Everybody always wants to know what team is first on your schedule for the upcoming NFL season, but it's just as interesting to know which team will be last on the schedule as well. NFL teams close out their seasons every year against divisional opponents, but finding out the who and where can help determine how the season is going to end.
Last year, the Broncos were gifted a home game against the Chiefs to close out the year. In 2025, the NFL schedule makers gift-wrapped the Broncos a revenge opportunity against the Los Angeles Chargers, who shockingly swept Denver in the 2024 season.
The Chargers were in the first year of the Jim Harbaugh era last year, and they wound up making the playoffs as the 5th seed. They were absolutely obliterated in embarrassing fashion in the first round by the Houston Texans, but look who's talking, right?
Broncos can get ultimate revenge with Week 18 matchup vs. Chargers
The Chargers nearly foiled the Denver Broncos' first legitimate playoff bid since the 2015 season. They were one of the teams that really got after Denver's defense last season, and although the Broncos made the first matchup interesting, they were actually controlling the game later in the season in Los Angeles.
Until they weren't.
The Broncos had a 10-point lead in the 3rd quarter of their game against the Chargers, but couldn't make enough plays in the end offensively or defensively to finish the game. Finishing games as a team was something the Broncos struggled badly with last year in closer matchups. They won nine games by nine or more points last season, meaning only one of their 10 wins was a close, one-score game.
They were 1-6 in one-score games last season and only got blown out by the Ravens in the regular season.
The Chargers gave the Broncos plenty of fits which the Broncos made a concerted effort to fix this past offseason. The signings of guys like Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga along with the drafting of Jahdae Barron feel like direct responses to how frustrating those games against the Chargers were.
What if the Broncos and Chargers enter Week 18 in a win-or-go-home situation? What if the Broncos have the chance to send the Chargers to Cabo early?
The game being scheduled late in the year gives the Broncos the ultimate chance at revenge.