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Well, this one's got depth.
Denver's sitting at 11-3 with only a 12-3 New England team ahead of them. If Denver can win out (a real possibility with Oakland in week 17) and New England loses next week (a real possibility with a personality-disorder racked Bills team), the Broncos will hold home field throughout the postseason. So they've got plenty to play for tonight.
Cincinnati's just trying to stay in the postseason mix. Division foe Pittsburgh is already locked in at 10-5, but they'll face each other next week. If Cincy wins that, they're in as division champs. Otherwise, they may well need a win tonight to ensure they make it in because a two-loss pairing might be enough to see them out despite entering tonight at 9-4-1.
Good stuff. As always, Monday Night Football runs laps around Thursday Night Football. This is a perfect example why.
So crack one open and enjoy some action from the other side of the standings as the AFC gets one game closer to sorting it out.