The Denver Broncos have announced which four teams they will be going up against during the summer as the preseason teams were announced on Thursday.
Here we go Broncos Country. We can start the countdown towards the return of Denver Broncos football. And this time, we get to defend the title.
The NFL and all 32 teams announced their preseason games for the 2016 season. Normally with preseason, the teams that the Broncos would play are ones that are relatively close in distance. So, they would not be playing teams like the Patriots, Jets, or Steelers.
For the Broncos, all four of their preseason games are against members of the NFC conference. Three of those opponents reside in the NFC West.
Here is a look at each of their opponents.
Week 1 at Chicago Bears:
The Denver Broncos travel to Chicago to kick off the preseason against John Fox and the Bears. It will mostly be a battle between Broncos of now verses the Broncos of past. In this offseason alone, the Bears have signed Danny Trevathan, Omar Bolden, and Aaron Brewer to the team.
This should be an interesting matchup. Last time the Broncos were in Solider Field was in the 2015 regular season, when the Broncos won Osweiler’s first start in a 17-15 victory.
Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers:
Here is a common preseason opponent. The Denver Broncos and 49ers renew their preseason rivalry in the second week of preseason. In the last meeting, the Broncos won by a score of 19-12.
It could get very interesting if Colin Kaepernick ends up joining the Broncos sometime between now and this game. This will also be the first time the Broncos go up against a team led by Chip Kelly.
Week 3 vs. Los Angeles Rams
The Denver Broncos close out their home slate in the preseason against the Los Angeles Rams. You heard that correctly. The Rams have moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles after months of pondering if the city would have an NFL team again.
It’ll be the first time the Broncos have played a team from Los Angeles since 1994. And the team will be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks, so the Broncos should get some HBO time this offseason for the second straight year.
Week 4 at Arizona Cardinals
The Denver Broncos close out the preseason against another familiar foe. The team will travel to Arizona on September 1st to close out against the Cardinals. Last season was an interesting finale. But it did not go the Broncos way as Brandon McManus, who was clutch for most of the season, missed a game winning field goal with seconds to go. That resulted in a 22-20 loss.
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The Broncos will hope for a different result this time around as Evan Mathis will be going up against his former team.
Times and dates for the preseason games will be determined later on this month, so keep an eye out here as we keep you updated on when the regular season schedule is set to be released later on this month.