Week 4: @ Chicago Bears
The Denver Broncos will travel to Soldier Field to face off against the new-look Chicago Bears, led by quarterback Justin Fields who is as dynamic of an athlete as you will find at the QB position. The Broncos passed on Fields in the 2021 NFL Draft, and we've seen him go through an interesting growing process in his first two NFL seasons.
He was not good as a rookie but took a step forward in year two despite the Bears' defense being unbelievably bad. Pat Surtain II will also get a chance in this game at redemption against wide receiver DJ Moore, a player who really got the best of Surtain in 2022 in the Broncos' matchup in Carolina against the Panthers.
Ultimately, it's hard to project this as a loss for the Broncos unless you simply think Fields is going to run all over them defensively.
Prediction: Broncos win 30-17; (3-1)
Week 5: vs. New York Jets
Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rodgers in Denver, just like everyone drew it up. The only issue is, Hackett and Rodgers will be wearing green and representing the New York Jets. It's kind of crazy how quickly life comes at you in the NFL, isn't it? On the one hand, this is a "revenge" game of sorts for Hackett, who comes back to Denver after being one of just a small handful of coaches in league history to be fired before their rookie season on the job was over.
The Broncos were fed up with the way Hackett operated things last year, and they fired him after the Christmas debacle in Los Angeles. Hackett landed on his feet, joining his former colleague in Jacksonville, Robert Saleh, with one of the NFL's hottest teams and topics in 2023: The Jets.
I think we saw how good the Jets can be last year when they came to Denver and I wouldn't expect that to change in 2023. I think maybe we see the Broncos kind of pound on Hackett a bit in this one.
Prediction: Broncos win 34-23; (4-1)