Despite a loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago, the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day and remain the frontrunner for the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and they will need to beat the Los Angeles Chargers this Sunday to secure the first-round bye.

Today’s Hottest Take: Broncos mismanaging offensive approach

Broncos coach Sean Payton wants to win low-scoring affairs. He doesn’t try to score 30 points each week unless he absolutely needs to.

If he can win by running the ball, passing efficiently on long drives and playing bend-don’t-break defense, that’s how he would prefer to win, and you can see that with how the offense has changed over the past few weeks.

When the Broncos signed Lil’Jordan Humphrey a few weeks back, I got flashbacks to last season. He’s a good receiver, but Payton is blinded by his run-blocking ability.

Going into the season, Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin were set to lead a receiver room bolstered by Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant, and throughout the season, Sutton and Franklin — quarterback Bo Nix’s college teammate — led the team in targets.

Following Humphrey’s arrival, though, Franklin has too often been replaced, even in games where Bryant was inactive. Humphrey earned more reps than Franklin in Week 14 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers and Week 17 against the Chiefs. Last week, he outpaced Franklin by 16 reps.

It’s not an issue that he is getting on the field. As a good run blocker with solid hands, it makes sense to find ways to get him onto the field, but taking off one of the team’s few dynamic playmakers in Franklin for a one-dimensional receiver is often a problem.

As of right now, it seems as though Payton would rather have Humphrey on the field and will only lean into Franklin’s strengths when he feels like he has to. In reality, those priorities should be flipped.

Payton should rely on Franklin and play Humphrey more if he feels comfortable with a lead and wants to slow the pace of play down in favor of a more run-heavy approach.

Another issue with the approach is that the running game isn’t necessarily worth prioritizing. RJ Harvey has improved noticeably over the past few weeks, but without J.K. Dobbins, the run game has been mediocre to subpar.

Humphrey is getting on the field primarily because of what he provides to the run game, but with how much Nix has been passing the ball, Franklin needs to remain a piece of the offense.

Last week, he had just 27 of 72 snaps, while Humphrey earned 43. Franklin earned four targets in his low usage, but that doesn’t make up for his lack of snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, Franklin’s four targets came from within 10 yards or behind the line of scrimmage.

Franklin deserves those kinds of reps where he can just display his playmaking ability, but he also needs the ball in the intermediate and deep portions of the field. Franklin is a great separator, and he’s best utilized further down the field, where he can burn defenders with his speed.

What You Need To Know: Denver clinches first-round bye with win Sunday

For the first time since 2015, the Broncos, and not the Chiefs, have won the AFC West, but if Denver has next week go as planned, they will also end the season as the top seed in the conference.

All Denver needs to do is win Sunday, but they could still end the season as the top seed without a win. To earn the No. 1 seed, Denver needs a win, a tie and a New England Patriots loss or a Jaguars loss or tie and Patriots loss.

As it currently stands, Denver has a good shot at winning and clinching the conference bye week. Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has spent portions of the year banged up, so coach Jim Harbaugh is resting Herbert and other starters.

Given Denver is playing at home against a less than 100% Chargers team, the team has no excuse not to clinch the No. 1 seed. Given how the team likes to play, though, anything is possible.

Before You Go: Injuries catching up with Broncos

After already seeing injuries to safety Brandon Jones and Dobbins, Denver has suffered some unfortunate injuries. Now, add center Luke Wattenberg to that list.

He, along with Dobbins and Jones, is on IR and will miss at least the beginning of the playoffs. That doesn’t mean they are all out for the rest of the season, though.

During the playoffs, the Broncos can bring back up to two players from IR. If Jones, Dobbins and Wattenberg can get healthy in time, Denver could bring back two of them, while one of their seasons would be over.

Dobbins and Jones could be brought back earlier, in theory, with Wattenberg being sent to the list more recently. All this hinges on a playoff run, though. If Denver misses out on the bye or gets booted early, they won’t get the opportunity to make those decisions.