After a 14-win regular season that included a playoff heartbreak, it might be tough to find a more motivated bunch than the Denver Broncos. This team had it all and seemed to be plenty good enough to win the Super Bowl.
If the way 2025 ended couldn't motivate a player for the upcoming season, nothing will. Fortunately, the Broncos will have many of the same players coming back that helped the team get to the AFC Championship Game, with new additions sprinkled in, like stud wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
The Broncos do have a manageable schedule for 2026. It's rather average in terms of difficulty across the rest of the league. There's also another really awesome advantage in this schedule for Denver that could truly decide it all.
Denver Broncos play their toughest opponents - for the most part - at home
The Broncos home/away splits for the 2026 season really does the team some favors
Home:
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks
Jacksonville Jaguars
Away:
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
New England Patriots
New York Jets
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Broncos toughest games - for the most part - will all be at home in 2026. Besides the division showdowns, which are the same each year, the toughest opponents Denver figures to see in 2026 would be the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Luckily, all of those games, but one, will be played at home. Denver is slated to face the entire NFC West this year, and the two best teams, Los Angeles and Seattle, will have to come to Denver to endure what could be a top-3 homefield advantage in all of sports.
And, funnily enough, some of the easiest opponents Denver will see, like the Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and New York Jets, are all away from home. Denver's home/away splits in the Bo Nix era, as well, are also pretty telling.
Since the start of the 2024 season, the Broncos are 14-3 at home, and 10-7 away. Nix himself has a 94.7 passer rating at home with 39 total touchdowns, and a 86.2 passer rating away with 24 total touchdowns (via Pro Football Reference).
The Broncos are truly well-positioned to attain the level of regular season success in 2026 that they accomplished in 2025. The all-in, Super Bowl window is now.
Super Bowl windows in the NFL really do not last long, and we did see this team enter into 'year one' of this window. And there is no guarantee that this window will be sustainable for the long-term. It's still early-ish in the offseason, but as of now, the Broncos seem to have a realistic shot at the Super Bowl in 2026.
Add us as a preferred source on Google