History is on the side of the Broncos after team clinches home-field advantage

4 days ago 2

History is on the side of the Broncos after team clinches home-field advantage originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Denver Broncos were able to grind out the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday en route to a 19-3 victory. It wasn't pretty, but it allowed the team to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, something that was nothing more than a pipe dream when the season started.

The Broncos will have the first week of the playoffs off to rest and prepare to defend themselves against all the naysayers that are out there. And, history is on their side.

The Broncos have clinched the AFC's No. 1 seed for the ninth time. In eight previous seasons in which they achieved that, they went to the Super Bowl in six of those. Denver is a difficult place to play in January and the Broncos can use that to their advantage the rest of this season.

Denver Broncos' history as the AFC's No. 1 seed

Season	Result
1977	Lost to Dallas in Super Bowl XII, 27-10
1987	Lost to Washington in Super Bowl XXII, 42-10
1989	Lost to San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIV, 55-10
1996	Lost to Jacksonville in Divisional Playoff, 30-27
1998	Won Super Bowl XXXIII
2012	Lost to Baltimore in Divisional Playoff, 38-35
2013	Lost Super Bowl XLVIII to Seattle, 43-8
2015	Won Super Bowl 50

Six trips to the Super Bowl as the AFC's No. 1 seed is a great track record. Though they lost four of those six Super Bowls, the chance that the team gets to the big game has to be considered well above average.

In addition, the last time the Super Bowl was in Santa Clara, the site of Super Bowl LX, the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. That team was led by it's top-ranked defense, much like this year's team has been.

There is plenty of history on the side of the Broncos going into this year's playoffs, but included in those six trips to the Super Bowl, where the team was the No. 1 seed, are arguably the two most disappointing losses in team history aside from Super Bowl losses. That is what many critics expect to see happen to the Broncos this season, and in a deep AFC playoff bracket, they will get a tough opponent in the divisional round.

READ:Predicting which team Broncos will face in their first playoff game