2014 NFL Schedule: Broncos Need to Get Off to a Hot Start

Dec 1, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball (28) gets past Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith (27) in the second half at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver won the game 35-28. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

In case you missed it last night, the Denver Broncos’ 2014 schedule is out, and it’s epic. The 2014 season will start just as it did in 2013, with the Broncos opening up at home in Prime Time.

Hopefully there will be no lightning delays this time around, as Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts head to Denver for a rematch of last year’s week seven matchup in which Indy took the Broncos down.

Last night we took a look at the storylines for each of the Broncos’ 16 games, as well as their horrendous week four bye. One really intriguing thing about the Broncos’ schedule is how heavy it is in the early portion on the home games. After playing five of their first seven games at home, the Broncos will hit the road for six of the final nine weeks of the season, including a three game circus style road trip to New England, Oakland, and St. Louis.

Talk about frequent fliers.

The Broncos won’t be home for nearly a month, and with six of their final nine games being on the road, it’s critical that in those first seven weeks of the season, they are off to a hot start. John Elway said as much, per Mike Klis of the Denver Post.

This is a Broncos team that last season lost two of their three regular season games on the road, both against playoff teams. This season, the Broncos will play six games on the road against 2013 playoff teams (Chiefs and Chargers twice). A late season road game on Monday Night Football against the Bengals proves that the Broncos have a very widespread level of difficulty on the schedule this year.

Perhaps the most eye opening stat for the Broncos’ schedule is that they don’t play a team that had a losing record last season until a week 10 matchup against the Oakland Raiders–on the road.

Every single week for the Broncos this past season felt like a playoff atmosphere, and I don’t expect that to change in 2014. Denver is going to get every team’s best, regardless of their record. The profile for the Broncos this past season was they were slow starters. That’s probably not going to fly this season as they need to make sure they come out of the gates firing.