Here's the Main Takeaway Broncos Fans Should Have from 2020 Schedule
Any day with new football news is a good day. While Thursday did not bring about a bunch of shiny new toys via the NFL Draft, or some exciting blockbuster trade, the NFL unveiled its 2020 regular-season.
Of course, the Denver Broncos will be facing their divisional opponents home and away, the AFC East, the NFC South, and the second-place teams from the AFC North and AFC South.
To kick off the season, the Broncos will be hosting the Tennessee Titans for the second Monday Night game on opening weekend. The newly reinforced Broncos’ offense, led by Drew Lock, will take the field at 8:10 pm MDT on Monday, September 14.
Denver will have a tall task playing the powerful Titans in the first game since Tennessee was defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. The Titans' run game, led by Derrick Henry, will surely test Vic Fangio and the Broncos’ run defense to start the season.
The Broncos are historically nearly impossible to beat in Denver early in the season, with an all-time record of 51-9-2 in Weeks 1 and 2 of the regular season. Can Denver hang against the Titans Week 1?
Denver starting the season with a win is imperative because the first quarter of the season is not easy. After the Titans, the Broncos have a road trip against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who should be a strong contender with Ben Roethlisberger healthy again and a very underrated defense, then home to take on what is perhaps the most interesting team in football this year in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Broncos can hope to split these games, but they could just as easily be 0-2.
Luckily after that, the schedule tends to rotate between tough and ‘easy’ games, traveling back-to-back on the road against the New York Jets (on Thursday Night) and the New England Patriots. Keep in mind, though, there is truly no such thing as an easy game in the NFL but Denver should be favored in a few of these.
Denver then gets to go home and continue the AFC East onslaught against the young but intriguing Miami Dolphins. Denver had better hope to come out of that stretch healthy, because in Week 7 the Super Bowl Champions will come to the Mile High City for a Sunday afternoon bout on CBS.
The Broncos will be able to leave it all on the field vs. the Chiefs as the team was given their bye in Week 8.
A trip to Atlanta to play the Falcons awaits the Broncos after the bye week, then the first of what promises to be many trips to Las Vegas against the Raiders Week 10. Finally, the Broncos faces the Los Angeles Chargers without Philip Rivers for the first time since 2007 and the final first wave of their divisional opponents.
Perhaps the toughest stretch of the 2020 schedule comes Weeks 12-15 as the Broncos run a really tough three-out-of-four games against the New Orleans Saints, at the Chiefs (on Sunday Night Football), at the Carolina Panthers, and home again versus the Buffalo Bills. If Denver can go 2-2 in that stretch, that should be considered a win.
Denver finishes the season on the road vs. the Chargers and finishing the season at home vs. the Raiders.
The Takeaway: Playoffs Likely Await
The Broncos are considered to have one of the tougher schedules in football in 2020 with their opponents having combined for a .512 winning percentage in 2019. However, the Steelers and the Bucs might be two of the more improved teams in 2020.
Even with a tough schedule, the Broncos have a really good shot to make the playoffs. It doesn’t hurt that the NFL added one additional Wildcard spot as well, especially given Denver will have to have an upset of a season to displace the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.
Overall, while it's ill-advised to ever count one's chickens before they hatch, the schedule appears to have fallen about as favorably as possible for a Broncos squad that finished in second place in the AFC West last year.
If the Broncos wish to retake the mantle that is their annual championship expectation, tough schedule or not, they will have to beat the best of the best in the NFL. Will the schedule remain the same or will the current pandemic change things has yet to be determined.
What we do know is that Lock and Fangio will have their hands full in the 2020 season. Only 130 days until the Broncos host the Titans on Monday Night Football… but who's counting?
Follow Nick on Twitter @NickKendellMHH and @MileHighHuddle.
