Breaking Down Broncos' New 2020 Schedule in Wake of NFL's Tectonic Changes
The Denver Broncos are reeling after the NFL's decision to completely reshape their season and remove the benefit of a true bye week. It started on Thursday when the league opted to move back the Broncos' Week 5 game at the New England Patriots — pushing it from Sunday to Monday afternoon at 3pm MDT
On the surface, kicking the game back one day doesn't seem like a big deal but it was a move that purely benefitted the Patriots, not the Broncos. Denver was suddenly faced with a short-week turnaround with a Sunday bout vs. the Miami Dolphins next on the schedule in Week 6.
That reshuffle was temporary, however, as the NFL notified the Broncos on Sunday morning that the Monday reschedule had once again been rescheduled, only this time, the move would have season-long ramifications.
The most frustrating aspect to all this reshuffling? The Broncos have knocked it out of the park in terms of honoring the COVID-19 protocols. Players, coaches, and staff have been painstaking in their discipline, avoiding the social temptations that might put their team, and thus, their season, at risk.
The Patriots can't say the same thing. And yet, the Broncos are the ones paying the price for whatever lapses in New England led to the virus infecting the team and their facility getting shut down three times over a 10-day span.
How did the new scheduling moves shake out for the Broncos? And what does it all mean? Allow me to break it down.
Bye Bye, Bye Week
Firstly, the Broncos — a team that has been inordinately affected by the injury bug — will not get the benefit of a true bye this year, or a true week off to rest and recover. Denver opened the season with Week 8 as its bye but that was filled with another rescheduled game.
Instead of taking their bye in Week 8 — surprise! — the Broncos already received their bye, they just didn't know it. Week 5 has become the bye for Denver, but again, the team was robbed of its traditional week of rest, as Vic Fangio and company operated all week long under the premise of a coming matchup at New England. That required a full week of practice.
Week 6: No Longer Home vs. Miami | Instead at New England
The tectonic changes the NFL handed the Broncos will reshape the ebb and flow of the team's home and away rhythm. Week 6 was supposed to be a home game vs. Miami but it has now been changed to an away game at New England.
It's perhaps the least of the Broncos' worries, as Week 7 will be a home game. But instead of garnering back-to-back homestands in Weeks 6 and 7, the Broncos will have to travel in Week 6 only to face the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs at home in Week 7. That game has been unchanged (for now).
Week 8: Home vs. Chargers
The NFL informed the Broncos that their Week 11 home game vs. the Los Angeles Chargers has been moved to Week 8. Remember, Week 8 was originally supposed to be Denver's bye.
Instead, the Broncos will get back-to-back games vs. AFC West rivals, which might not be the worst thing since they'll both be in Denver.
Week 11: Home vs. Dolphins
Remember the Broncos' original Week 6 opponent? The Dolphins? Miami will instead travel to Denver in Week 11, replacing the Chargers game that was moved to Week 8.
The New Schedule
So, to recap, here's how the Broncos remaining schedule looks now.
- Week 5: Bye (lol)
- Week 6: at New England
- Week 7: vs. Kansas City
- Week 8: vs. Chargers
- Week 9: at Atlanta
- Week 10: at Las Vegas
- Week 11: vs. Miami
- Week 12: vs. New Orleans
- Week 13: at Kansas City
- Week 14: at Carolina
- Week 15: vs. Buffalo (date TBD)
- Week 16: at Chargers
- Week 17: vs. Las Vegas
What it Means
Honestly, the biggest blow to the Broncos amid all this reshuffling is the loss of a true bye week. There's no way of telling just how the lack of a bye will trickle down and impact the Broncos' 2020 season.
As an example, the Broncos practiced all week long in the expectation that the Patriots would be faced this weekend. If it was a traditional bye, there would have been no practice, which would have meant that rookie running back LeVante Bellamy wouldn't have suffered a knee injury during practice that landed him on injured reserve and forced the Broncos to shuffle the 53-man roster again.
There's no way of knowing what the 'Butterfly Effect' will wreak on the Broncos. Right now, the reshuffling is a net loss for Denver and in a big, bad way.
CEO and team President Joe Ellis, along with President of Football Operations and General Manager John Elway, will dutifully accept the NFL's mandated schedule reshuffling but they're likely fuming over it, especially considering that the Broncos have done everything the right way with regard to honoring the pandemic protocols. Now, they're being punished for it.
The Broncos really needed a bye this year after losing the likes of Von Miller, Courtland Sutton, Jurrell Casey, Drew Lock, A.J. Bouye, Phillip Lindsay, Dre'Mont Jones, DeMarcus Walker, Mark Barron, Austin Calitro, Elijah Wilkinson, and others.
The only silver lining is that having no game this week ensures the Broncos will get Lock back in Week 6 at the Patriots. It's a bummer for Brett Rypien, who was hoping to get his second straight start, but getting Lock back in the mix is something the Broncos badly need.
Even if the 2020 season is destined to be one that ends without a playoff berth for Denver, the Broncos need to get Lock's influence, his swagger and playmaking ability, back into the equation. The more games he can get under his belt this season, the larger the sample size will be for Elway and company to determine if Lock really is this team's future franchise QB.
Having Lock back in the starting lineup automatically gives the Broncos a better chance to beat any opponent in a given week. And with Demar Dotson now starting at right tackle, and Garett Bolles playing at a near-elite level, the Broncos, ostensibly, are in a much more fortuitous position to protect Lock for the duration of what is going to be an even more topsy-turvy 2020 campaign.
Don't miss tonight's Huddle Up Podcast live-stream at 6pm MDT/8 EST, as myself and co-host Zack Kelberman will be diving deep on the NFL's fateful decision to shake things up so horribly for the Broncos.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
