The Denver Broncos will be playing the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football to kick off the 2026 NFL Season. It's the first Monday Night Football Game of the season, and it features two of the more notable teams in the NFL.
Emerging as a juggernaut does come with an obvious downside - the NFL schedule-makers will jump through hoops to put those teams in as many primetime slots as possible. The Broncos did see a Christmas Day game last year, for example.
And since the Broncos have won a total of 24 regular season games over the past two seasons, and have made the playoffs each year, it's not a shock that the team could be given the maximum amount of high-stakes, primetime games. The latest schedule leaks confirm this, but also confirm what fans already knew about the team.
Denver Broncos may have a game on Black Friday and Christmas in 2026
While not official yet, notorious NFL schedule leaker OzzyNFL leaked that the Broncos would be in Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Black Friday:
BREAKING 🚨
— Ozzy (@OzzyNFL) May 14, 2026
Broncos at Steelers - Week 12 - Black Friday Game
Game will be played at 3:00 PM ET on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/vhoiV013jm
Broncos insider and reporter, just before the above tweet broke, did note that the Broncos would play on Black Friday, have a home game on Christmas, and also get a Week 10 bye:
Broncos looking at Black Friday (away) and Christmas (home) games per source.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) May 13, 2026
Also a week 10 bye.
It seems like these things are going to line up - the Black Friday showdown against Pittsburgh, while not officially official, does feel accurate. And, if Allbright's other reporting holds up and is correct, the Broncos having a Christmas game for the second year in a row would only further reinforce the idea that this team is a juggernaut.
The NFL wants the best teams in the league to be on the most-watched, standalone slots - that's just how it works in this league. Sure, it might not be ideal that the Broncos may end up with a ton of primetime games, but that's something the team cannot avoid right now.
Fortunately, with how loaded this roster is, the Broncos aren't necessarily on the fringe of being a great team - this could be the very best roster in the NFL, and everything is set for Bo Nix to take a massive leap in year three and truly cement himself as one of the best in the league.
After winning 14 regular season games during the 2025 season, and one in the playoffs, the NFL is clearly wanting to give the Broncos a ton of primetime slots, if these leaks are at all accurate.
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