After all of the doom and gloom of the Denver Broncos regular season schedule, of which I was certainly partaking in, some analysts have come out to claim they actually have one of the most favorable schedules in the NFL for 2026. A big hat tip to GratefulBronco for sharing this in the FEED:
Mile High Report
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NFL.Com Lists Broncos Schedule as Fourth Easiest
](https://www.milehighreport.com/post/WPKfE_1Ogqhk)
As we've all suspected, combined winning % from the previous year is an insufficient yard stick.
Couple of points I hadn't considered. 1. No more than two road games in consecutive weeks. 2. Their December road games are at Jets and Raiders.
In addition, most of their strongest non-division games Jags, Bills, Seahawks, Rams --are at home. There isn't an international game, nor any massive stretches of travel combined with a short week.
The opponents are challenging for sure -- but the author calls the schedule itself is "remarkably balanced" with the Bye falling in the coveted week 10.
Interestingly, in the counter article, on teams with the five most difficult schedules, visiting Denver, comes up three times.
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Nick Shook at NFL.com shared his [thoughts on why the Broncos schedule was actually favorable](https://www.nfl.com/news/2026-nfl-schedule-broncos-browns-among-5-teams-with-most-favorable-17-game-slates) despite the first six game stretch.
> After opening the season with a prime-time date against the rival Chiefs in Kansas City, the Broncos will be happy to host most of their strongest non-division opponents in Denver. The Jaguars, Rams, Seahawks and Bills are all due to visit the Mile High City. The Broncos’ schedule is remarkably balanced, with no more than two road games in consecutive weeks. If they can use their home-field advantage to score wins over 2025 playoff qualifiers in the Jaguars and Rams in September, they should make it out of the first month in a manageable spot, although things do get tougher with road contests against the 49ers and Chargers. Perhaps most importantly, Denver’s two December road games come against the Jets and Raiders. The Broncos close things out with a challenging trio of matchups that includes home games against the Bills and Chargers, but if any team is well positioned to finish strong, it’s the reigning AFC West champs.
His take of surviving the first six games is basically where I stand as well. If they get out of that at or above .500 then the schedule does actually look really good for them all the way through to the end. There isn’t a game left that has me thinking any part of the stretch is brutal.
After a few days of reflection, I’m actually warming up to this schedule. The Bye week is in a good spot and really all they need to do is come out and take care of business in the first six weeks. Then they should be in good shape to challenge for a good playoff spot.
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