On Sunday, the Denver Broncos, a team with everything to gain, were beaten by the Buffalo Bills, a team with absolutely nothing to gain. With one win, the Broncos would have clinched the AFC Worst title and entered the postseason with a home playoff game. By losing, they've set up a final game showdown on the road against, arguably the hottest team in the NFL, the San Diego Chargers. Should the favored Chargers win that game, they will clinch the AFC Worst title with a menacing 8-8 final record. An appropriate eulogy for the Broncos, as a .500 team will be better than they are and win the division.

The Broncos' final play on Sunday epitomized their season. On 4th and 5 and down by 7, they had no choice but to go for it. Jay Cutler fired a pass to Brandon Stokley in the back of the endzone. Stokley had the ball in his hands, but bobbled it, was hit, then couldn't haul it in. That tells you everything you need to know about the 2008 Bronocs: it was right there in their hands for the taking, but they couldn't grab it.

Sure, the Broncos started hot like they always do. They had an early 13-3 lead and it looked like a simple tune-up for the playoffs. Jay Cutler rolled out for a first quarter TD and Eddie Royal busted out a 71 yard end-around on the next series. The defense played well, hitting Bills QB Trent Edwards early and often. For once, the linebackers could legitimately celebrate and do that mid-air butt-bump they seem to enjoy.

However, just before halftime, the Broncos got greedy and lined up to kick a 54 yard field goal. Matt Prater hadn't shown distance all day on his kickoffs-- with the deepest reaching the 15 yard line. Additionally, the sub-freezing weather made the balls rigid and cold, which usually accounts for a harder kick and less distance. Rather than punt and pin the Bills inside the 20 less than 2 minutes left, the Broncos ignored the facts and gave into their greed. Prater's kick was short by a few feet but, more importantly, Buffalo got the ball back with excellent field position and all 3 timeouts remaining. Edwards moved the Bills down the short field until the drive was capped off by a Marshawn Lynch touchdown. Buffalo had been dominated in the first half, but found themselves only down by 3 points at halftime.

With a sudden jolt of confidence, the Bills took the opening kickoff in the second half and promptly tied the score at 13. On the ensuing drive, Jay Cutler became flustered when his helmet radio appeared to malfunction. Rather than work around it, Cutler initially began bitching to the refs and seemed to lose his confidence. If it was baseball, this would have been a perfect time to call timeout and send the pitching coach out to settle down the pitcher. The Broncos continued on, though, abandoning their running game entirely and letting the erratic Cutler fire away.

Buffalo didn't go away and, like every other opponent who has entered Invesco Field this season, found themselves with a legitimate chance to win a game they had no rights to be in. The Broncos decided to live by Cutler, yet they ultimately died by Cutler. Cutler threw a late redzone interception to the Bills' Kawika Mitchell, then couldn't find Stokley on the final drive. The Bills left Denver with their first win in Denver in roughly 30 years. The Broncos, playing their final home game of the season, essentially left Denver as well... with an embarassing 4-4 record.

The outcome was what the NFL and fantasy football geeks wanted. With the AFC West title now being decided in San Diego next week, the NFL has a "play-in" game on their TV schedule. Much better than running a worthless stat-padder. For fantasy football geeks, Cutler notched another 300 yard game and became the franchise's single season record holder in completions and yardage. But he still lags behind every other Denver QB of the last 30 years (even Brian Griese) in one important cateory: wins.

Sure, the Broncos have played surprisingly well on the road this year... but next weekend feels like a looming slaughter. Coach Mike Shanahan told the players to ignore the early San Diego/Tampa Bay game (if Tampa Bay had won, the Broncos would have won the AFC West, outright). With all the pressure and hype surrounding next week's game, there's no way they can ignore San Diego now.

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