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With three consecutive wins behind them and a 6-6 record, the Denver Broncos hoped they’d straightened out their early-season problems and could make a run at a wild-card playoff berth. Now they’ll have to do it without one of their best players – wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders, a two-time Pro Bowl pick who leads the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, suffered a torn Achilles tendon in practice on Wednesday. He’s done for this season and perhaps even part of the next.

Injuries have gnawed away at the Broncos’ offensive depth all season, particularly the receivers. And the trade of tight end Demaryius Thomas also thinned the talent.

“It’s tough,” quarterback Case Keenum told ESPN. “You don’t really replace guys.” Not guys like Thomas or Sanders, anyway.

The Broncos are already marooned behind the Kansas City Chiefs (10-2) and Los Angeles Chargers (9-3) in the AFC West. Their only path to the playoffs would be as a wild card. In that hunt they’re behind the Baltimore Ravens (7-5) and smack dab in the middle of a pack of 6-6 teams – the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans.

If they’re getting any break at all, it’s that Sunday’s game is against the San Francisco 49ers, who are 2-10 and losers of their last three.

This is the way of the NFL. It’s a game of injuries and attrition. Teams like to say “next man up,” but if that next man were good enough, he’d already have been the starter.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman