An International Series game, a 19th consecutive year appearing on Monday Night Football and five divisional matchups in their final eight weeks of the year highlight the Denver Broncos' 2010 regular-season schedule, which was released by the National Football League on Tuesday.
The Broncos will open their 2010 season on the road for the sixth consecutive year when they play Jacksonville on Sunday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. EDT at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The Broncos are the fifth team since 1990 and the first since Indianapolis (2000-2006) to open six consecutive years on the road.
Denver hosts Seattle in its home opener the following Sunday (Sept. 19) with kickoff set for 2:05 p.m. MDT at INVESCO Field at Mile High and then plays host to the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts the following week (Sept. 26). The game against the Colts marks the 11th consecutive season the Broncos will have played at least one of the previous season's Super Bowl participants.
Denver will play a pair of road contests at Tennessee (Oct. 3) and at Baltimore (Oct. 10) before returning home for two games against the N.Y. Jets (Oct. 17) and Oakland (Oct. 24).
The Broncos will play a regular-season game outside of the United States for the first time in franchise history on Sunday, Oct. 31, when they face the San Francisco 49ers in London. The game, which is part of the NFL's International Series, will be played at Wembley Stadium at 11 a.m. MST (5 p.m. GMT). CBS will provide live television coverage of the game in the United States.
Following their Nov. 7 bye week date, the Broncos will face divisional opponents in five of their last seven games. They host Kansas City (Nov. 14) before appearing on ESPN's Monday Night Football at San Diego on Nov. 22. That 5:30 p.m. PST game against the defending AFC West-champion Chargers marks the 19th consecutive season Denver will play on MNF, for the league's longest active streak of appearing on that program and tied for the second-longest such streak all-time.
Denver hosts St. Louis in Week 12 (Nov. 28) before a stretch of three consecutive road games at Kansas City (Dec. 5), at Arizona (Dec. 12) and at Oakland (Dec. 19). Those contests mark the 14th time in franchise history and the first time since 1997 that Denver will play three consecutive contests on the road.
The Broncos wrap up their regular-season slate with home games against Houston (Dec. 26) and San Diego (Jan. 2).
Denver's 2010 regular-season schedule features six games against five clubs that qualified for the playoffs last year. Its regular-season opponents had a combined record of 124-132-0 (.484) in 2009.
In accordance with the NFL's flexible scheduling plan, the Broncos' schedule may include additional prime-time games late in the season. All NFL games scheduled for Sundays from Weeks 11-17 are eligible to be moved to the Sunday night game, which is televised nationally by NBC.
The Broncos' complete schedule is listed below with all kickoff times local at game sites.
DENVER BRONCOS 2010 SCHEDULE
(home games in caps; all times local at site of game)
PRESEASON
Wk. Day Date Opponent Site Time TV
1 Sun. Aug. 15 at Cincinnati Paul Brown Stadium 7 p.m. EDT KCNC-TV
2 Sat. Aug. 21 DETROIT INVESCO Field at Mile High 7 p.m. MDT KCNC-TV
3 Sun. Aug. 29 PITTSBURGH INVESCO Field at Mile High 6 p.m. MDT FOX (NTL)
4 Thu. Sept. 2 at Minnesota Mall of America Field (Metrodome) 7 p.m. CDT KCNC-TV
REGULAR SEASON
Wk. Day Date Opponent Site Time TV
1 Sun. Sept. 12 at Jacksonville Jacksonville Municipal Stadium 1 p.m. EDT CBS
2 Sun. Sept. 19 SEATTLE INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MDT FOX
3 Sun. Sept. 26 INDIANAPOLIS INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 p.m. MDT CBS
4 Sun. Oct. 3 at Tennessee LP Field 12 p.m. CDT CBS
5 Sun. Oct. 10 at Baltimore M&T Bank Stadium 1 p.m. EDT CBS
6 Sun. Oct. 17 N.Y. JETS INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MDT CBS
7 Sun. Oct. 24 OAKLAND INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 p.m. MDT CBS
8 Sun. Oct. 31 at San Francisco Wembley Stadium (London) 5 p.m. GMT CBS
9 BYE
10 Sun. Nov. 14 KANSAS CITY INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MST CBS
11 Mon. Nov. 22 at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium 5:30 p.m. PST ESPN (NTL)
12 Sun. Nov. 28 ST. LOUIS INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 p.m. MST FOX*
13 Sun. Dec. 5 at Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium 12 p.m. CST CBS*
14 Sun. Dec. 12 at Arizona University of Phoenix Stadium 2:15 p.m. MST CBS*
15 Sun. Dec. 19 at Oakland Oakland Coliseum 1:15 p.m. PST CBS*
16 Sun. Dec. 26 HOUSTON INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MST CBS*
17 Sun. Jan. 2 SAN DIEGO INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 p.m. MST CBS*
* - All NFL games scheduled for Sundays from Weeks 11-17 are eligible to be moved to the Sunday night game, which is televised nationally by NBC.
(NTL) denotes nationally televised game