The 2016 NFL regular season schedule has been announced and the Denver Broncos will open with a Super Bowl 50 rematch with the Carolina Panthers. The Broncos also have a healthy set of five primetime games, but three of them will be on the road against division rivals.
Denver Broncos 2016 schedule
| All times Mountain. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Day | Date | Opponent | Time | TV | |||
| 1 | Thu | Sep 8 |  |
Carolina Panthers |
6:30 pm | NBC (TNF) | ||
| 2 | Sun | Sep 18 |  |
Indianapolis Colts |
2:25 pm | CBS | ||
| 3 | Sun | Sep 25 |  |
at Cincinnati Bengals |
11:00 am | CBS | ||
| 4 | Sun | Oct 2 |  |
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
2:05 pm | CBS | ||
| 5 | Sun | Oct 9 |  |
Atlanta Falcons |
2:05 pm | FOX | ||
| 6 | Thu |
Oct 13 |  |
at San Diego Chargers |
6:25 pm | CBS (TNF) | ||
| 7 | Mon |
Oct 24 |  |
Houston Texans |
6:30 pm | ESPN (MNF) | ||
| 8 | Sun | Oct 30 | |
San Diego Chargers |
2:05 pm | CBS | ||
| 9 | Sun | Nov 6 |  |
at Oakland Raiders |
6:30 pm | NBC (SNF) | ||
| 10 | Sun | Nov 13 |
 |
at New Orleans Saints | 11:00 am |
CBS | ||
| 11 | Sun | Nov 20 |
Bye Week | |||||
| 12 | Sun | Nov 27 |  |
Kansas City Chiefs |
2:25 pm | CBS | ||
| 13 | Sun | Dec 4 |  |
at Jacksonville Jaguars |
11:00 am | CBS | ||
| 14 | Sun |
Dec 11 |  |
at Tennessee Titans |
11:00 am |
CBS | ||
| 15 | Sun | Dec 18 |  |
New England Patriots | 2:25 pm | CBS | ||
| 16 | Sun | Dec 25 | |
at Kansas City Chiefs |
6:30 pm |
NBC (SNF) | ||
| 17 | Sun | Jan 1 | |
Oakland Raiders | 2:25 pm | CBS | ||
Broncos 2015 preseason schedule
| All times Mountain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Day | Date | Opponent | Time | TV | |||
| 1 | Thu | Aug 11 |  |
at Chicago Bears | 6:00 pm | KTVD-TV (Denver 20) | ||
| 2 | Sat | Aug 20 |  |
San Francisco 49ers | 7:00 pm | KTVD-TV (Denver 20) | ||
| 3 | Sat | Aug 27 |  |
Los Angeles Rams | 7:00 pm | KTVD-TV (Denver 20) | ||
| 4 | Thu | Sep 1 |  |
at Arizona Cardinals | 7:30 pm | KTVD-TV (Denver 20) | ||
Super Bowl 50 rematch
As reported a week or so after the Super Bowl ended, a Super Bowl 50 rematch is confirmed for the season opener. The Panthers should be hungry for redemption and the ratings draw should be significant as they look to redeem themselves from the 24-10 dismantling they suffered to the Broncos in February.
The game will be hugely important for the Broncos as they certainly won't want to start off the season with a home loss, even if it is against a non-conference opponent.
We'll see you again, Brent!
The No Fly Zone will get to give Brock Osweiler a proper welcome on Monday Night Football. This game will mean a lot to Broncos fans who felt that Osweiler kind of ditched Denver for a huge payday. You can't blame him for taking te money though, but the Broncos defense can surely punish him for it in front of a national audience.
Best bye week
Having a bye week this late in the season will be huge for the Broncos, especially on the defensive side of the ball. You have to assume the Jaguars and Titans will be much improved this year, which makes the final stretch seem fairly brutal for the Broncos.
Strength of schedule
The Broncos sit right at 14th on the preseason strength of schedule and many people will say this doesn't matter, but it did in 2015. The Broncos started the preseason with the 9th toughest strength of schedule and by late December it was still ranked the 9th toughest strength of schedule. If anything, at least the Broncos might have a less difficult path back to the playoffs in 2016.