The who, what and where of the Denver Broncos’ schedule has long been known; Thursday they find out the when — at least beyond the Week 1 game against the Kansas City Chiefs that the NFL already announced.
THE 49ERS, PATRIOTS, RAMS, SEAHAWKS OR RAMS IN WEEK 2
All of those teams play on Thursday in Week 1 — with San Francisco and Los Angeles in the season-opening contest that takes place in Melbourne, Australia that has a Thursday-morning local kickoff time so it can air in prime time on Wednesday, Sept. 9 in the United States.
ADVERTISEMENT
Thus, each would have three days of additional rest before playing the Broncos, who would be coming off a short week following their Monday night trip to Kansas City.
Given the emotional pitch likely for that regular-season opener agains their heated rivals in hostile Arrowhead Stadium, the Broncos would benefit from having their second regular-season game against, say, Miami, Arizona or the New York Jets.
CHRISTMAS ON THE ROAD
It’s quite possible the Broncos play on the holiday again; there are three games scheduled for Dec. 25, including a prime-time contest, just like last year.
But if that’s the case, it would be nice if the NFL gives the Broncos a home contest. The Broncos have played five Christmas Day games in their history; all have been on the road:
1999: at Detroit, 17-7 win
2004: at Tennessee, 37-16 win
2016: at Kansas City, 33-10 loss
2022: at L.A. Rams, 51-14 loss
2025: at Kansas City, 20-13 win
In the words of Perry Como, “There’s no place like home for the holidays.”
A BRONCOS BYE THAT’S TOO LATE — OR TOO EARLY
When players and coaches get the schedule, the first item of which most take note is the bye week.
In the 2014 season, the Broncos had a bye in Week 4. In 2020, they had one in Week 5 — but it wasn’t a real bye, as it happened because of COVID-19 adjustments, and as it turned out, they didn’t actually get a full week off, adding to the grind of that season. They also had the Week 5 bye in 2017. All of those are way too early.
Two years ago, they had a bye in Week 14. That’s too late, and by the time the Broncos played the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football, they seemed exhausted — especially on defense, where Jameis Winston and Jerry Jeudy racked up a bushel of yardage before the Broncos could stop the bleeding. The respite that followed did some good, but a bye in Week 13 or later can also come too late for real adjustments to make a difference.
ADVERTISEMENT
So, like the third bowl of porridge, you want the bye week to arrive at a point when it’s just right: anywhere between Weeks 8-10.
A THREE-GAME ROAD SWING
Even terrific Broncos teams have struggled with three-consecutive road games. The 1997 team that won Super Bowl XXXII went 1-2 in its three-game road swing of November and December of that campaign.
Denver has posted losing records 11 consecutive times when having three consecutive road games, most recently in December 2023, when defeats at Houston and Detroit sandwiched a win over the Los Angeles Chargers when Justin Herbert suffered a season-ending injury.
You have to go back to 1967 for the last time that the Broncos emerged from a three-game road swing with more wins than losses.
This is never something you want to find on your slate. But after having four long road trips in the AFL years from 1960-69, they’ve had only 10 in the 56 seasons since. They’re not due to have another one for a while.
ADVERTISEMENT