In the new decade the Broncos, Nos-Drow-damus predicts, will begin the 2020 season Monday night, Sept. 14, against the Los Angeles Chargers at the new SoFi Stadium; play the Las Vegas Raiders in the new Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night, Dec. 27; confront the Atlanta Falcons in the still-new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Oct. 18, and challenge the Kansas City Chiefs in old Arrowhead Stadium on Thanksgiving night Nov. 26.
The Broncos also will play at home against AFC West rivals the Chargers, the Raiders and the Chiefs. They’ll face the Bills, the Dolphins, the Saints, the Buccaneers and the Titans at Mile High, and they’ll hit the road to meet the dreaded Patriots, the Jets, the Panthers and the Steelers.
They will be scheduled for six games against 2019 playoff teams (Patriots, Saints, Bills, Chiefs twice and Titans).
The Broncos will finish with double-digit victories (10) and a playoff position for the first time since Super Bowl 50. In Denver, the Broncos will beat the Chargers, the Raiders, the Bills, the Titans, the Bucs and the Dolphins (6-2), and they’ll win at Carolina, in Los Angeles, in New York and in London against the Falcons (4-4). The Broncos will lose to the Patriots, the Saints, the Steelers, the Raiders and the Chiefs twice.
The Broncos will be an AFC wild card, and the Chiefs, at 12-4, again will prevail in the division.
The NFL will want to showcase the two new stadiums the inaugural week, so the Sunday night game will be in Las Vegas and the second half of the Monday doubleheader will be a game in Los Angeles. Because the Broncos opened in Oakland last year, the league computer will direct them to play at the Chargers’ new home — the Rams will start the season in Santa Clara — in L.A. The league always chooses a western time zone for the nightcap on ESPN.
Broncos fanatics, who follow their team everywhere (even in a snowstorm in K.C.) will fill up SoFi for the Chargers tilt, plus they’ll love to be in Las Vegas during Christmas week for the season’s final road game. Division teams always play then. Coloradans, by the tens of thousands, also will book trips to England and even Kansas City for Thanksgiving weekend.
The Broncos haven’t made a Thanksgiving appearance since 2009 when they lost at home to the Giants and then-coach Josh McDaniels was heard on the sideline uttering a discouraging obscenity.
It’s the Broncos’ turn again for Turkey Day.
The Broncos haven’t been requested to play in an international game since 2010, when the McDaniels Error took a fatal hit. The Broncos and the 49ers met at Wembley Stadium, and a former Patriots Spygate videographer taped the early phase of the 49ers’ walk-through practice the day prior to the game. The Broncos were losers and cheaters, leading to the firing of Kid Hoodie.
It’s the Broncos’ turn again to travel.
The Falcons and the Dolphins will host one of their home games in London or Mexico City. Miami will go south of the border, where they’ve been very popular in the past. They play in Denver, anyway. The Falcons will go across the water and play the Broncos because the league likes cross-conference games in London.
The Broncos used to be an NFL preferred franchise for exhibition games in foreign ports, and Pat Bowlen loved displaying his franchise around the world.
He even talked about playing in China and took his team out of the United States eight times — to Barcelona, Berlin, London (twice), Mexico City, Tokyo (twice) and Sydney (only NFL game ever in Australia) the year before the Summer Olympics there. John Elway the quarterback was a popular attraction, even though he played sparingly, if at all.
But they’ve recently fallen from grace because of crummy seasons.
Drew Lock and the Young’uns may bring them back to good graces. With the Broncos closing with four victories in their last five games, the franchise is trending up once more.
This 2019 slate ended on a Mile High, and 2020 will mark a return to respectability, I prophesize.
Happy Next Year!
