Early game by game predictions for the Denver Broncos in the 2024 season
The Denver Broncos won eight games last year and are fielding a better team for 2024. Let's make some game by game predictions. The season is quickly approaching, folks. The Denver Broncos managed to win eight games in the 2023 NFL Season, and this was even after beginning the year 1-5.
The Broncos feel more secure on both sides of the ball, so a winning record is surely not out of the question. Let's make some game by game predictions for the team in 2024.
Early game by game predictions for the Denver Broncos in the 2024 season
Week 1 - @ Seattle Seahawks
The Denver Broncos open up the season against the Seattle Seahawks, for what feels like the eighth time in 10 years. In 2022, the two teams met in similar circumstances, but that was the first game of the Russell Wilson era for the Broncos. While I think Denver is a better team and a year ahead, Seattle is a tough place to play, and Mike Macdonald's defense is going to be tough.
Denver may end up finishing with a better record in 2024, but with rookie QB Bo Nix likely starting, this could be too big of a mountain to climb, so the Broncos will lose this game.
Record: 0-1
Week 2 - vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Perhaps the game of the year already for the Broncos, Russell Wilson is projected to start for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is Denver's first home game of the 2024 NFL Season, and if Wilson is starting, the Broncos home crowd will surely give him the welcome he deserves.
The team cut ties with the QB after just 30 starts in two seasons and are paying him nearly $40 million in the 2024 NFL Season. The Steelers somehow won 10 games in 2023 with Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph, so you figure that Russell Wilson and Justin Fields can be better than those three, right?
I am not so sure. The Broncos are going to play some inspired football here and will earn their win win of the season.
Record: 1-1
Week 3 - @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In Week 3, the Denver Broncos travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers, who won the NFC South and win nine games in the 2023 NFL Season. The Bucs feel like a pretty average team with huge question on defense, but they do possess a very good offensive line and wide receiver room.
This could be a true back and forth game, but being that the Bucs are at home, I think they squeak this one out. The team notably re-signed QB Baker Mayfield and WR Mike Evans this offseason, so they are hoping to build on what they accomplished last year, and I am sure some forget that this team won a playoff game and gave the Detroit Lions a tough time in the NFC Divisional Round.
Record: 1-2
Week 4 - @ New York Jets
You know what? The Denver Broncos will beat the New York Jets in the 2023 NFL Season. I could not care less how much more talented on paper the Jets are. Their biggest question is obviously at QB, as Aaron Rodgers returns from his torn Achilles he suffered in 2023. Nathaniel Hackett is still on the staff, but the last time Rodgers played a full season, it was in 2022.
He finished with a passer rating in the low-90s, so he was not all that efficient. That was two years ago and pre-Achilles tear, so Rodgers may not be close to his old self at all.
Record: 2-2
Week 5 - vs. Las Vegas Raiders
All of a sudden, the Raiders are the Broncos longest losing streak, and the last time Denver beat the team was thanks to the hand of former DT, Shelby Harris. For some odd reason, the Broncos just can't beat this team anymore. I project the Broncos to be considerably better than Vegas in the 2024 NFL Season, but the team can't get out of their own way here.
The Raiders are going to painfully win this game.