Denver Broncos: Holiday history has not been kind recently
By Tylor Walden
When it comes to playing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, it has been somewhat of a bad omen for the Denver Broncos as of recently.
When you think of the Christmas season, you think of a joyous occasion filled with a host of events and time spent with friends and families. Well, for the Denver Broncos, it has been a “Grinch-like” time for them.
On Monday, the Denver Broncos will take on the Oakland Raiders. For the Raiders, it could be their final home game in the Coliseum. For the Denver Broncos, it will mark another season where the players are away from their friends and families during the holiday’s.
This season will mark the third in a row where the Denver Broncos are on the road playing a game either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. And on December 24th and/or 25th, it has been a rough going for the Broncos.
During that four game losing streak, the Broncos have traveled to play the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Washington Redskins on either one of those days. And the tough part of these four games, Denver was soundly beat in every single one of them.
Who could forget the “holiday greetings” exchanged by Jay Cutler and Phillip Rivers back in 2007? Or when Tim Tebow was handed a big old fruit cake by the Buffalo Bills? And Broncos Country will never forget their possible playoff gifts taken away by the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day two years ago. Not only that, they rubbed it in Denver’s face with the Dontari Poe touchdown pass.
Denver has not won a game during either one of those two days since winning three straight from 2004-2006, where they beat the Tennessee Titans on Christmas Day (2004) and the Oakland Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals on Christmas Eve (2005-2006).
It is such a strange thing that the Denver Broncos have played on those two days for the last three seasons. And the fact it is on the road could be tough on the team. Luckily, Christmas Eve and Day land on a Tuesday and Wednesday next year, so the streak will end at three.
Hopefully, the holiday season will have the Denver Broncos on the nice list this time around. Broncos Country is hoping their team can give the Oakland Raiders some coal in their stockings.