Rich Eisen has emphasized the importance of the Denver Broncos’ 41-32 win over the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football in Week 13.
“The Denver Broncos are 8-5 through 13 weeks heading into their bye week, seventh overall in the American Football Conference,” Eisen said on his radio show earlier this week. “This game that they came up with [on Monday] was beyond huge. If they had lost it, they would have been 7-6 heading into their bye, after which the also bye-weeking Indianapolis Colts are coming to town.
“And a victory for [the Colts] in that game would have put them in the playoff spot that they are vying for. Because they would have had the same record as Denver and they would have had the tiebreak. And instead, Denver goes into its bye with three straight wins, 8-5, with some cushion when Anthony Richardson and the Colts and Jonathan Taylor come and visit them in Week 15.”
By beating the Browns, the Broncos are now on the doorstep of a playoff berth. If Denver beats Indianapolis, the Broncos will need just one more win and one Miami Dolphins loss to clinch a playoff spot this season. After taking care of business against Cleveland, attention now turns toward Indy. That will be a huge came for Denver coming out of the bye week.