6 Implausible, Absurd, Far-Fetched — But Most Likely — Ways The Broncos …

DENVER (CBS4) – A trip to the Super Bowl doesn’t necessarily run through New England, though that looks fairly likely as week 11 closes shop.

Denver Broncos faithful hoping for a return to the NFL championship game saw their hopes dashed Sunday in the Broncos’ most pitiful performance in a long while, a 22-7 drubbing in St. Louis.

Super Bowl? It’s grim. But it’s still possible.

This season prompts deja vu of 2013 when the Broncos fumbled their home-field advantage midway through the season only to watch New England drop two games in November and December to hand the No. 1 one seed back to Denver.

Given the way New England is playing however — they dismantled Indianapolis on the road Sunday night, 42-20 — it seems unlikely they’ll lose two more if any.

Still, for the optimistic Broncos fan somewhere out there, witness the Patriots’ early season struggles. Kansas City and Miami blew them out, they had trouble putting away the miserable Raiders and only a blocked field goal saved them from losing to the Jets.

Here are the likely possible scenarios, from the most hopeful to the least, in which the Broncos eke out another Super Bowl trip.

The Chiefs win out and the Patriots lose once. This path doesn’t reroute the road to the Super Bowl through Denver, but the Broncos’ chances of winning in Kansas City seem plausible compared to beating the Patriots on the road.

If Kansas City wins its remaining games, and New England loses at, say, Green Bay — which is very possible, if not probable — the Chiefs and Patriots would tie with 13-3 finishes. Kansas City would secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC courtesy of its September rout of the Patriots. The Chiefs’ remaining slate isn’t too frightening — it includes two games against Oakland — but they also play at 9-1 Arizona.

It’s far too early to envision playoff seeding — in this universe, the Broncos might still travel to New England as a wild card. But the Broncos’ chances of a Super Bowl berth increase in Kansas City and not New England.

A team wins in New England in January — just not the Broncos. In this synopsis, how the regular season finishes matters little. The Patriots are rather unbeatable at home against AFC opponents, who haven’t won in New England during the regular season since 2008. It’s a different story in the playoffs. Since 2009, the Patriots are just 4-3 at home in the postseason, with losses to the Ravens (in two routs, by the way) and the Jets.

Some teams manage to win at New England in the playoffs. Just not the Broncos.

The Broncos travel to New England in January and somehow win. This is certainly the simplest route because it doesn’t require anyone else’s cooperation. But the Broncos haven’t won at Foxborough since September 2006, dropping six in a row by an average of more than 20 points.

There’s close to zero chance the Patriots would allow the Broncos a playoff victory there. Again, this is the third-most hopeful route. But that’s just where we are now: a bleak road.

This is the typical look for Broncos players in New England lately. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

The Broncos win out and the Patriots lose twice. It doesn’t seem possible the Broncos will finish 13-3, but that’s how dreary this has become.

This is significantly more difficult because New England must lose twice. That’s daunting, but not impossible. They may be underdogs at 7-3 Green Bay in two weeks and they have remaining road games at San Diego and the Jets. The same 2-8 Jets? Yep, but they nearly beat the Patriots in Foxborough.

It’s equally dubious, perhaps more so, the Broncos will win out. Given Sunday’s debacle, it seems they could drop four of their remaining games — on the road against Kansas City, San Diego and Cincinnati and at home to Miami. They won’t, but they’re not winning them all, either.

The Dolphins win out and the Patriots lose twice. Swap the Broncos for the Dolphins and you have the essentially the same scenario. The only difference: The Dolphins and Patriots play once more and if the Fins can somehow win at New England, they’ll kill two birds with one stone. And New England could lose to the Packers.

If — and it’s a huge if — that happens, the Dolphins would also need to win in Denver on Sunday. It’ll require an equally improbable turn of events as the last scenario, and Miami playing in New England in December cements it.

The Broncos (or Chiefs or Dolphins) lose once and the Patriots lose three games. Will the Broncos croak just once more? If they do, it’s bound to happen on the road at Kansas City, San Diego or Cincinnati. And Miami could beat them in Denver.

But New England losing three more games? This is incredibly unlikely, although the remaining schedule is no honeymoon. The Patriots host 7-3 Detroit, whose front seven could harass Tom Brady all afternoon and make life uncomfortable for the Patriots offense.

They then travel to Green Bay and San Diego for back-to-back road games before hosting Miami, playing at the Jets and finishing up at home against Buffalo.

Is one loss squeezed in there? Maybe at Green Bay. But three? No way.

– Written by Tim Skillern for CBSDenver.com

More Broncos Stories