The NFL offseason is progessing along and we are steamrolling toward the 2023 campaign. With key events such as free agency and the draft in the books, we have now turned our focus to the release of the schedule.
No sport offers the intrigue of its annual schedule quite like the NFL. There are special television shows dedicated to discussing it and it adds to the entire craze that the NFL has created.
Now we can do the same now that we know what the schedule looks like for the Denver Broncos.
We have seen who the team will face in each of the 18 weeks in the coming season and we have even made game-by-game picks. But what are some key stories as we get our first look at this schedule?
Of course, storylines will change as the season goes on but right now, here are five interesting storylines as it relates to the release of this schedule.
Broncos open the season against the Raiders
What a way to start the season. The Broncos will kick off the 2023 year at home against the hated Las Vegas Raiders.
The Broncos have a miserable losing streak against the Kansas City Chiefs, but they have lost six straight against the Raiders as well as eight of the last nine against them.
The Raiders will have a new quarterback. Derek Carr is now in New Orleans and the Raiders signed Jimmy Garroppolo to be their new starter. His first start will come against the Broncos.
Last season while with the San Francisco 49ers, Garoppolo played a bad game and the Broncos were able to beat one of the better teams in the NFC.
This will also be the kickoff of the Sean Payton-era and it will give the Broncos a chance to get off to a great start under him while also eliminating this losing streak to the Raiders.
It will be a big game in Week 1.
Broncos get an early look at Aaron Rodgers in his new digs
How close was Aaron Rodgers to being with the Broncos last season? We will likely never know, but it seems to be no secret that the team heavily pursued that avenue before trading for Russell Wilson.
The New York Jets were the team that ended up getting a deal done with the Green Bay Packers to land Rodgers and the Broncos will be one of the first teams to see him in his new green jersey when they play in Week 5.
Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history but how will he fare with his new squad? How long will it take for him to put it all together in New York? With this being a game in the first portion of the season, it's entirely possible that he will still be figuring some of that out.
If the Broncos can field the defense that they have the last few years and the home crowd shows up for this game, it could be a rough day in Mr. Rodgers' neighborhood.
Chiefs games will be tough for the Broncos as they pop up just two weeks apart
Last year, the Broncos didn't have to see the Chiefs before December. This year, they get them much earlier.
The Broncos' struggles against the Chiefs are well documented. They have lost the last 15 games against them. If that is going to change this year, the schedule makers did them no favors.
The Broncos will have to go to Kansas City in Week 6 on a short week for Thursday Night Football. That is a situation in which the road team generally has a tough time but the Broncos have not won in Arrowhead since September 2015.
The Broncos then see the Chiefs again in Week 8, just 17 days later. That could be the day that the streak finally ends as they will be familiar with what to expect having played each other so close together.
That second game will be in Denver.
Late-season road trip could make or break playoff push
The Broncos will face a difficult three-game road trip in December that could determine whether the team makes the playoffs or not.
These games will be on the road against the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions.
The Broncos will need to take care of business against a Texans team that is in complete rebuild mode. They have a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback and though they will have had a chance to put some things together by Week 13, this is a game the Broncos just have to win.
If they are a serious playoff contender come December, they can't drop a game to the Texans.
The Chargers are sandwiched in the middle of this road trip and though it's December, it will be nice in Los Angeles. Though the Broncos have struggled against the AFC West for the last several years, the Chargers are a team they have been competitive against.
Finally, a trip to Ford Field awaits in Week 15. The Lions are expected to be a team on the rise and they could be in the middle of their own playoff push at this stage of the season. This is actually one of the more difficult games on the schedule but it will be a good test for the Broncos.
These three games could wind up being huge.
Broncos still get four primetime games
As bad as the Broncos have been in recent years, specifically last year where they were crammed down the throats of NFL fans in primetime television, there stood a chance that the team wouldn't get as many of those opportunities this season.
But the team still ended up in a primetime TV slot four times this season.
Week 6 AT Kansas City Chiefs- Thursday Night Football
Week 10 AT Buffalo Bills- Monday Night Football
Week 11 vs. Minnesota Vikings- Sunday Night Football
Week 16 vs. New England Patriots- Sunday Night Football
The Week 15 game against Detroit also stands a chance to be in primetime as the league has it scheduled to be either a Saturday or Sunday game, that is to be determined.
This is good news for the Broncos, unless they are the embarrassment in front of a national audience that they were last year. There is clearly interest in Payton and how he will do in his new role and you have to believe that he is the main reason the Broncos landed these games.