The 2014 Broncos’ schedule starts tough, gets tougher, then they coast home
“Then the Broncos get a bye. A miserable, crummy, week four bye. It’ll give them a chance to lick their fresh wounds (Seahawk talon marks) which is nice but it also leaves them staring at 13 more tilts with hardy a rest. The scheduling gods did Denver no favors here.”
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Yes, the Avalanche are in the playoffs and yes, I am still stinging from the Super Bowl like everyone else. But I still can’t help looking ahead at the newly-released Broncos 2014 schedule (like everyone else). Their 2014 opponents were already known before the schedule was officially revealed yesterday but what we didn’t know was how it would be configured.
At first glance it looks like the NFL boned the Broncos pretty hard.
They open at Mile High against Indy on Sunday Night Football. Luck VS Manning and all that. The Broncos will win that game. It’s not an easy way to start the year but we all know that Manning will haul out the heavy artillery. He won’t give his drug-addled nemesis Jim Irsay the pleasure of coming into Denver and scratching out a “w”. No chance.
Then they host the Chiefs. I see KC as a candidate to regress this year. They lost a ton of talent during the off-season after over-achieving in 2013. Denver will be 2-0 after two home games before things get shitty.
Seattle will prove in week three that they are still the better team. They may not cream the Broncos 43-8 like they did in February but they’ll hold serve in their home stadium like they almost always do.
Then the Broncos get a bye. A miserable, crummy, week four bye. It’ll give them a chance to lick their fresh wounds (Seahawk talon marks) which is nice but it also leaves them staring at 13 more tilts with hardy a rest. The scheduling gods did Denver no favors here.
After the bye the Broncos get the Cardinals and ‘Niners at home and travel to New York to face the Jets. I see them going 2-1 in this particular stretch, putting them at 4-2 after six games.
Then they host the Chargers. 5-2.
Now things get tough. Somehow the NFL saw its way clear to schedule Denver for three straight on the road against New England, Oakland and St. Louis. No fair. That’s a bunch of nights away from home for the Broncos but they’ll still manage another 2-1 stretch of their season. 7-3.
The next six games look like a cake-walk. They face Miami, KC, the Bills, Bengals, Chargers and Raiders, half at home, half away. My gut tells me that the Broncos can go 6-0 on this stretch but my head tells me that they’ll slip up somewhere, probably in Cincinnati. Assuming my head is correct, they’ll finish the season 12-4, win the AFC West and probably get a bye again.
