The Denver Broncos won 15 total games during the 2025 NFL Season, and the team did seem to be well on their way to a Super Bowl berth. After news broke that Bo Nix broke his ankle during the AFC Divisional Round victory over the Buffalo Bills, the Broncos season was pretty much over at that point.
And while Denver did give the New England Patriots some fits in the AFC Championship Game, it was clear that without Nix, the Broncos were goners, to be honest. Well, for months now, the team has known who their opponents will be for the 2026 NFL Season.
With the 2026 NFL Schedule coming out soon, Denver will soon know when the team will play their opponents, but their slate of challengers for 2026 makes for a Super Bowl title being well within reach.
Denver Broncos schedule is quite manageable for the 2026 NFL Season
The Broncos have the 15th-hardest schedule in the NFL, which is just about as 'average' as you can get. In the AFC, Denver's schedule is the 8th-easiest. By all accounts, this is a manageable, winnable schedule for 2026:
Before the full schedule is released, take a look at each team's strength of schedule for 2026. 👀
— NFL (@NFL) May 11, 2026
📺: NFL Schedule Release - Thursday at 8pm ET on ESPN/NFLN pic.twitter.com/eChBp3QMVa
Notable AFC teams that have a tougher schedule than the Broncos include the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and Los Angeles Chargers. All of those clubs would be teams the Broncos would likely have to win against or get past in the playoffs in order to win it all.
Notable teams in the AFC that have an easier schedule than Denver include the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, and Cincinnati Bengals. The Broncos lost to the Jaguars but beat the Texans during the 2025 season. Houston absolutely got better, but with Jacksonville losing Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd in free agency, that club could be primed for a regression.
However, the one major win from this schedule is that it's not particularly hard, and it's not going to be a tough ask for the Broncos to again win a ton of games. For some perspective, the Broncos also had the 15th-hardest schedule heading into 2025. Denver's 2025 opponents had a 2024 winning percentage of .505. This year, it's .512. It's a negligible difference overall.
To be honest, this schedule might look even better than last year's in hindsight. The Broncos won 14 regular season games in 2025 and will have a nearly same exact schedule. There does seem to be a bit of a myth during this time period that teams that win a ton of games one year automatically have a harder schedule the following season.
That obviously is not the case. With this manageable schedule, the Broncos should be thinking Super Bowl all the way. Add the major trade for Jaylen Waddle in the mix, and it's clear that this offense has what it takes after years of trying to shore that unit up.
Defensively, Denver has been among the best in the NFL for years now, so a dropoff with that unit doesn't appear to be likely given the sustained success.
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