All right Broncos fans, it's the final week of the regular season. After starting the season 6-0 and taking a three and a half game lead in the AFC West, the Broncos find themselves needing help to make the playoffs. In addition, they have to help themselves by beating Kansas City in Sunday's finale. Sure, after the Broncos' sensational start, the current situation is disappointing. But compared to the preseason predictions of many so-called "experts", the Broncos sitting at 8-7 with a semi-decent chance of getting into the play-offs is better than a lot of people expected. So, if you're disappointed with "the season that could have been" or optimistic about what first-year coach Josh McDaniels can do once he gets all the pieces in place, or a little bit of both, like me, don't lose sight of the fact that the season isn't over yet. The Broncos are right on the edge of making the playoffs, and although their play as of late doesn't engender loads of confidence for success in the post-season, they remain a talented team with a lot of veterans. They also have beaten both of the teams they might face in the first round, the Patriots and the Bengals.

The main problem with the Week 17 match-ups is that the Bengals have nothing to play for so they will likely sit their starters, meaning the Jets will probably roll into the play-offs on the back of two straight gimme wins over teams they normally wouldn't beat, the Colts and the Bengals. So realistically, the Broncos play-off chances are on the shoulders of their arch-rivals, the Raiders. They need their unpredictable foe to show up on Sunday and play the spoiler against the Ravens, who with a victory would clinch the final play-off spot, assuming the Jets won, too. Ironically, the one point loss to the Raiders only two weeks ago is the main reason the Broncos aren't already sitting pretty. For now, let's try to stay optimistic because if the Broncos got in, they could make a splash, but don't get your hopes up because quite frankly, it doesn't look good. Here is a more detailed look at what the Broncos need:

The Broncos get in with a win over the Chiefs and one of the following:

- Jets loss or tie and Ravens loss or tie

- Jets loss or tie and Steelers loss or tie

- Ravens loss or tie and Steelers loss or tie

- Jets loss or tie and Texans win

- Ravens loss or tie and Texans win

Or losses By:

- Steelers, Ravens, Texans and Jets

- Steelers, Ravens, Texans and Jaguars

- Steelers, Ravens, Jaguars and Jets

- Steelers, Jets, Jaguars and Texans

- Dolphins, Jets, Ravens, Texans and Jaguars

The Dolphins host the Steelers.

The Ravens are at the Raiders.

The Texans host the Patriots.

The Jets host the Bengals.

The Jaguars are at the Browns.

--- SONNY PLATT.