task lies ahead for the Broncos.
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