The Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears broke a long fast to claim divisional championships in Week 17, the penultimate week of the NFL season.
Sean Payton arrived as head coach of the Broncos in 2023 with the mission of breaking the hegemony of the Kansas City Chiefs and leading his team to the top of the West division of the Conference, something he achieved this season.
Broncos are emerging as favorites
Payton snapped the Chiefs’ streak of nine consecutive titles, and did it with a team that enters the final week of the season one win away from finishing as the best team in the American Conference (AFC).
This to become the top favorite to reach the Super Bowl for the AFC.
The most recent time Denver won the West title was in 2015, when they were coached by Gary Kubiak and led on offense by Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who led them to victory in Super Bowl 50.
A decade later, under Payton, who won Super Bowl XLIV at the helm of the New Orleans Saints, and with Bo Nix at the controls, the Broncos will try to return to the NFL title game to lift the fourth Lombardi Trophy in their history.
Patriots want to return to glory
The Patriots are also back to reclaim their glory as the winningest Super Bowl team, a position they share with the Pittsburgh Steelers, with six championships each.
The Pats clinched the AFC East title this 2025 six years after Tom Brady led them to the top of the division.
Today, New England’s new prodigal son is Drake Maye, a 23-year-old who in his second season snapped the Buffalo Bills’ streak of five consecutive championships to have his team as a Super Bowl contender.
Maye is the league’s No. 1 quarterback in pass completions, with 71.7 percent, and in passer rating, with 112.9 points, a statistic that measures quarterback efficiency.
The youngster’s performance in last Sunday’s 42-10 win over the Jets corroborated him as one of the favorites for “Most Valuable Player” of the season.
Maye passed for 256 yards and five touchdowns, joining Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe as the only Patriots quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards per pass in a season; Brady did it 11 times, and Bledsoe, twice.
Bears want to change history
The Chicago Bears are the other team that seems determined to change history.
They won the National Conference North crown for the first time since 2018 thanks to Ben Johnson, a coach who came to the team this season to revolutionize the offense, the third-best in the NFL.
Now, Johnson’s challenge is to lead the Bears to the third Super Bowl in their history and put the second Lombardi Trophy in the franchise’s trophy case.
Through Week 17, in the five remaining divisions, only the Philadelphia Eagles have already clinched the NFC East title.
In next weekend’s final game of the campaign, the National Conference West and South titles and the American Conference North and South championships are still at stake.
Filed under: Broncos Patriots and Bears go for the Super Bowl
With information from EFE
