ENGLEWOOD – The most telling aspect to the 2019 Broncos schedule is not about who they will play or in what order, but the time of the day the games will be played.
The Broncos have just two primetime games this season. Two. And one is a gimme – the season opener at Oakland in the second half of a Monday night doubleheader that will be shown on Channel 20.
The other is a Thursday night game, October 17 against Patrick Mahomes II and the AFC West-rival Kansas City Chiefs at Broncos Stadium at Mile High.
The Peyton Manning era – when a Broncos’ season had the maximum five primetime games, and sometimes was flexed to a sixth – continues to move deeper into the past.
The two, and only two, primetime games are a reflection of the Broncos going 5-11 and 6-10 the past two years with Trevor Siemian and Case Keenum at quarterback and Vance Joseph.
“That’s the benefit, or the unfortunate part of being a top team," Broncos new head coach Vic Fangio said in an interview with 9NEWS about the schedule Wednesday. “You get a lot of them. We just have to work out way back to that status and I’m sure we’ll be back up there with more of those."
Maybe with Fangio as the new boss and new quarterback Joe Flacco, the Broncos will draw more national interest as the season goes on.
Other notes from the Broncos’ 2019 regular-season schedule:
- The bye comes in week 10, or the exact same time as last season. It was well-timed last year as the Broncos were 3-6 going into the bye week, but won three in a row against the Chargers, Steelers and Bengals.
This year, though, week 10 seems late. Because the Broncos play in the Hall of Fame Game on August 1, they play one more preseason game and start training camp one week earlier than other teams. That’s a long grind before a break.
Isn’t week 10 a little late for a bye given the extended preseason?
“No, I’ve never had a bad bye," Fangio said with a smile. “Early, middle, late. To me it has no impact." - The Broncos open on the road for the first time since the Josh McDaniels era. They opened eight straight seasons at home so they were due.
9NEWS was the first to report the Broncos would open against the Raiders in Oakland.
“Yeah that’ll be an exciting time out there," Fangio said. “I know the Raiders with all the moves they’ve made in the offseason up to this point and they’ve got a bunch of draft picks coming up that they’ll be a much improved team."
“It’s always a great rivalry whenever you play divisional players," said Von Miller, the Broncos star linebacker. “We’re going to go see AB (Antonio Brown) and coach (Jon) Gruden and Trent Brown and all the great guys they’ve got over there. Brandon Marshall, it’ll be good."
- The Broncos first home game is week 2 against the Chicago Bears, where Fangio served as a defensive coordinator the previous four seasons.
“When I saw them there I said, “Hmm, well, we’ll get rid of that one early," Fangio said. “So there won’t be much talk between myself and friends there through the whole season so we’ll get it out of the way." - The Broncos play at Green Bay in week 3 on September 22, which beats playing the Packers at Lambeau Field in December. But the Broncos do play in Buffalo on November 24 and at Kansas City on December 15.
Oh, and they play their final two games of the season in Denver, against the Lions on Saturday, Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 (too be determined), and Sunday, December 29 against the Raiders.
So the Broncos begin and end with games against the Raiders.
- After playing three of four home games entering the bye, the Broncos play four of five on the road after the bye.
“I don’t really care about the order they give it to us," Fangio said. “The only bad thing about that is we’ll be gone for a month in between home games for the home fans. I don’t like to be away from Mile High for that long but that’s the way it goes." - Fangio has been an NFL coach, all his assistant, for going on his 33rd season. He’s never seen a schedule yet that affected whether a team had a good or bad year.
“At this time of the year it doesn’t matter what the league does in giving you the order of your games," he said. “A lot of times what happens is, it’s when you play the guys on other teams, meaning, who do they have out? Are they playing hot? Are they not playing hot? Are they on a streak?
“Same thing with us. Who do we have out? How are we doing? That’s more important than the order."
Denver Broncos 2019 Regular Season Schedule
- Monday, 9/9: at Oakland Raiders, 8:20 p.m. (Channel 20)
- Sunday, 9/15: vs Chicago Bears, 2:25 p.m. (FOX)
- Sunday, 9/22: at Green Bay Packers, 11 a.m. (FOX)
- Sunday, 9/29: vs Jacksonville Jaguars, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 10/6: at Los Angeles Chargers, 2:05 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 10/13: vs Tennessee Titans, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
- Thursday, 10/17: vs Kansas City Chiefs, 6:20 p.m. (FOX/NFLN)
- Sunday, 10/27: at Indianapolis Colts, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 11/3: vs Cleveland Browns, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
- WEEK 10 BYE
- Sunday, 11/17: at Minnesota Vikings, 11 a.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 11/24: at Buffalo Bills, 11 a.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 12/1: vs Los Angeles Chargers, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 12/8: at Houston Texans, 11 a.m. (CBS)
- Sunday, 12/15: at Kansas City Chiefs, 11 a.m. (CBS)
- Sat. 12/21 OR Sun. 12/22: vs Detroit Lions, TBD
- Sunday, 12/29: vs Oakland Raiders, 2:25 p.m. (CBS)
