The Denver Broncos know they will be playing against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 of the 2025 season, and that's not great news for the Titans.
Anything can happen on any given weekend in the NFL, and Week 1 is usually where weird stuff goes down, but rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle early on in their careers in general. The Tennessee Titans used the #1 overall pick on Miami's Cam Ward, and at least on paper (and four months out), it looks lke they subtly kind of screwed him over.
Ward will have to travel on the road to make his NFL debut against one of the best defenses in the NFL and the Broncos will be licking their chops to get after a young QB in his first-ever game.
Broncos stellar defense will face Cam Ward in his 2025 NFL debut
Ward is a talented quarterback who could absolutely come in and have a Jayden Daniels-like (or Bo Nix-like) impact in his rookie year. The Titans aren't devoid of talent by any means, but the likelihood of getting the better of this Denver defense early in the season?
Well, it's not going to be easy.
The Broncos already had the 3rd-best scoring defense in the NFL last season and they led the league in sacks. They were near the top of the league in every major category, and they brought in reinforcements like linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga, and first-round cornerback Jahdae Barron.
It has been a great offseason for the Broncos overall, but especially so for the defense.
That's not great news for Ward, who is going to get an absolute trial by fire, thrown to the wolves -- whatever turn of phrase you want to use. It's going to be an uphill battle for the rookie.
And is it possible that this kind of test is exactly what Ward will need to start his career? Absolutely. Even when the Broncos had their stellar defense in 2015, there were a number of players who got the better of that group including a young Teddy Bridgewater and Stefon Diggs on the Vikings. They were pretty unlikely sources for a true challenge for Denver's defense back at that time, but they gave them fits.
You just never know. But right now, the matchup looks extremely favorable for a top-3 defense from last season that returns all its good players and only got better this offseason, playing at home, against a rookie quarterback.