Table of Content
- Broncos announce more than $100 million in upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High
- Giants' Daniel Jones attributes improvement to learning 'what wins in the NFL'
- Photos: Broncos host inaugural Inspire Change Summit to celebrate partners' impact in the community
- At San Francisco 49ers — Sunday, Dec. 9, 1:05 p.m. PST
- Denver Broncos 2018 NFL regular season schedule: Everything we know
- NFL Clubs
The Broncos' last game against Pittsburgh was a memorable 2015 playoff win en route to a Super Bowl 50 win. Perhaps more than any other game in 2018, a matchup with the Steelers should provide the Broncos with a measuring stick for where they stand in the AFC. Led by Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh’s offense is arguably the league’s best.
This will mark the ninth season since the NFL mandated that regular-season schedules end with division games. Playing the Chargers at home ensures that the Broncos will have closed the season with each of their division opponents three times since the league changed its Week 17 protocol. This will also mark the ninth time in the last 10 seasons that the Broncos have ended their regular season at home. The Broncos, though, may need to get the best of Garoppolo in this game. The Week 14 matchup will likely be critical in the playoff stretch, and a loss may force the Broncos to win the remaining three games on their schedule.
Broncos announce more than $100 million in upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High
Here’s a game-by-game look at the Broncos’ 2018 schedule with background on each opponent. With the addition of Marcus Peters, Ndamukong Suh and Brandin Cooks, the Rams have made it clear they're gunning for a Super Bowl appearance this season. As such, they'll likely provide one of the toughest tests of the season for the Broncos.
Denver hopes to continue its recent form in games before the bye when Deshaun Watson makes his first visit to Denver. The Broncos have won five of their last six games preceding a bye week, with the only loss in that run coming in a overtime loss at Seattle in 2014. This will also be Case Keenum's first game against his original team.
Giants' Daniel Jones attributes improvement to learning 'what wins in the NFL'
The AFC West games are also obviously always important and usually exciting. Denver will be hoping to go from worst to first in the division this year after finishing the 2017 season with a 5-11 record. News OLB Randy Gregory to return to practice Wednesday, could play vs. Cardinals The Broncos will also place OLB Jake Martin on IR, according to Hackett. News Dalton Risner, D.J. Jones among Broncos active for matchup with Cardinals Outside linebacker Randy Gregory and offensive lineman Billy Turner are officially active for the game, as well. In Week 2, the Broncos will host the Bears for two days of joint practices ahead of their game on Saturday, Aug. 18. Denver then finishes its series with the Raiders on "Monday Night Football" on Christmas Eve, and a home game against the LA Chargers will conclude the Broncos' regular-season slate.
But a handful of regular-season games from matchups with the AFC North and NFC West provide even more challenges for Denver this season. In the home game at the end of the season, Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch led a fierce fourth-quarter comeback. Denver scored two touchdowns in the final period, but it wasn’t enough as Kansas City went on to win behind Patrick Mahomes making his first NFL start. With Alex Smith now in Washington, it will be up to Mahomes again to win in Denver. The two teams will meet earlier in the year on "Monday Night Football," but this game at the halfway point of the season could answer a lot of questions about the Broncos.
Photos: Broncos host inaugural Inspire Change Summit to celebrate partners' impact in the community
Denver this year will try and close the season with a win over those same division rivals. The Chargers added former Broncos TE Virgil Green and Miami C Mike Pouncey in free agency to bulk up their offensive line, so Von Miller & Co. will have their hands full. The Broncos haven’t played the Cleveland Browns since their Super Bowl championship season in 2015. In Cleveland, Peyton Manning threw one touchdown to three interceptions, but Emmanuel Sanders picked up the slack, catching four passes for 109 yards and one touchdown. Regardless of who Cleveland drafts in a few weeks, Denver should blow them out. While Denver only plays them once at home, the stakes are high as Los Angeles acquired former Broncos All-Pro Aqib Talib in the offseason via trade.
With Alex Smith in Washington the Chiefs have a different man throwing him the ball, but they’re always dangerous in Arrowhead Stadium. The Seahawks blew out the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII by a final score of 43-8. The next season, the Broncos lost again to Seattle in overtime at CenturyLink Field.
Any sort of scoring from the offense or defense will be an improvement from last year’s contest. The Chargers, meanwhile, will be fresh off a road game at division rival Oakland. This marks the fourth consecutive season in which the Broncos and Bengals have met, which has never happened before. It's a quick turnaround before the 24th Thursday game in Broncos history. Denver is all-time on Thursday — including a series of Thanksgiving games during the AFL years — but the Broncos are 11-4 on Thursdays in the 21st century. Denver has also triumphed in four of its last five Thursday road games, including a triumph at Indianapolis last December.
Denver must come ready to play in a game everyone hopes will have playoff implications. The last time the Denver Broncos faced the Pittsburgh Steelers was also during their Super Bowl season. In an offensive shootout, the Steelers defeated the Broncos at Heinz Field behind Ben Roethlisberger’s 40 completions for 380 yards and three touchdowns. The clock is ticking on an aging Big Ben and this time Denver gets to play host. Trevor Siemian struggled last season in Kansas City, throwing three picks. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce came to play that day, though, catching seven passes for 133 yards and one touchdown.
That would be a difficult task, given the two matchups against division opponents. A win in Santa Clara, though, could give Denver some breathing room. Denver hopes to snap a two-game post-bye losing streak when the team ventures to StubHub Center. The Broncos are 21-8 all-time after byes, including a 6-3 mark in post-bye road games. The team also has a chance to avenge its Super Bowl XLVIII loss to the Seahawks when they play them at home in Week ____x_______.
The two teams will meet earlier in the year on “Monday Night Football,” but this game at the halfway point of the season could answer a lot of questions about the Broncos. And with a new-look roster that includes Patrick Mahomes II, the contest could also shed light on how the next chapter of this rivalry will develop. The Broncos' 2018 season is still months away, but the initial slate of games was announced Wednesday as Denver released its opponents for its four-game preseason schedule. The Broncos' 2018 schedule was going to be tough enough given the competition in their own division.
The Broncos will finish their slate with two of their last three games at home, beginning with a visit from the Browns on Saturday, Dec. 15. Denver then plays a mid-day game at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 28 and will host the Texans in Week 9 before a Week 10 bye. The last time the Broncos played at Baltimore so early in the season was in John Elway's rookie year. Aqib Talib and Wade Phillips return to Denver for the first time since Talib was traded this offseason and Phillips joined for the Rams following the 2016 season.
The Broncos’ last game against Pittsburgh was a memorable 2015 playoff win en route to a Super Bowl 50 win. The Broncos last competed against the Cardinals in 2014, when they earned a home win. Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties.
They lost their first six games away from home and picked up their lone win on Dec. 14 against a 3-11 Colts team. Head Coach Vance Joseph spoke about the importance of starting fast and eliminating turnovers so that the team could find itself in a fair football game. That rarely happened last year, and this game could provide the first indication of whether the team has turned the corner. A late-season matchup with a divisional opponent always provides intrigue.
They’ve since signed “Jimmy G.” to a long-term contract extension, and he’s given San Francisco fans a reason to believe the best is yet to come. After taking over in Week 12 last season, he led the 49ers to wins in all five of his starts. The Broncos’ fate over the last two seasons should prove just that.
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