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Two trips to the East Coast. And those two trips are separated by eight weeks.
That's a major win for the Denver Broncos when it comes to their schedule.
Avoiding cross-country trips is a good thing for any football team. That alone makes the 2016 slate very favorable for the defending Super Bowl champs.
By the way, that still is the case, despite all the doom and gloom from the national pundits. What's the hogwash line they throw out when the New England Patriots win the Lombardi Trophy? "Until you beat them, they're still the champs." Apparently unless you're the Broncos and don't throw Monopoly money at a quarterback who has started seven games.
Yes, Denver is still home to the Super Bowl champs.
GM @johnelway on 2016 schedule: "When you come off a world championship, you’re going to get everybody’s best shot." pic.twitter.com/wTTELLIZZ4
— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) April 15, 2016
But I digress.
In all, the Broncos have a favorable schedule in 2016, and that has nothing to do with the strength of the schedule. That's a useless predictor of games, especially in April, because no team is the same. Too much is unknown about every team to use last season as a gauge for future success. Yes, Denver had the ninth toughest schedule last April and finished with the ninth toughest schedule on Dec. 29, but that's the outlier when it comes to strength of schedule. More often than not, let alone in April, it means nothing. For what it's worth, Denver has the 14th toughest schedule in 2016.
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What makes the Broncos' schedule even more favorable is they have three byes. On top of the Week 11 bye, they get a mini bye after the Thursday opener against the Carolina Panthers and another one after the Week 6 Thursday Night home game in San Diego. In all, Denver has three byes evenly spread out through the first part of the season - five weeks between each. That also means the Broncos have at least 10 days to prepare for home games against the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans, a game played on Monday Night Football.
As linebacker Brandon Marshall told The Denver Post, "(Brock Osweiler) better be ready, cuz we are coming for him."
What do you think, John? #NFLScheduleReleasehttps://t.co/CTCWmbicES
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 15, 2016
Denver does have three, two-game road trips, with the most difficult in terms of travel being Weeks 9 and 10 when it travels to Oakland on Sunday Night then to New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 13.
Compare that with the Los Angeles Rams, though, and the Broncos have it easy. The Rams travel to Tampa, Detroit, London, New Orleans, New York and New England. Have fun with that.
Fans will have two, two-game homestands to see the Broncos, but in reality, the second of those is three games since the first is in San Diego.
Based on the early returns, that's a very favorable schedule for the defending Super Bowl champs. How good those teams, or even Denver, become, no one knows. We still have over five months until the season starts, and two weeks until the draft.
As it stands in April, the Broncos already got a win.
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 |